[SOLVED] passing filenames to head

Faki · 05-25-2022, 05:26 AM

I am using the find command on a number of directories stored in fdir array to execute head on each file. How can I adapt the code so users can also include files as well as directories?

Code:

hn=8
nf=${#fdir[@]}
for (( i=0 ; i < $nf ; i++ )); do
  find "${fdir[$i]}" -type f \
    -exec head -v -n "$hn" '{}' + 
done

I could put both directories and files in fdir so things are straightforward, the user simply passes a list of directories and files.

For instance, I can use the find command for directories, whilst calling head directly for files.

pan64 · 05-25-2022, 06:55 AM

First of all:

Code:

for data in "${fdir[@]}"
do
    find "$data" -type f ...
done

Next, you can check inside the loop:

Code:

[[ -f "$data" ]] && head 
[[ -d "$data" ]] && find

michaelk · 05-25-2022, 07:08 AM

Why not check if the array element is a file or directory?

Code:

for i in "${fdir[@]}"; do
  if [ -d "$i" ]; then
     find ...
  elif [ -f "$i" ]; then
     head ...
  else
     echo "not a file or directory"
 fi
done

Too late...

MadeInGermany · 05-26-2022, 06:06 AM

You can always use find.
find runs on a given file as well. (There is nothing to recurse then.)

Furthermore, you can give multiple start directories (and files).

Code:

hn=8
find "${fdir[@]}" -type f \
  -exec head -v -n "$hn" '{}' +

If you fear a "find: too many arguments" then have a loop (most simply, loop over the values, as was suggested in post 2)

Code:

hn=8
for f in "${fdir[@]}"
do
  find "$f" -type f \
    -exec head -v -n "$hn" '{}' +
done