need script to copy all files containing a certain string to a directory

dc6463 · 06-13-2005, 04:29 AM

i need a script to copy all files containing a certain string (in the file) to a directory. any help would be greatly appreciated.

i got the grep part:
grep -f *.txt -e stringpattern -l

not sure how to put it together with copy.

thanks in advance,

marghorp · 06-13-2005, 04:34 AM

Well if this works for you, then you might just add this:

grep -f *.txt -e stringpattern -l | xargs cp directoryname

What xargs does is it takes one line at a time and passes it to the command given (in this case cp.

theYinYeti · 06-13-2005, 06:29 AM

No, this won't work, because directory name has to be the last argument.
There are two possibilities:

Code:

grep ... -l | eval cp $(xargs -if echo '"f"') /destination/
or
grep ... -l | xargs tar cf - | (cd /destination/ && tar xpf -)

I think there's also a simpler way to use xargs, but I don't remember how.

Yves.

zulfilee · 06-13-2005, 06:49 AM

This will work too

for Eachfile in `find . -iname "*pattern*" `
do
cp $Eachfile dirname
done

Cheers
Z

marghorp · 06-13-2005, 07:28 AM

Yes what zulfilee provided would be the best choice I presume. Sorry for my bad code. I typed it of my head using windows, never tried it though. It was just an idea...

keefaz · 06-13-2005, 07:46 AM

No need for a loop though, this command should suffice :

Code:

find . -iname "*pattern*" -exec cp {} dirname \;

marghorp · 06-13-2005, 08:01 AM

This is what I like about Linux and shell scripting. With so many different yet similar commands, you can write a script with the same output in many different ways...

You have a couple of them here already.

dub.wav · 06-13-2005, 08:34 AM

I thought dc6463 asked how to do it with files containing a certain string?

for file in *; do if grep -q "string" "$file";then cp "$file" directory/; fi; done

keefaz · 06-13-2005, 08:53 AM

You right, I misread the original post...
But again, you can avoid the loop

Code:

cp `grep -il "string" *` directory

dc6463 · 06-13-2005, 08:53 AM

thanks all for your help. that was quick.

actually, the code in the first post from marghorp worked fine -on os x at least.

now, my new problem is how to make this work on a folder of 10,000 text files without getting the 'Argument list too long." our mail server throws the backup of all outgoing mails for all users into one folder and i need a way to restore for just one user.

this script works great, but i have to split up the folder first.

any other ideas?

thanks again!

keefaz · 06-13-2005, 08:57 AM

Why do you have to do that ? grep is too slow ?

dc6463 · 06-13-2005, 09:12 AM

sorry, i don't know the exact reason, but i was told that the reason i get the 'Argument list too long error' is because i'm searching through too many files.

the script works fine if i run it on a directory with (a lot) fewer files in it.

dub.wav · 06-13-2005, 09:45 AM

There are two advantages to the loop:
a) handles spaces
b) you avoid the argument list too long error.

floorripper · 04-15-2013, 05:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zulfilee

This will work too

for Eachfile in `find . -iname "*pattern*" `
do
cp $Eachfile dirname
done

Cheers
Z

This workded super for me! Thanks!! I have just replaced pattern and dirname. Amazing, thanks!

NevemTeve · 04-15-2013, 06:47 AM

Fix:

Code:

Old: grep -f *.txt -e stringpattern -l | xargs cp directoryname
New: grep -f *.txt -e stringpattern -l | xargs cp -t directoryname

PS: I don't really get this grep, I'd use this:

Code:

grep -l -e "stringpattern" -- *.txt