Copying files with spaces in the filename in a for loop


 
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# 1  
Old 02-10-2012
Copying files with spaces in the filename in a for loop

Hi all,

I've been tangoing with this one for a couple of days now and I'm still not making any progress.

Basically I'm trying to match three numbers in a string from a text file with matching numbers in a jpeg, and then copying the results to another folder.

Data looks like this:
Model:
CAM-123/500
CAM-2787/600
...
CAM-1197/600

And the files are numbered like so:

VS-123 (1).jpg
VS-2787 (2).jpg
...
VS-1197 (3).jpg

Now I've already used grep to create two lists, one of all the unique CAM numbers and one of all the matching jpeg files, and I'm able to run both of those through grep so I'm left with the filenames that I need to copy, and that's where it falls down: when I try and cp the files with spaces it splits it onto two lines.

Here's what I'm doing:

Code:
for i in `grep -Eo '[0-9]{3,4}' list-2.txt`; do j=`grep -E $i list-3.txt`; k=`echo "$j"`; cp "$k" cameras ; done;

And my output is to the tune of

Code:
cp: cannot stat `VS-D210-1 (1).jpg\nVS-D210-1 (2).jpg\nVS-D210-1 (3).jpg\nVS-D210-1.jpg': No such file or directory

I've tried while loops, using printf... I'd like to know where I'm going wrong and why "$k" still outputs on to two lines... Smilie<--- Where I am Smilie

Nuts thing is, once I've got this cracked, the project is pretty much done!

Anyways, thanks in advance!
# 2  
Old 02-10-2012
Quote:
for i in `grep -Eo '[0-9]{3,4}' list-2.txt`; do j=`grep -E $i list-3.txt`; k=`echo "$j"`; cp "$k" cameras ; done;
The "for" command is unsuitable for open-ended lists or for parameters containing spaces or for lists which might be empty. A "while" loop is the preferred method:

Turning your script round and putting quotes round "$i" . Untested because my "grep" doesn't have these options.
Code:
grep -Eo '[0-9]{3,4}' list-2.txt | while read i
do
      grep -E "$i" list-3.txt | while read j
      do
              cp "$j" cameras
      done
done

To my mind $k is not needed because it is the same as $j.

Last edited by methyl; 02-10-2012 at 11:00 AM.. Reason: mispaste
# 3  
Old 02-10-2012
The trouble is grep -Eo '[0-9]{3,4} wil also match the numbers after the /
This can also be done with plain shell:

Code:
while IFS="-/" read x cam x
do
  while read file
  do 
    case $file in
       *$cam*) cp "$file" cameras
    esac
  done < list3
done < list2

But this reads list3 multiple times. This would be more efficient for example:

Code:
while IFS="-/" read x cam x
do
  cameras="$cameras $cam"
done < list2

while read file
do 
  for cam in $cameras
  do
    case $file in
      *$cam*) cp "$file" cameras
    esac
  done
done < list3


Last edited by Scrutinizer; 02-10-2012 at 11:45 AM..
# 4  
Old 02-10-2012
Thanks for the responses:

@methyl trying it your way and doing this (removing $k as you rightly pointed out):


Code:
grep -Eo '[0-9]{3,4}' list-2.txt | while read i; do j=`grep -E "$i" list-3.txt`; cp "$j" cameras; done

produced errors like this:

Code:
cp: cannot stat `VS-D210-1 (1).jpg\nVS-D210-1 (2).jpg\nVS-D210-1 (3).jpg\nVS-D210-1.jpg': No such file or directory

Somehow it was outputting the '\n'.

@Scrutinizer I have yet to try your method, but I will post back the results, although I do have a question about the "done < list2"/"done < list3" notation... is this something in bash scripting or you commenting something?
# 5  
Old 02-10-2012
@faceonline this is something in shell scripting, it is input redirecting from the files named list2 and list3
 
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