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- - mv each file with a prefix 1 2 3 ....???? (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-newbie-8/mv-each-file-with-a-prefix-1-2-3-a-4175449697/)

Drigo

02-11-2013 12:35 PM

mv each file with a prefix 1 2 3 ....????

So lets say I have 3 files with very long names and I want to move them using a for loop....(or other options if it works):

#files in $DIREC:
#fasdfalsdfjas;dlkfjasldkfjasdlfkjs.dcm
#fasdfasfaifjre398r3948fjvdsf .dcm
#f430f8uf0vjdsofvdoivjw048jvdfk.dcm

#THIS IS THE CODE I AM THINKING ABOUT...
for FILE in $( ls $DIREC*.dcm ); do
mv $FILE ~/myname.dcm
done
##############

#BUT THIS WILL OVERWRITE EACH FILE...I want my output to look like this:

#OUTPUT:
~/myname1.dcm
~/myname2.dcm
~/myname3.dcm

#THIS IS DIFFICULT BECAUSE:
1. $DIREC could have more than 3 files.
2. names have no contast letters
3. I dont know how to use arrays in bash...

PLEASE HELP ME!

schneidz

02-11-2013 12:40 PM

Code:

i=0;for FILE in $DIREC*.dcm

do

 i=`expr $i + 1`

 mv "$FILE" ~/myname`printf "%05d" $i`.dcm

done

Drigo

02-11-2013 01:15 PM

Could you explain each coding you've done ? Also, could I get not prefix if there is only one single file?

schneidz

02-11-2013 01:18 PM

i put comments in the code below:

Quote:

Originally Posted by schneidz (Post 4889278)

Code:

i=0;for FILE in $DIREC*.dcm # initializes loop counter; creates condition for loop control variable

do

 i=`expr $i + 1` # increments loop counter

 mv "$FILE" ~/myname`printf "%05d" $i`.dcm # moves file zero padding the counter to 5 digits

done

you can probably prevent prefixing (postfixing) by using an if statment.

suicidaleggroll

02-11-2013 01:31 PM

Also note a key difference between the for loop you proposed and the one schneidz used:

Code:

for FILE in $(ls $DIREC*.dcm)

versus

Code:

for FILE in $DIREC*.dcm

While for most files these two approaches are interchangeable, if any of the files have a space in them, the first approach (parsing the output of ls) will break, while the second approach (direct globbing) will not.

David the H.

02-11-2013 01:55 PM

See here for an explanation of the above:

Don't Read Lines With For

Also, there's rarely any need for expr in modern shells. Integer math, at least, is available built-in. In addition, bash's version of printf can directly set a variable.

Code:

i=1

for fname in "$DIREC/"*.dcm; do



    printf -v newname "$HOME/myname%05d.dcm" "$(( i++ ))"

    mv "$fname" "$newname"



done

Finally: $(..) is highly recommended over `..`

Drigo

02-11-2013 01:55 PM

Thanks for the note!
I'll give it a try....specially in the am if statement.

Drigo

02-11-2013 02:01 PM

anyways I can change numbers 1 2 3 4... for letters a b c d...?

David the H.

02-11-2013 02:06 PM

Not directly, since the above is relies on mathematic incrementing. You'd have to do something like set up an array to substitute letters for numbers, or mess with ascii value incrementing or something like that.

But unfortunately I have to sign off now, so I won't be able to post anything for a while. Maybe someone else can post something.

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