how to copy images recursively via bash

mindfriction · 12-13-2007, 06:16 PM

Hi guys, was wondering how i would go about recursively copying jpg's and gif's from one directory to another. The cp command doesnt seem to work with file types i.e $ cp -r src/*.jpg dest/, and also i'd like to be able to copy all jpgs and gifs at once.

Thanks!

gilead · 12-13-2007, 06:26 PM

Do you need to keep the directory structure? If not, the find command will do what you need:

Code:

find /src -regextype posix-extended -regex '.*(jpg|gif)' -exec cp {} /dest \;

mindfriction · 12-13-2007, 06:48 PM

Thanks for the reply Gilead, looks good but yes i need to keep the structure.

matthewg42 · 12-13-2007, 08:26 PM

You can do it with rsync like this:

Code:

rsync -a --include "*/" --include "*.jpg" --exclude "*" src/ dest/

If you want to add more file types, just include extra --include "*.whatever" before the --exclude.

If rsync is not installed (it should be because it's so über useful), you can do it using cpio in "copy pass" mode, using find to locate the files:

Code:

cd src
find . -depth -name \*.jpg -print0 | cpio --null -pvd /path/to/dest/dir

See the cpio info page for a tutorial and explanation of options etc.

ghostdog74 · 12-13-2007, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gilead

Do you need to keep the directory structure? If not, the find command will do what you need:

Code:

find /src -regextype posix-extended -regex '.*(jpg|gif)' -exec cp {} /dest \;

Code:

# ls -1
test wsdfs
test.ggif
test.jjpg
test1.jpg
test2.gif
# find . -regextype posix-extended -regex '.*(jpg|gif)$' -print
./test1.jpg
./test2.gif
./test.ggif
./test.jjpg
# find . -type f \( -name "*.jpg" -o -name "*.gif" \) -print
./test1.jpg
./test2.gif

gilead · 12-13-2007, 09:49 PM

And since TMTOWTDI:

Code:

find . -regextype posix-extended -regex '.*\.(jpg|gif)$' -print
./test1.jpg
./test2.gif

matthewg42's rsync solution is the one I'll be using here for a similar problem since it gives the directory structure that was needed by the OP (and now needed by me).

mindfriction · 12-13-2007, 10:25 PM

Ok thanks gilead,
the rsync seems to work. Mind you the first time i ran i got "rsync reports some files could not be transferred (code 23)".. The second time i ran it (after i deleted what was created) no errors. Weird.