separate out files based on name
 

I have a folder named Pictures that contains a bunch of .jpg files. My problem is that they all have randomly numbered names, then there is a duplicate of the file that is random numbers then the letter a right before the .jpg.

for example, there would be 123.jpg and 123a.jpg, where 123a.jpg is just a resized version of 123.

What i'd like to do but have NO clue how to, is to have a script or something go through my Pictures folder, then copy the ones that end in a.jpg to a folder called Resized, and ones that dont have that to a folder called Originals. That way my Pictures folder will be in tact, and i'll have copies of them all separated out.

I have to do this all through the CLI on a machine, maybe I dont even need a script and can just do it with a slick command?

Are they all in the Pictures main directory or are they placed in sub-directories?

sub-directories, and lots of them

Hence you need a command to search recursively inside the Pictures folder. You can try find, using the -regex option to match file names with numbers and w/ or w/o the trailing a. The -exec action might serve to move them. On the other hand, if you want to preserve the original directory structure inside Resized and Originals, you may want to write a more elaborate script.

If you want them copied to the folder and not duplicate the folder structure,
If you want to duplicate the folder structure too, then

cool, thanks guys. I'll try out Nominal's suggestions, I never would have been able to come up with that myself haha.

I tried the folder structure one, and it says "missing argument to '-exec' "

At this point keep it simple and do a loop to achieve your task step-by-step and to have a better control on what happens. For example, suppose you have the following directories:
first move the re-sized pictures:
then the original ones:
The echo statements are for testing purposes. Once you've verified the resulting commands are what you're looking for, remove the echo and run again. Please, note that the find command in the first loop searches the *a.jpg files, the second one searches all the remaining jpg. Hope this helps.

Thanks. How do I get it to run all those lines at once, put them in a .sh file then run that?

also, i was hoping to preserve the Pictures folder by just doing copies, in case something screwed up, but i guess that's why we echo first...

I think that is because the && are caught by the shell and thus not to find; try escaping them ( replace them to \&\& )

Edit: the thread lived, and had to put in the quote to show what I was referring to.

Just copy/paste them on the command line, modify the path in the find command according to the actual path of the Pictures directory and press enter. Beware of not removing the echo statements before testing.

That's right. Anyway, you might substitute the mv command with cp, since the syntax in this case is the same.

getting somewhere with ramurd's suggestion...

now i get

mkdir: invalid option -- i