Shell Programming and Scripting

Hello -

I was looking to write a simple script trying to rename sub-directories chopping off the last n characters.

For example:

In /home/myname/dir there are three sub-directories: directory1_1, directory2_2, and directory3_3.

Is there a simple script to chop off the last couple characters so you are left
with directory1, directory2, and directory3 under /home/myname/dir ?

Thank you

Hi.

If you want to "chop off" the last _* of a string, you can use something like:

Code:

${dirname%_*}

where dirname is the directory name.

e.g.

Code:

dirname=/some/path/directory1_1
echo ${dirname%_*}
/some/path/directory1

The question is, how do you get a list of dirnames?

Do you have an example of how you find these directories (a script, or something) such that you can "chop off" that ending?

Hi Scott -

Thank you for responding. Can you use a for loop (like for files in a directory) but use it for subdirectories?

---------- Post updated at 04:15 PM ---------- Previous update was at 03:47 PM ----------

Hi Scott -

I used the following and it works but getting error when trying to remove the echo:

Code:

 cd /some/path
  
 for d in */; do

 echo ${d%_*}
  
 done

It says 'directory1: command not found'

Thanks!

Ah yes, sorry, I pasted the wrong thing.

Should be:

Code:

echo mv $d ${d%_*}

(then remove the echo if the output looks OK)

Perfect!

Thanks Scott!