Creating a .bash file to test for loop












0














I am trying to loop through all files located in a directory ending in .txt and rename them (replacing beginning with end). However I would like to take the output from this for loop and pipe it to a bash file so that I can check the file and make sure what I have written does what I want it to, then I can just execute the .bash file if what I see fits the task. I've tried



for file in *.txt ; do mv $file ${file//beginning/end} ; done | rename.bash


however this renamed the file and created an empty rename.bash






command-line bash







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    I am trying to loop through all files located in a directory ending in .txt and rename them (replacing beginning with end). However I would like to take the output from this for loop and pipe it to a bash file so that I can check the file and make sure what I have written does what I want it to, then I can just execute the .bash file if what I see fits the task. I've tried



    for file in *.txt ; do mv $file ${file//beginning/end} ; done | rename.bash


    however this renamed the file and created an empty rename.bash






    command-line bash







    share|improve this question







    New contributor




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























      0












      0








      0







      I am trying to loop through all files located in a directory ending in .txt and rename them (replacing beginning with end). However I would like to take the output from this for loop and pipe it to a bash file so that I can check the file and make sure what I have written does what I want it to, then I can just execute the .bash file if what I see fits the task. I've tried



      for file in *.txt ; do mv $file ${file//beginning/end} ; done | rename.bash


      however this renamed the file and created an empty rename.bash






      command-line bash







      share|improve this question







      New contributor




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











      I am trying to loop through all files located in a directory ending in .txt and rename them (replacing beginning with end). However I would like to take the output from this for loop and pipe it to a bash file so that I can check the file and make sure what I have written does what I want it to, then I can just execute the .bash file if what I see fits the task. I've tried



      for file in *.txt ; do mv $file ${file//beginning/end} ; done | rename.bash


      however this renamed the file and created an empty rename.bash






      command-line bash




      command-line bash






      share|improve this question







      New contributor




      Morgan Gladden 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







      New contributor




      Morgan Gladden 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




      share|improve this question






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      asked Jan 3 at 19:38









      Morgan GladdenMorgan Gladden

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      New contributor





      Morgan Gladden is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          2














          Put echo before mv. This will print the command instead of executing it.



          As well:




          • Quote variables to avoid word splitting on spaces in the filenames. In this case you'll need to put quotes in quotes since you're outputting to a script.


          • I've never seen a .bash extension in use, so I'd prefer .sh instead for the output script.


          • You can't pipe directly to a file. Use output redirection > instead. If you need to use a pipe, use tee.



          In sum:



          for file in *.txt; do
          
    echo "mv '$file' '${file//beginning/end}'"
          
done > rename.sh





          share|improve this answer



















          • 1




            Why not .bash? I name all my bash scripts this way, I think it’s a good practice to have the interpreter as the script file extension, this way you see what’s a sh script and what’s a bash one without opening the file.
            – dessert
            Jan 3 at 19:56










          • @dessert Because .sh scripts are typical for Bourne-shell scripts in general and extensions are generally a preference of the user/author :) There exit several /bin/sh or /bin/bash scripts on Ubuntu which don't use any extension at all either. A good example of that is on_ac_power
            – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
            Jan 3 at 20:06










          • Also generally a user shouldn't need to know if it's a bash script or not. As author you already know, so there's no point.
            – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
            Jan 3 at 20:12






          • 1




            @dessert Good point! A quick Google found points for .bash and for .sh (by convention). I guess ultimately it's personal preference. Personally I don't use it cause Gedit doesn't automatically syntax-highlight a .bash file unless it has a shebang. I might have also been thinking of the Python extension debate, where .py3 files won't even be recognized as modules.
            – wjandrea
            Jan 3 at 20:34





















          2














          Because mv doesn't output anything, and you can't pipe into a file.



          What you can do is create a bash script using redirector:



          for file in *.txt
          
 do
          
 echo "mv $file $(some command to manipulate the text)" >> script.bash
          
done


          This will append the command to the file.






          share|improve this answer





















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            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes








            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes









            2














            Put echo before mv. This will print the command instead of executing it.



            As well:




            • Quote variables to avoid word splitting on spaces in the filenames. In this case you'll need to put quotes in quotes since you're outputting to a script.


            • I've never seen a .bash extension in use, so I'd prefer .sh instead for the output script.


            • You can't pipe directly to a file. Use output redirection > instead. If you need to use a pipe, use tee.



            In sum:



            for file in *.txt; do
            
    echo "mv '$file' '${file//beginning/end}'"
            
done > rename.sh





            share|improve this answer



















            • 1




              Why not .bash? I name all my bash scripts this way, I think it’s a good practice to have the interpreter as the script file extension, this way you see what’s a sh script and what’s a bash one without opening the file.
              – dessert
              Jan 3 at 19:56










            • @dessert Because .sh scripts are typical for Bourne-shell scripts in general and extensions are generally a preference of the user/author :) There exit several /bin/sh or /bin/bash scripts on Ubuntu which don't use any extension at all either. A good example of that is on_ac_power
              – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
              Jan 3 at 20:06










            • Also generally a user shouldn't need to know if it's a bash script or not. As author you already know, so there's no point.
              – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
              Jan 3 at 20:12






            • 1




              @dessert Good point! A quick Google found points for .bash and for .sh (by convention). I guess ultimately it's personal preference. Personally I don't use it cause Gedit doesn't automatically syntax-highlight a .bash file unless it has a shebang. I might have also been thinking of the Python extension debate, where .py3 files won't even be recognized as modules.
              – wjandrea
              Jan 3 at 20:34


















            2














            Put echo before mv. This will print the command instead of executing it.



            As well:




            • Quote variables to avoid word splitting on spaces in the filenames. In this case you'll need to put quotes in quotes since you're outputting to a script.


            • I've never seen a .bash extension in use, so I'd prefer .sh instead for the output script.


            • You can't pipe directly to a file. Use output redirection > instead. If you need to use a pipe, use tee.



            In sum:



            for file in *.txt; do
            
    echo "mv '$file' '${file//beginning/end}'"
            
done > rename.sh





            share|improve this answer



















            • 1




              Why not .bash? I name all my bash scripts this way, I think it’s a good practice to have the interpreter as the script file extension, this way you see what’s a sh script and what’s a bash one without opening the file.
              – dessert
              Jan 3 at 19:56










            • @dessert Because .sh scripts are typical for Bourne-shell scripts in general and extensions are generally a preference of the user/author :) There exit several /bin/sh or /bin/bash scripts on Ubuntu which don't use any extension at all either. A good example of that is on_ac_power
              – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
              Jan 3 at 20:06










            • Also generally a user shouldn't need to know if it's a bash script or not. As author you already know, so there's no point.
              – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
              Jan 3 at 20:12






            • 1




              @dessert Good point! A quick Google found points for .bash and for .sh (by convention). I guess ultimately it's personal preference. Personally I don't use it cause Gedit doesn't automatically syntax-highlight a .bash file unless it has a shebang. I might have also been thinking of the Python extension debate, where .py3 files won't even be recognized as modules.
              – wjandrea
              Jan 3 at 20:34
















            2












            2








            2






            Put echo before mv. This will print the command instead of executing it.



            As well:




            • Quote variables to avoid word splitting on spaces in the filenames. In this case you'll need to put quotes in quotes since you're outputting to a script.


            • I've never seen a .bash extension in use, so I'd prefer .sh instead for the output script.


            • You can't pipe directly to a file. Use output redirection > instead. If you need to use a pipe, use tee.



            In sum:



            for file in *.txt; do
            
    echo "mv '$file' '${file//beginning/end}'"
            
done > rename.sh





            share|improve this answer














            Put echo before mv. This will print the command instead of executing it.



            As well:




            • Quote variables to avoid word splitting on spaces in the filenames. In this case you'll need to put quotes in quotes since you're outputting to a script.


            • I've never seen a .bash extension in use, so I'd prefer .sh instead for the output script.


            • You can't pipe directly to a file. Use output redirection > instead. If you need to use a pipe, use tee.



            In sum:



            for file in *.txt; do
            
    echo "mv '$file' '${file//beginning/end}'"
            
done > rename.sh






            share|improve this answer














            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer








            edited Jan 3 at 19:55

























            answered Jan 3 at 19:45









            wjandreawjandrea

            8,47842259




            8,47842259








            • 1




              Why not .bash? I name all my bash scripts this way, I think it’s a good practice to have the interpreter as the script file extension, this way you see what’s a sh script and what’s a bash one without opening the file.
              – dessert
              Jan 3 at 19:56










            • @dessert Because .sh scripts are typical for Bourne-shell scripts in general and extensions are generally a preference of the user/author :) There exit several /bin/sh or /bin/bash scripts on Ubuntu which don't use any extension at all either. A good example of that is on_ac_power
              – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
              Jan 3 at 20:06










            • Also generally a user shouldn't need to know if it's a bash script or not. As author you already know, so there's no point.
              – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
              Jan 3 at 20:12






            • 1




              @dessert Good point! A quick Google found points for .bash and for .sh (by convention). I guess ultimately it's personal preference. Personally I don't use it cause Gedit doesn't automatically syntax-highlight a .bash file unless it has a shebang. I might have also been thinking of the Python extension debate, where .py3 files won't even be recognized as modules.
              – wjandrea
              Jan 3 at 20:34
















            • 1




              Why not .bash? I name all my bash scripts this way, I think it’s a good practice to have the interpreter as the script file extension, this way you see what’s a sh script and what’s a bash one without opening the file.
              – dessert
              Jan 3 at 19:56










            • @dessert Because .sh scripts are typical for Bourne-shell scripts in general and extensions are generally a preference of the user/author :) There exit several /bin/sh or /bin/bash scripts on Ubuntu which don't use any extension at all either. A good example of that is on_ac_power
              – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
              Jan 3 at 20:06










            • Also generally a user shouldn't need to know if it's a bash script or not. As author you already know, so there's no point.
              – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
              Jan 3 at 20:12






            • 1




              @dessert Good point! A quick Google found points for .bash and for .sh (by convention). I guess ultimately it's personal preference. Personally I don't use it cause Gedit doesn't automatically syntax-highlight a .bash file unless it has a shebang. I might have also been thinking of the Python extension debate, where .py3 files won't even be recognized as modules.
              – wjandrea
              Jan 3 at 20:34










            1




            1




            Why not .bash? I name all my bash scripts this way, I think it’s a good practice to have the interpreter as the script file extension, this way you see what’s a sh script and what’s a bash one without opening the file.
            – dessert
            Jan 3 at 19:56




            Why not .bash? I name all my bash scripts this way, I think it’s a good practice to have the interpreter as the script file extension, this way you see what’s a sh script and what’s a bash one without opening the file.
            – dessert
            Jan 3 at 19:56












            @dessert Because .sh scripts are typical for Bourne-shell scripts in general and extensions are generally a preference of the user/author :) There exit several /bin/sh or /bin/bash scripts on Ubuntu which don't use any extension at all either. A good example of that is on_ac_power
            – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
            Jan 3 at 20:06




            @dessert Because .sh scripts are typical for Bourne-shell scripts in general and extensions are generally a preference of the user/author :) There exit several /bin/sh or /bin/bash scripts on Ubuntu which don't use any extension at all either. A good example of that is on_ac_power
            – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
            Jan 3 at 20:06












            Also generally a user shouldn't need to know if it's a bash script or not. As author you already know, so there's no point.
            – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
            Jan 3 at 20:12




            Also generally a user shouldn't need to know if it's a bash script or not. As author you already know, so there's no point.
            – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
            Jan 3 at 20:12




            1




            1




            @dessert Good point! A quick Google found points for .bash and for .sh (by convention). I guess ultimately it's personal preference. Personally I don't use it cause Gedit doesn't automatically syntax-highlight a .bash file unless it has a shebang. I might have also been thinking of the Python extension debate, where .py3 files won't even be recognized as modules.
            – wjandrea
            Jan 3 at 20:34






            @dessert Good point! A quick Google found points for .bash and for .sh (by convention). I guess ultimately it's personal preference. Personally I don't use it cause Gedit doesn't automatically syntax-highlight a .bash file unless it has a shebang. I might have also been thinking of the Python extension debate, where .py3 files won't even be recognized as modules.
            – wjandrea
            Jan 3 at 20:34















            2














            Because mv doesn't output anything, and you can't pipe into a file.



            What you can do is create a bash script using redirector:



            for file in *.txt
            
 do
            
 echo "mv $file $(some command to manipulate the text)" >> script.bash
            
done


            This will append the command to the file.






            share|improve this answer


























              2














              Because mv doesn't output anything, and you can't pipe into a file.



              What you can do is create a bash script using redirector:



              for file in *.txt
              
 do
              
 echo "mv $file $(some command to manipulate the text)" >> script.bash
              
done


              This will append the command to the file.






              share|improve this answer
























                2












                2








                2






                Because mv doesn't output anything, and you can't pipe into a file.



                What you can do is create a bash script using redirector:



                for file in *.txt
                
 do
                
 echo "mv $file $(some command to manipulate the text)" >> script.bash
                
done


                This will append the command to the file.






                share|improve this answer












                Because mv doesn't output anything, and you can't pipe into a file.



                What you can do is create a bash script using redirector:



                for file in *.txt
                
 do
                
 echo "mv $file $(some command to manipulate the text)" >> script.bash
                
done


                This will append the command to the file.







                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered Jan 3 at 19:45









                vidarlovidarlo

                9,38942445




                9,38942445






















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