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cp Command not finding files

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# 1  
Old 01-28-2012
cp Command not finding files
I am completely stumped. I am attempting to run the cp command in the following context:

Code:
cp '/home/spinner0205/directory/directory/*.log' '/home/spinner0205/otherdirectory/combined.txt'

The "directory" contains anywhere from 5-50 something.log files.

I want to copy the contents of these files and combine them into one file (combined.txt) in "otherdirectory". It immediately complains though that it cannot find any *.log file to copy.

Code:
cp: cannot stat `/home/spinner0205/directory/directory/*.log': No such file or directory

If it makes any difference I can run the mv command with this same context and it works perfectly. (moving all *.log files to another directory)

(and yes the files do exist, I'm staring at them right now Smilie)
# 2  
Old 01-28-2012
Code:
for i in /home/spinner0205/directory/directory/*.log
do
   cat $i >> /home/spinner0205/otherdirectory/combined.txt
done

This User Gave Thanks to itkamaraj For This Post:
spinner0205
# 3  
Old 01-28-2012
When using single quotes, the shell takes your * as a literal value.

So, don't use single quotes. (In this case.)

Next, use cat to conCATenate files:
Code:
cat /home/spinner0205/directory/directory/*.log >/home/spinner0205/otherdirectory/combined.txt

Last edited by edehont; 01-28-2012 at 11:21 PM..
This User Gave Thanks to edehont For This Post:
spinner0205
# 4  
Old 01-28-2012
Shell will not expand *.log if is within single quote. Below should do the job
Code:
cat /home/spinner0205/directory/directory/*.log > /home/spinner0205/otherdirectory/combined.txt

To avoid too long a command line when the shell expands, you may want to cd to that directory to do the copy:
Code:
cd /home/spinner0205/directory/directory
cat *.log > /home/spinner0205/otherdirectory/combined.txt

This User Gave Thanks to chihung For This Post:
spinner0205
# 5  
Old 01-29-2012
Silly me. No more single quotes and switched to cat. All is well. Thanks everyone.
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