Getting the name of a file from a directory


 
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# 1  
Old 07-12-2006
Getting the name of a file from a directory

Hello, I am very new to scripting so you'll have to bear with me. Basically what I'm trying to do is take a directory and get the filename of the most recent file that starts with some prefix. So I have a directory with:
file_1495907432.bin
file_4324324342.bin
file_3424394322.bin
file_9099432443.bin
file_4787234109.bin
names.doc
names.pdf

from that list i would like to get the most recent file beginning with "file" and store the filename in a variable (var1).
so when i type
echo $var1
it gives the filename of the most recent file.
Any help would be awesome! I have searched a lot of pages and can't find anything.
Thanks in advance!
# 2  
Old 07-12-2006
I guess this script will help you.here pattern is the prefix you want to use


#usage sh scriptname.sh pattern

pattern=$1
var1=`ls -1t $pattern* |sed '1q'`
echo "$var1"
# 3  
Old 07-12-2006
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dhruva
I guess this script will help you.here pattern is the prefix you want to use


#usage sh scriptname.sh pattern

pattern=$1
var1=`ls -1t $pattern* |sed '1q'`
echo "$var1"
Another option without sed would be:-
pattern=$1
var1=`ls -1t $pattern* |head -1`
echo "$var1"

Regards,
Rony
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