Shell Programming and Scripting

How can I rename a file with a . prefix?
I actually need to copy the file but the . seems to be very tough to do.

mv ./bla ../fa/la/.bla - doesn't work. I've tried all sorts of bracketing and that doesn't work.

Maybe the only way to do it would be to name the file _.bla then rename it again immediately afterward to .bla?

Thanks.

Those names, dots included, are literal names. Do all the things involved exist (the source file and the target directories)?

./bla is a file named bla in the current directory (./)... not a file name .bla in the current directory. That would be .bla, or ./.bla.

There's nothing particularly special about files that begin with a dot (.).

When saying "it doesn't work", be specific about what you mean. e.g. the error you get from the mv command.

In addition to what Scott has already said...

There are two things that are special about a filename starting with a period.

The ls command (without the -a option and without a filename pattern given as an operand that explicitly names the file) will not include those files in its output. (That is why files with names whose first character is a period are sometimes called hidden files.)

And, in the shell, filename matching patterns that do not begin with a period will not match a filename that has a first character that is a period. For example, if I am in a directory that contains the files ., .., .hidden, abc, and xyz, then the command ls will produce the output:

Code:

abc	xyz

the command ls -a will produce the output:

Code:

.	..	.hidden	abc	xyz

the command echo * will produce the output:

Code:

abc xyz

the command echo .* will produce the output:

Code:

. .. .hidden

and the command echo * .* will produce the output:

Code:

abc xyz . .. .hidden

That's all good information, but there's nothing special about files beginning with a dot when they're referenced directly - I should have made that distinction, as it was my point, in the context of the question.

I agree. I made a different assumption. My guess was that scribling didn't think that the command:

Code:

mv ./bla ../fa/la/.bla

succeeded because after running that command, a subsequent command:

Code:

ls ../fa/la

and didn't include .bla in the output.

Of course, all of this discussion is just guessing about what "doesn't work" meant in post #1 in this thread.

I figured it out. It may be convoluted but it works.

Code:

c=$(cd ../../bla/bla ; find . -name *.xyz) # Set variable c to filename (./filename.xyz)
c=$(c:3:23) # Remove "./" from c variable's filename
c=.$(c:0:26) # Add a "." to the variable filename

cp ../..bla/bla/*.zyz ./$c # Copy the file and rename it with c variable's name

The reason I need to do it this way is because I need the filename to retain it's original name but still add the . as a prefix.

---------- Post updated at 01:48 PM ---------- Previous update was at 01:43 PM ----------

The only reason I'm naming the files with a . is under mac OSX .files are invisible to the average user. I'm working at a place and the mgt here gets all pissy if they see a file somewhere they don't expect it to be, but for things to load automatically they need to be in a certain place ... So, I'm copying the files with the . prefix so I don't have to listen to, "Why is this here?"

Come to think of it I don't know why they ask that question. They don't care why they're there and only want me to delete them regardless of the reason.

Moderator's Comments:

Please use CODE tags when displaying sample input, sample output, and code segments.

That's a terrible solution, if you can consider it a "solution" at all (I got tired reading it half way through).

And "security by obscurity" thinking, as it would appear you intend, by hiding files (with a dot, that only an idiot wouldn't see, who'd magically think 'that's nice and clean') is no "security" at all.

Having said that, a company I used to work for once shipped a CD of production software to a big client with core dumps in many directories, albeit old ones, so your caution is understandable!

Files that begin with a dot are typically configuration-related. If you generate temporary files along the way, simply remove them when you're done. I, too, might ask 'what is this file' if I saw one that shouldn't be there, but I wouldn't get "pissy" about it until the next time I did a df, or got an alert, and saw a potential issue.

I'll get my coat.