UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Hi All,

I have a string assigned to a variable. the string will be a filename. Something like below:

file=testfile.dat.20009080_{arc}_2004809090

I need to check if the filename has a pattern like "_{arc}_" and if so I have to rename the file like below

mv testfile.dat.20009080_{arc}_2004809090 testfile.dat.20009080


Could anyone tell me how to check if the string contains the pattern and to generate the new filename by removing the end part.

Thanks,
D

What are your criteria for "end part"?

Code:

case $file in *_\{arc\}_*) mv "$file" "${file%%_*}" ;; esac

Assuming your shell supports the %% variable interpolation, this will remove everything after the first underscore. (Maybe try it with echo instead of mv to see if it works for you.)

the criteria is not actually anything aftet the first underscore, but its from the underscore just starting before {arc}. So for example the file :

test_file.dat.20009080_{arc}_2004809090

Should be renamed to "test_file.dat.20009080"


Thanks
D

The change is very minor, just use ${file%_{arc}_*} -- that should also make it work even with more shells (in theory any Bourne shell, although I can imagine some old and/or buggy ones might require quoting of the literal curly braces, and/or simply freak out on them).

The below has worked:

case $file in *_\{arc\}_*) mv "$file" "${file%%_\{arc\}_*}" ;; esac



Thanks Mate
D

I think this can also help you

anlbilih:stenv4> ll
total 0
-rw-rw-r-- 1 stenv4 test 0 May 31 14:43 a1a
-rw-rw-r-- 1 stenv4 test 0 May 31 14:43 b1b
-rw-rw-r-- 1 stenv4 test 0 May 31 14:43 c1c
-rw-rw-r-- 1 stenv4 test 0 May 31 14:43 d1dd
-rw-rw-r-- 1 stenv4 test 0 May 31 14:43 ee1e
-rw-rw-r-- 1 stenv4 test 0 May 31 14:43 f2f
anlbilih:stenv4> for test in `ls -1 *1*`
> do
> mv $test `echo $test | sed s/1/2/`
> done
anlbilih:stenv4> ll
total 0
-rw-rw-r-- 1 stenv4 test 0 May 31 14:43 a2a
-rw-rw-r-- 1 stenv4 test 0 May 31 14:43 b2b
-rw-rw-r-- 1 stenv4 test 0 May 31 14:43 c2c
-rw-rw-r-- 1 stenv4 test 0 May 31 14:43 d2dd
-rw-rw-r-- 1 stenv4 test 0 May 31 14:43 ee2e
-rw-rw-r-- 1 stenv4 test 0 May 31 14:43 f2f
anlbilih:stenv4>

The ls is Useless, you can simply say

Code:

for test in *1*

and actually it avoids some bugs in corner cases where the ls in backticks will not work right.