Shell scripting, getting directories

atlep · 09-30-2004, 11:06 AM

Hi,

I'm trying to get a shell script to work on every file in a directory. But I have a problem with spaces in the filenames. Here's a code example to illustrate:

Code:

#!/bin/sh

for f in $(ls -1)
do
  echo :"$f"
done

And here's what happens:

Code:

$ ls -1
aa
te st
zz
$ ../dirtest
:aa
:te
:st
:zz

As you can see, the file entries get split by their space. Any ideas on how to conquer this problem?

- script-newbie

Hko · 09-30-2004, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by atlep

I'm trying to get a shell script to work on every file in a directory. But I have a problem with spaces in the filenames. Here's a code example to illustrate:

Code:

#!/bin/sh

for f in $(ls -1)
do
  echo :"$f"
done

The for-statement can list files by itself. So there's no need to run "ls -1". You won't have the problem with spaces as well:

Code:

for f in * ; do
    echo :"$f"
done

BTW, the space-in-file-name issue can come up on other occasions as well, but there's almost always a solution.

atlep · 09-30-2004, 11:21 AM

Thank you! That was magic