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Loop over files with spaces in their names, create new folder from first character in each file and move files to folders

Why *not* parse `ls` (and what do to instead)?Create a new link to access all files and foldersMove files to multiple foldersgrep two searched wordscannot move Directory not emptyCannot mv to a subdirectory of itself7zip and Move Files with Spaces in Bash ScriptOptimize find -exec {} with multiple conditions : specific files in a dir and specific subdirectories in this dirCreating text file with content within a mkdir listRead from a file and return new line with loopCreate files inside folders with spaces in name with bash script

.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty{ margin-bottom:0;
}

1

I'm trying to execute this bash script that loops over files (that have spaces in the name) in the current directory and creates a new folder with the first character of the file (if not already created) and moves that file to the folder. This is my code:

for i in `/bin/ls | xargs`

do

    dir=`echo "$i" | cut -c 1 -`

    mkdir -m777 -p "$dir"

mv "$i" "$dir"

done

The problem with this seems to be that it treats the each word in the file as a separate file, so although it creates the folder correctly , it can't move the file to that folder because the name of the file that it looks for is only the first word of the actual file. I looked at other answers to similar questions but this is the closest I've been able to get.

EDIT:
I replaced " for i in /bin/ls | xargs " with " for i in * " as @steeldriver suggested, and although it fixed my original problem, I'm getting errors like these:

mv: cannot move '`' to a subdirectory of itself, '`/`'

mv: invalid option -- ' '

mv: missing destination file operand after '-'

mv: invalid option -- '.'

mv: invalid option -- ')'

mv: invalid option -- '+'

mv: cannot move ''$'340' to a subdirectory of itself, ''$'340''/'$'340'

mv: cannot move ''$'303' to a subdirectory of itself, ''$'303''/'$'303'

mv: cannot move ''$'305' to a subdirectory of itself, ''$'305''/'$'305'

mv: invalid option -- '1'

I think some of these files may start with non-ascii characters (I can't view the contents because there are too many files). Is there a work around to handle these cases?

shell-script

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

Logan

asked 4 hours ago

LoganLogan

113

New contributor

Logan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  for i in *; do ... - see Bash Pitfall #1
  
  – steeldriver
  4 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Welcome to Unix & Linux! It is generally a really bad idea to parse the output of ls. You should probably look into either using find or simple shell globbing to get your list of files to process. Extensive further reading on the subject can be found here.
  
  – DopeGhoti
  4 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Also, this will fail if you already (for example) have a file called t.
  
  – DopeGhoti
  4 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

1

I'm trying to execute this bash script that loops over files (that have spaces in the name) in the current directory and creates a new folder with the first character of the file (if not already created) and moves that file to the folder. This is my code:

for i in `/bin/ls | xargs`

do

    dir=`echo "$i" | cut -c 1 -`

    mkdir -m777 -p "$dir"

mv "$i" "$dir"

done

The problem with this seems to be that it treats the each word in the file as a separate file, so although it creates the folder correctly , it can't move the file to that folder because the name of the file that it looks for is only the first word of the actual file. I looked at other answers to similar questions but this is the closest I've been able to get.

EDIT:
I replaced " for i in /bin/ls | xargs " with " for i in * " as @steeldriver suggested, and although it fixed my original problem, I'm getting errors like these:

mv: cannot move '`' to a subdirectory of itself, '`/`'

mv: invalid option -- ' '

mv: missing destination file operand after '-'

mv: invalid option -- '.'

mv: invalid option -- ')'

mv: invalid option -- '+'

mv: cannot move ''$'340' to a subdirectory of itself, ''$'340''/'$'340'

mv: cannot move ''$'303' to a subdirectory of itself, ''$'303''/'$'303'

mv: cannot move ''$'305' to a subdirectory of itself, ''$'305''/'$'305'

mv: invalid option -- '1'

I think some of these files may start with non-ascii characters (I can't view the contents because there are too many files). Is there a work around to handle these cases?

shell-script

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

Logan

asked 4 hours ago

LoganLogan

113

New contributor

Logan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  for i in *; do ... - see Bash Pitfall #1
  
  – steeldriver
  4 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Welcome to Unix & Linux! It is generally a really bad idea to parse the output of ls. You should probably look into either using find or simple shell globbing to get your list of files to process. Extensive further reading on the subject can be found here.
  
  – DopeGhoti
  4 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Also, this will fail if you already (for example) have a file called t.
  
  – DopeGhoti
  4 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

I'm trying to execute this bash script that loops over files (that have spaces in the name) in the current directory and creates a new folder with the first character of the file (if not already created) and moves that file to the folder. This is my code:

for i in `/bin/ls | xargs`

do

    dir=`echo "$i" | cut -c 1 -`

    mkdir -m777 -p "$dir"

mv "$i" "$dir"

done

The problem with this seems to be that it treats the each word in the file as a separate file, so although it creates the folder correctly , it can't move the file to that folder because the name of the file that it looks for is only the first word of the actual file. I looked at other answers to similar questions but this is the closest I've been able to get.

EDIT:
I replaced " for i in /bin/ls | xargs " with " for i in * " as @steeldriver suggested, and although it fixed my original problem, I'm getting errors like these:

mv: cannot move '`' to a subdirectory of itself, '`/`'

mv: invalid option -- ' '

mv: missing destination file operand after '-'

mv: invalid option -- '.'

mv: invalid option -- ')'

mv: invalid option -- '+'

mv: cannot move ''$'340' to a subdirectory of itself, ''$'340''/'$'340'

mv: cannot move ''$'303' to a subdirectory of itself, ''$'303''/'$'303'

mv: cannot move ''$'305' to a subdirectory of itself, ''$'305''/'$'305'

mv: invalid option -- '1'

I think some of these files may start with non-ascii characters (I can't view the contents because there are too many files). Is there a work around to handle these cases?

shell-script

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

Logan

asked 4 hours ago

LoganLogan

113

New contributor

Logan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

for i in `/bin/ls | xargs`

do

    dir=`echo "$i" | cut -c 1 -`

    mkdir -m777 -p "$dir"

mv "$i" "$dir"

done

mv: cannot move '`' to a subdirectory of itself, '`/`'

mv: invalid option -- ' '

mv: missing destination file operand after '-'

mv: invalid option -- '.'

mv: invalid option -- ')'

mv: invalid option -- '+'

mv: cannot move ''$'340' to a subdirectory of itself, ''$'340''/'$'340'

mv: cannot move ''$'303' to a subdirectory of itself, ''$'303''/'$'303'

mv: cannot move ''$'305' to a subdirectory of itself, ''$'305''/'$'305'

mv: invalid option -- '1'

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

Logan

asked 4 hours ago

LoganLogan

113

New contributor

Logan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

Logan

asked 4 hours ago

LoganLogan

113

New contributor

Logan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

asked 4 hours ago

LoganLogan

113

New contributor

Logan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

asked 4 hours ago

LoganLogan

113

2 Answers
2

active

oldest

votes

1

To loop over files with spaces in their names, the shell is plenty, no need to call ls:

for    i in *                   # * replaces the complex (and unquoted) `/bin/ls | xargs`

do

       dir=${i%"${i#?}"}        # replaces the slow subshell `echo "$i" | cut -c 1 -`



       echo "$i"                # just to show that an * is enough (and accepts spaces).

done

And to process each file listed (which include directories) you should check that the filename is a file (not a directory) and also check if the directory doesn't exist before creating it.

for i in *

do

    if [ -f "$i" ]; then

        dir=${i%"${i#?}"}

        if [ ! -d "$dir" ]; then

            mkdir -m777 -p "$dir"

        fi

        mv "$i" "$dir"

        if [ "$?" -ne 0 ]; then

            echo "An error occurred moving file "$i" to dir "$dir""

        fi

    fi

done

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 3 hours ago

IsaacIsaac

12.4k11955

add a comment | 

0

With GNU Parallel it looks like this:

parallel 'mkdir -p {=s/(.).*/$1/=}; mv {} {=s/(.).*/$1/=}' ::: *

(Edit: Just noted you are asking for files - not dirs. / is removed).

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 4 hours ago

Ole TangeOle Tange

13.2k1658107

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  When I try this, I get the error: mv: cannot move '/' to a subdirectory of itself, '*/'
  
  – Logan
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

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1

To loop over files with spaces in their names, the shell is plenty, no need to call ls:

for    i in *                   # * replaces the complex (and unquoted) `/bin/ls | xargs`

do

       dir=${i%"${i#?}"}        # replaces the slow subshell `echo "$i" | cut -c 1 -`



       echo "$i"                # just to show that an * is enough (and accepts spaces).

done

And to process each file listed (which include directories) you should check that the filename is a file (not a directory) and also check if the directory doesn't exist before creating it.

for i in *

do

    if [ -f "$i" ]; then

        dir=${i%"${i#?}"}

        if [ ! -d "$dir" ]; then

            mkdir -m777 -p "$dir"

        fi

        mv "$i" "$dir"

        if [ "$?" -ne 0 ]; then

            echo "An error occurred moving file "$i" to dir "$dir""

        fi

    fi

done

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 3 hours ago

IsaacIsaac

12.4k11955

add a comment | 

1

To loop over files with spaces in their names, the shell is plenty, no need to call ls:

for    i in *                   # * replaces the complex (and unquoted) `/bin/ls | xargs`

do

       dir=${i%"${i#?}"}        # replaces the slow subshell `echo "$i" | cut -c 1 -`



       echo "$i"                # just to show that an * is enough (and accepts spaces).

done

And to process each file listed (which include directories) you should check that the filename is a file (not a directory) and also check if the directory doesn't exist before creating it.

for i in *

do

    if [ -f "$i" ]; then

        dir=${i%"${i#?}"}

        if [ ! -d "$dir" ]; then

            mkdir -m777 -p "$dir"

        fi

        mv "$i" "$dir"

        if [ "$?" -ne 0 ]; then

            echo "An error occurred moving file "$i" to dir "$dir""

        fi

    fi

done

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 3 hours ago

IsaacIsaac

12.4k11955

add a comment | 

To loop over files with spaces in their names, the shell is plenty, no need to call ls:

for    i in *                   # * replaces the complex (and unquoted) `/bin/ls | xargs`

do

       dir=${i%"${i#?}"}        # replaces the slow subshell `echo "$i" | cut -c 1 -`



       echo "$i"                # just to show that an * is enough (and accepts spaces).

done

And to process each file listed (which include directories) you should check that the filename is a file (not a directory) and also check if the directory doesn't exist before creating it.

for i in *

do

    if [ -f "$i" ]; then

        dir=${i%"${i#?}"}

        if [ ! -d "$dir" ]; then

            mkdir -m777 -p "$dir"

        fi

        mv "$i" "$dir"

        if [ "$?" -ne 0 ]; then

            echo "An error occurred moving file "$i" to dir "$dir""

        fi

    fi

done

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 3 hours ago

IsaacIsaac

12.4k11955

for    i in *                   # * replaces the complex (and unquoted) `/bin/ls | xargs`

do

       dir=${i%"${i#?}"}        # replaces the slow subshell `echo "$i" | cut -c 1 -`



       echo "$i"                # just to show that an * is enough (and accepts spaces).

done

for i in *

do

    if [ -f "$i" ]; then

        dir=${i%"${i#?}"}

        if [ ! -d "$dir" ]; then

            mkdir -m777 -p "$dir"

        fi

        mv "$i" "$dir"

        if [ "$?" -ne 0 ]; then

            echo "An error occurred moving file "$i" to dir "$dir""

        fi

    fi

done

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 3 hours ago

IsaacIsaac

12.4k11955

answered 3 hours ago

IsaacIsaac

12.4k11955

answered 3 hours ago

IsaacIsaac

12.4k11955

0

With GNU Parallel it looks like this:

parallel 'mkdir -p {=s/(.).*/$1/=}; mv {} {=s/(.).*/$1/=}' ::: *

(Edit: Just noted you are asking for files - not dirs. / is removed).

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 4 hours ago

Ole TangeOle Tange

13.2k1658107

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  When I try this, I get the error: mv: cannot move '/' to a subdirectory of itself, '*/'
  
  – Logan
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

0

With GNU Parallel it looks like this:

parallel 'mkdir -p {=s/(.).*/$1/=}; mv {} {=s/(.).*/$1/=}' ::: *

(Edit: Just noted you are asking for files - not dirs. / is removed).

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 4 hours ago

Ole TangeOle Tange

13.2k1658107

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  When I try this, I get the error: mv: cannot move '/' to a subdirectory of itself, '*/'
  
  – Logan
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

With GNU Parallel it looks like this:

parallel 'mkdir -p {=s/(.).*/$1/=}; mv {} {=s/(.).*/$1/=}' ::: *

(Edit: Just noted you are asking for files - not dirs. / is removed).

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 4 hours ago

Ole TangeOle Tange

13.2k1658107

parallel 'mkdir -p {=s/(.).*/$1/=}; mv {} {=s/(.).*/$1/=}' ::: *

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 4 hours ago

Ole TangeOle Tange

13.2k1658107

answered 4 hours ago

Ole TangeOle Tange

13.2k1658107

answered 4 hours ago

Ole TangeOle Tange

13.2k1658107