[SOLVED] Simple bash script, moving files by criteria

str1fe · 10-24-2011, 07:42 AM

Hi,

i have two folders. One with .torrent files and one with folders(has the same name except the .torrent ending). I'm trying to make a script that moves files/folders if it does not have a matching .torrent in the second folder.

This is what i've got so far:

Code:

#!/bin/bash

sti1=/home/test1
sti2=/home/test2

cd $sti1

for i in $( ls ); do
        if [ `find $sti2 -name "$i.torrent"` -z ]; then
                if [ "$i" != mvScript ]; then
                        mv $sti1/"$i" ../newfolder
                        echo "$i Moved"
                fi
        fi
done

I'm facing a couple of problems here.

If the folder name uses whitespace it splits the folder name in two.
Getting error message(Line 9): unary operator expected

How can i get it to grab the whole folder name regardless of what special characters it's made of. And what is wrong with my test?

grail · 10-24-2011, 08:12 AM

1. Do not use ls as it is not required nor a good way to do things.

2. -z would need to be passed to the command which is in this case [ ... i am not aware of it being allowed to be elsewhere

3. Will the .torrent files be at the top level under sti2 or anywhere (hence the find)?

4. If you use globbing the spaces issue should resolve

5. What are the relationships between test1 and test2?

6. The test against mvScript would seem to be at the wrong point as you are already inside the first if, unless of course you have a torrent file called mvScript.torrent?

7. If you use the -v option for mv you will get a better feedback than your echo

8. Your echo assumes everything went ok with the move ... what test do you have to make this assumption?

allend · 10-24-2011, 08:32 AM

Quote:

If the folder name uses whitespace it splits the folder name in two.

This is a known problem with the use of ls to build a list. Just use

Code:

for i in * ; do

Quote:

Getting error message(Line 9): unary operator expected

You might do better to use a negated test

Code:

fn="$sti2"/"$i".torrent
if [ ! -f $fn ]; then

str1fe · 10-24-2011, 09:51 AM

I'm getting good results with your if-sentence allend, however, one of the folders in test1 have whitespace in it's name(giving me the error: ./mvScript: line 20: [: /home/test2/lol.hax space.torrent: binary operator expected). Anyone got a solution for this?

Code:

#!/bin/bash
  2
  3 sti1=/home/test1 #The names of thiese folders are just for testing, to make sure it works before i try it on the target folders.
  4 sti2=/home/test2
  5
  6 cd $sti1
 16 for i in "*"; do #I figured i needed the quotation-marks here to catch the whitespace in folder name?
 17         
 18         
 19         fn="$sti2"/"$i".torrent
 20         if [ ! -f $fn ]; then
 21                 #mv -v $sti1/"$i" ../old_downloads #commented while workng on the if test
 22                 echo "$fn"
 23
 24         fi
 25        
 26 done

PTrenholme · 10-24-2011, 10:02 AM

Look at the rsync program. It does everything you want with one line. Vis: rsync -u --inplace /from/here/ /to/this

See man rsync for syntax and examples.

str1fe · 10-24-2011, 10:21 AM

I read the rsync manual and i could not understand how that one line could do all i wanted to. I'm gonna try to illustrate to make sure we're on the same page(look at attachment).

grail · 10-24-2011, 10:50 AM

Well the first thing i can see is you need to be limiting what is returned to folders, which currently you do not.
I will let PT explain about rsync as I have not used it but do understand its benefits.

Try using something like this:

Code:

#!/bin/bash

sti1=/home/test1 #The names of thiese folders are just for testing, to make sure it works before i try it on the target folders.
sti2=/home/test2

for DIR in $sti1/*
do
    if [[ -d "$DIR" && ! -f "$sti2/${DIR##*/}.torrent" ]]
    then
        echo mv -v "$DIR" ../old_downloads
    fi
done

str1fe · 10-24-2011, 11:15 AM

Many thanks, it now works! You guys are amazing

SecretCode · 10-24-2011, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PTrenholme

Look at the rsync program. It does everything you want with one line. Vis: rsync -u --inplace /from/here/ /to/this

I don't know how rsync can meet this requirement. He wants to move subdirectories * from dir1 to dir3 if *.torrent does not exist in dir2. He's not trying to synchronise or update two directories.

@str1fe: when using globbing, you don't need the quotes around the *.

David the H. · 10-24-2011, 06:08 PM

Not only do you not need quotes around the *, you must not quote it if you want globbing to occur. The quotes disable its special meaning, and all you'll get is a literal asterisk.

globbing is the final step in the parsing process, after all the variables are expanded and word-split, which means that spaces and special characters in the expanded filenames are not a problem.

What you do need to quote are variable expansions, which happen before word-splitting occurs. Any spaces in the filenames will cause the expanded string to be broken up into separate words (occasionally this is desired, but usually not).

Read these three links for details on how the shell processes whitespace:

http://mywiki.wooledge.org/Arguments
http://mywiki.wooledge.org/WordSplitting
http://mywiki.wooledge.org/Quotes