find a string within another with bash script

jasper25 · 02-01-2009, 05:04 AM

Hello,

I would like to search for the existence of a string within another. I would like to check if a particular string is within a filename:

#!/bin/sh
search=123
for file in *.gz;
do
case $search in
$file) echo "Already renamed!";;

*)
name="$search""_""$file";
echo mv "$file" "$name";;

esac
done

This script does only work if the search matches the filename exactly
does anyone know how I can search for a part of the filename?

Thanx,
Jasper

dorian33 · 02-01-2009, 05:32 AM

http://tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/refcards.html#AEN21400 may help.

pcunix · 02-01-2009, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dorian33

http://tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/refcards.html#AEN21400 may help.

That's probably the better answer because it will teach him more about Bash pattern matching, but for the specific case:

#!/bin/sh
search=123
for file in *$search*;
do
echo $file matches
done

teaches him something else he should learn (and notice what happens when "search" doesn't match at all).

pixellany · 02-01-2009, 08:08 AM

You want something like grep.

Example (not tested):

Code:

for file in *.gz;
do
echo $(grep $search $file)
done

Get comfortable with how this works, then add other constructs until you get what you want.