Terminal says my directory (?) is not a directory

SplitConsciousness · 10-20-2020, 12:18 PM

ookleuk@ookleuk-Swift-SF314-55:~/Documents$ mv Geheimhoudingsverklaring LSM RA.odt /Place
mv: target '/Place' is not a directory
ookleuk@ookleuk-Swift-SF314-55:~/Documents$ ls
'Geheimshoudingsverklaring LSM RA.odt' Place 'Python notes.odt'

As you can see, I'm trying to move the file 'Geheimshoudingsverklaring LSM RA.odt' into the Place directory. How come the terminal tells me it's not a directory? How should I move it then?

sevendogsbsd · 10-20-2020, 12:24 PM

Where is the "Place" directory, under your user's /home directory? The command you referenced attempts to move the file to a directory under "/" which is the root of the OS. You probably want the document to be moved under ~/Place, not /Place.

SplitConsciousness · 10-20-2020, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sevendogsbsd

Where is the "Place" directory, under your user's /home directory? The command you referenced attempts to move the file to a directory under "/" which is the root of the OS. You probably want the document to be moved under ~/Place, not /Place.

Ahh, that must be it then. The 'Place' directory is within the 'Documents' folder (it is not directly located under 'home'). The path should be /home/ookleuk/Documents/Place. How would replacing the 'Geheimshoudingsverklaring LSM RA.odt' to the 'Place' folder work syntax-wise?

sevendogsbsd · 10-20-2020, 02:39 PM

So, based on your first post, should be this:

Code:

mv Geheimhoudingsverklaring LSM RA.odt ~/Documents/Place

provided you are in the directory where that document is located. If not, then you'll have to reference the source and destination directory full paths.

Hermani · 10-20-2020, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sevendogsbsd

So, based on your first post, should be this:

Code:

mv Geheimhoudingsverklaring LSM RA.odt ~/Documents/Place

provided you are in the directory where that document is located. If not, then you'll have to reference the source and destination directory full paths.

I am not sure that your reply is completely correct. File names with spaces need special handling, otherwise the command can give unexpected results.

Please read this article about how to handle file names with spaces.

I think the correct command should be

Code:

mv Geheimhoudingsverklaring\ LSM\ RA.odt ~/Documents/Place

Personally if I would be in the home directory I would issue the command this way

Code:

mv ./Geheimhoudingsverklaring\ LSM\ RA.odt ./Place

this way I am sure that the file is coming outof the current directory and the directory called "Place" is located below the current directory.

Also I learned to use filenames without spaces and use underscores instead

Code:

touch Dit_bestandje_maak_ik_zo.txt

JJJCR · 10-20-2020, 06:22 PM

or try to enclose in quotes.

Quote:

mv "Geheimhoudingsverklaring LSM RA.odt" ~/Documents/Place

sgosnell · 10-20-2020, 09:16 PM

Or mv Gehe<tab>, depending on how many documents starting with Geheimhoudingsverklaring are in the directory. Bash will autocomplete the filename, and insert the proper escape characters for you. To me, that's the easiest way to get any filename, but especially for files with odd characters in the name. I seldom type the full name of any file, and my Tab key gets used a lot.

pwnrz · 10-21-2020, 05:43 PM

Instead of doing "/Place", do Place. If you do /Place, it'll think it's in the system's main directory (where stuff like the home & usr directory is stored). Hope this helps.

SplitConsciousness · 10-23-2020, 04:42 AM

It turns out there was a typo in the filename, apparently :')

The command that made it work was mv Geheimshoudingsverklaring\ LSM\ RA.odt ~/Documents/Place

The typo was in the 's' behind 'Geheim'

Thanks for the help still, and also thanks for that useful article on spaces in file names!

ondoho · 10-23-2020, 05:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SplitConsciousness

It turns out there was a typo in the filename, apparently :')

The command that made it work was mv Geheimshoudingsverklaring\ LSM\ RA.odt ~/Documents/Place

The typo was in the 's' behind 'Geheim'

Thanks for the help still, and also thanks for that useful article on spaces in file names!

In this specific case, this:

Code:

mv Geheimshoudingsverklaring\ LSM\ RA.odt Place

(or variations as per above) would've sufficed.
Tip: use <tab>completion: hit <tab>key twice to see what's possible. Type the first letter, hit <tab>twice again...

Hermani · 10-23-2020, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SplitConsciousness

Thanks for the help still, and also thanks for that useful article on spaces in file names!

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and stay healthy