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changing filenames in a directory to a number within a loop

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Top Forums Shell Programming and Scripting changing filenames in a directory to a number within a loop
# 8  
Old 12-11-2007
Interesting, I didn't know that "( *.ext )" was guaranteed to return the list in any particular order.

I think you lost photos (you tested this with samples, right?) because of a permissions problem. Check your man page for "mv", some editions have a "-f" flag or similar that answers the "mode 0644?" question. Either way, the script should exit on failure:

Code:
    mv ${list[$i]} $((++i)).$filetype || { echo "Crap!"; exit; }

# 9  
Old 12-11-2007
hey gus. how about i write it for now to just print out the list of files and the name it will be changed to, first. that way i can see any errors before. i have copies of the photos in a different directory, so i didn't 'lose' any data, just the script doesn't work perfectly.

i like jim mcnamara's idea of adding an argument to the script so i can type the extension i want. however, i want to add in the script to match lowercase and uppercase extensions, and change them to be lowercase once they're matched and the names have been changed. how would i do this? and what do you think of this feature?

this is also something off-topic but i was wondering how to add a shellscript to the standard linux command repository so you don't have to use it in the directory only. and how do you write man-pages for your new scripts? where do they go?
# 10  
Old 12-12-2007
bump =\ bump
# 11  
Old 12-12-2007
Quote:
Originally Posted by visitorQ
and how do you write man-pages for your new scripts? where do they go?
(a) carefully, Linux Man Page Howto

(b) on the MANPATH
# 12  
Old 12-13-2007
thanks for the link porter. but i'm still having trouble with my script:

Code:
kumi@throne:atlas/images/photos % ls -l
total 8148
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root    133 2007-12-12 22:06 gallery*
-rw-r--r-- 1 kumi kumi 739930 2007-10-30 01:09 Luis Work 001.jpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 kumi kumi 760898 2007-10-30 01:10 Luis Work 010.jpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 kumi kumi 778884 2007-10-30 01:10 Luis Work 016.jpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 kumi kumi 826150 2007-10-30 01:10 Luis Work 017.jpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 kumi kumi 790932 2007-10-30 01:10 Luis Work 018.jpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 kumi kumi 687920 2007-10-30 01:10 Luis Work 028.jpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 kumi kumi 731860 2007-10-30 01:10 Luis Work 029.jpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 kumi kumi 868742 2007-10-30 01:10 Luis Work 030.jpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 kumi kumi 853904 2007-10-30 01:10 Luis Work 042.jpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 kumi kumi 725632 2007-10-30 01:10 Luis Work 070.jpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 kumi kumi 500695 2007-10-30 01:10 Pic 1.jpg
drwxr-xr-x 2 kumi kumi   4096 2007-12-12 22:06 untitled folder/
kumi@throne:atlas/images/photos % ./gallery 
mv: target `1.jpg' is not a directory
mv: target `2.jpg' is not a directory
mv: target `3.jpg' is not a directory
mv: target `4.jpg' is not a directory
mv: target `5.jpg' is not a directory
mv: target `6.jpg' is not a directory
mv: target `7.jpg' is not a directory
mv: target `8.jpg' is not a directory
mv: target `9.jpg' is not a directory
mv: target `10.jpg' is not a directory
mv: target `11.jpg' is not a directory

here's the script:
Code:
#!/bin/bash
filetype="jpg"
list=( *.$filetype )
for (( i = 0 ; i < ${#list[*]} ; )) ; do
    mv ${list[$i]} $((++i)).$filetype
done

any help?
# 13  
Old 12-13-2007
Common pitfall. The "list=( *.$filetype )" style is quite efficient except:

1. It screws up with filenames with spaces
2. It screws up with empty directories

Similarly avoid "for i in ... ; do" style, when you anticipate 1 & 2 mentioned above.

A better way is manage these troubles is:

Quote:
ls -1 *.jpg |sort |while read fname ; do
<whatever on "${fname}">
done
HTH
# 14  
Old 12-13-2007
thanks for the advice buddy, but it left me in a worse position than before:


Code:
kumi@throne:atlas/images/photos % ls -a1
./
../
gallery*
.gallery.swp
.jpg
Luis Work 001.jpg
Luis Work 008.jpg
Luis Work 009.jpg
Luis Work 010.jpg
Luis Work 016.jpg
Luis Work 017.jpg
Luis Work 018.jpg
Luis Work 028.jpg
Luis Work 029.jpg
Luis Work 030.jpg
Luis Work 042.jpg
Luis Work 043.jpg
Luis Work 044.jpg
Luis Work 045.jpg
Luis Work 046.jpg
Luis Work 055.jpg
Luis Work 068.jpg
Luis Work 069.jpg
Luis Work 070.jpg
untitled folder/

kumi@throne:atlas/images/photos % ./gallery jpg
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Luis" -- using "application/*"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Work" -- using "application/*"
Error: no such file "Luis"
Error: no such file "Work"
Error: no such file "001.jpg"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Luis" -- using "application/*"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Work" -- using "application/*"
Error: no such file "Luis"
Error: no such file "Work"
Error: no such file "008.jpg"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Luis" -- using "application/*"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Work" -- using "application/*"
Error: no such file "Luis"
Error: no such file "Work"
Error: no such file "009.jpg"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Luis" -- using "application/*"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Work" -- using "application/*"
Error: no such file "Luis"
Error: no such file "Work"
Error: no such file "010.jpg"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Luis" -- using "application/*"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Work" -- using "application/*"
Error: no such file "Luis"
Error: no such file "Work"
Error: no such file "016.jpg"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Luis" -- using "application/*"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Work" -- using "application/*"
Error: no such file "Luis"
Error: no such file "Work"
Error: no such file "017.jpg"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Luis" -- using "application/*"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Work" -- using "application/*"
Error: no such file "Luis"
Error: no such file "Work"
Error: no such file "018.jpg"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Luis" -- using "application/*"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Work" -- using "application/*"
Error: no such file "Luis"
Error: no such file "Work"
Error: no such file "028.jpg"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Luis" -- using "application/*"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Work" -- using "application/*"
Error: no such file "Luis"
Error: no such file "Work"
Error: no such file "029.jpg"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Luis" -- using "application/*"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Work" -- using "application/*"
Error: no such file "Luis"
Error: no such file "Work"
Error: no such file "030.jpg"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Luis" -- using "application/*"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Work" -- using "application/*"
Error: no such file "Luis"
Error: no such file "Work"
Error: no such file "042.jpg"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Luis" -- using "application/*"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Work" -- using "application/*"
Error: no such file "Luis"
Error: no such file "Work"
Error: no such file "043.jpg"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Luis" -- using "application/*"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Work" -- using "application/*"
Error: no such file "Luis"
Error: no such file "Work"
Error: no such file "044.jpg"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Luis" -- using "application/*"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Work" -- using "application/*"
Error: no such file "Luis"
Error: no such file "Work"
Error: no such file "045.jpg"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Luis" -- using "application/*"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Work" -- using "application/*"
Error: no such file "Luis"
Error: no such file "Work"
Error: no such file "046.jpg"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Luis" -- using "application/*"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Work" -- using "application/*"
Error: no such file "Luis"
Error: no such file "Work"
Error: no such file "055.jpg"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Luis" -- using "application/*"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Work" -- using "application/*"
Error: no such file "Luis"
Error: no such file "Work"
Error: no such file "068.jpg"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Luis" -- using "application/*"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Work" -- using "application/*"
Error: no such file "Luis"
Error: no such file "Work"
Error: no such file "069.jpg"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Luis" -- using "application/*"
Warning: unknown mime-type for "Work" -- using "application/*"
Error: no such file "Luis"
Error: no such file "Work"
Error: no such file "070.jpg"

here's the script:
Code:
#!/bin/bash

ls -1 *.jpg | sort | while read fname ; do
    print $fname
done

pretty simple script, but it's in bad shape. apparently even this method has trouble with spaces in filenames... can someone just explain to me what the problem is and why, so i can fix it myself, instead of trying scripts that don't work? please?
Last edited by visitorQ; 12-13-2007 at 01:10 PM..
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