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Counting the number of files within a directory input by the user

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# 1  
Old 04-24-2012
Counting the number of files within a directory input by the user
So I have a loop that stated if a directory exists or not. If it does it prints the number of files within that directory. I use this code...


Code:
result=`(ls -l . | egrep -c '^-')`

However, no matter which directory I input, it outputs the number "2"

What is wrong here?
Last edited by methyl; 04-24-2012 at 07:16 PM.. Reason: please use code tags
# 2  
Old 04-24-2012
. is the current directory. You're always listing the same directory.
# 3  
Old 04-24-2012
does your code goes into that directory, before running ls -l . | egrep -c '^-'?
# 4  
Old 04-24-2012
How do I change it to look in the directory that was input by the user?
# 5  
Old 04-24-2012
use the directory passed, in your ls command.
Assuming directory path is stored in directvariable, use following
Code:
ls -l $direct  | egrep -c '^-'

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