Inotifywait not working when using inside bash script

Question

I am trying to make a bash script with inotiy-tools that will monitor a directory.

Here is my script

while f=$(inotifywait -m -e create -q -r "/media/data2/Music/English"  --format '%f %w')
do
    echo "$f"
done

The problem is when I run the above script it prints nothing on the terminal. I have checked the inotifywait command and it runs fine on terminal but why it is not working inside my script.

inotifywait on terminal

noob@noob:~$ inotifywait -m -e create -q -r /media/data2/Music/English  --format '%f %w'
hello /media/data2/Music/English/

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 09 '12 at 11:02

2

The problem is f=$(inotifywait... waits for that command to end and only then gives you the output.

I rarely write bash, but you could try:

inotifywait .... |
while read line
do
    echo $line
done

answered Jul 09 '12 at 11:02

cnicutar

178,505
25
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392

Also can you point me to correct documentation which states that `$()` waits for that command to end and only then gives the output. – RanRag Jul 09 '12 at 11:10

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 17 '21 at 06:08

0

Don't use the -m switch in that context, otherwise the inotifywait command will never return the control to the while loop.

answered Jan 17 '21 at 06:08

tupiniquim

401
4
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Inotifywait not working when using inside bash script

2 Answers2