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-   -   [Problem] Mv command meet problem when file name has prefix "-" (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-general-1/%5Bproblem%5D-mv-command-meet-problem-when-file-name-has-prefix-872990/)

xuta 04-04-2011 08:12 PM
[Problem] Mv command meet problem when file name has prefix "-"
 
I want to use mv command to rename from "-abc.txt" to "abc.txt". But
Eg
Code:
mv '-abc.txt' abc.txt
mv: invalid option -- 'a'
Try `mv --help' for more information.
Plz help me.
Thank you in advance.

yancek 04-04-2011 08:34 PM
Renaming just the one file with rename command:

Code:
rename -abc.txt ""abc.txt -abc*
If you have a number of similarly named files you need to take care you don't rename them all.

kurumi 04-04-2011 08:50 PM
you can use a programming language such as Ruby(1.9+), which doesn't get affected by such shell quirks
Code:
$ ruby -rfileutils -e 'Dir["-*"].each{|x|FileUtils.move(x, "/destination")}'

Kenhelm 04-04-2011 09:25 PM
Many commands use two hyphens to indicate the end of options. Try
Code:
mv -- '-abc.txt' 'abc.txt'

xuta 04-04-2011 09:32 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by kurumi (Post 4314076)
you can use a programming language such as Ruby(1.9+), which doesn't get affected by such shell quirks
Code:
$ ruby -rfileutils -e 'Dir["-*"].each{|x|FileUtils.move(x, "/destination")}'
Code:
xuta@xuta-laptop:~/Public$ ruby --version
ruby 1.8.7 (2010-01-10 patchlevel 249) [i486-linux]
xuta@xuta-laptop:~/Public$ ls
-abc.txt
xuta@xuta-laptop:~/Public$ echo 'File.rename("-abc.txt", "abc.txt")' | ruby
xuta@xuta-laptop:~/Public$ ls
abc.txt
xuta@xuta-laptop:~/Public$
Thank you for your idea.

---------- Post added 04-05-11 at 09:33 AM ----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kenhelm (Post 4314101)
Many commands use two hyphens to indicate the end of options. Try
Code:
mv -- '-abc.txt' 'abc.txt'
It's is exactly what I find.
Thank you very much.

David the H. 04-04-2011 09:42 PM
You can also target the offending file by prefixing it with the full or relative path.
Code:
mv /path/to/-abc.txt abc.txt
mv ./-abc.txt abc.txt

xuta 04-04-2011 09:48 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by David the H. (Post 4314111)
You can also target the offending file by prefixing it with the full or relative path.
Code:
mv /path/to/-abc.txt abc.txt
mv ./-abc.txt abc.txt
+1 useful way.
Thank you so much.

kurumi 04-04-2011 09:56 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by xuta (Post 4314105)
Code:
xuta@xuta-laptop:~/Public$ ruby --version
ruby 1.8.7 (2010-01-10 patchlevel 249) [i486-linux]
xuta@xuta-laptop:~/Public$ ls
-abc.txt
xuta@xuta-laptop:~/Public$ echo 'File.rename("-abc.txt", "abc.txt")' | ruby
xuta@xuta-laptop:~/Public$ ls
abc.txt
xuta@xuta-laptop:~/Public$
no need to echo. Just call ruby to execute
Code:
ruby -e 'File.rename(....)'

DavidMcCann 04-05-2011 12:42 PM
Good tip for the future: don't start file names with a hyphen. The shell expects names
1. to start with a letter, number, "_", or "." (hidden files).
2. to only contain letters, numbers, or the characters "_.-". No spaces or other symbols.


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