Altering multiple files at once

ZimMonkey · 08-16-2009, 07:34 PM

I'm trying to figure out how to change multiple files at once. I have 400 or so files that I need to awk out fields 2 and 3, then save the file under the original name, replacing the old file. With one or 2 files that isn't a problem, I would just do it manually. But I'm stuck now that I have to so this for several hundred files. All the file names are numbers (304, 384, 2930). I just can't figure out an easy way to do this. Any suggestions?

Thanks

Zim

pixellany · 08-16-2009, 08:06 PM

Assuming all the files are in the same directory:

Code:

cd the_directory_where_the_files_are
for filename in *; do
   cp $filename $filename.bak
   ((awk stuff)) > temp
   mv temp $filename
done

Replace ((awk stuff)) with whatever you are using on individual files

colucix · 08-17-2009, 02:05 AM

Just using awk:

Code:

awk '{print $2, $3 > "../ouput/"FILENAME}' *

This put the output files in the directory ../ouput. Then you can simply replace the original ones.