Bash extracting file basename from long path

Question

In bash I am trying to glob a list of files from a directory to give as input to a program. However I would also like to give this program the list of filenames

files="/very/long/path/to/various/files/*.file"

So I could use it like that.

prompt> program -files $files -names $namelist

If the glob gives me :

/very/long/path/to/various/files/AA.file /very/long/path/to/various/files/BB.file /very/long/path/to/various/files/CC.file /very/long/path/to/various/files/DD.file /very/long/path/to/various/files/ZZ.file

I'd like to get the list of AA BB CC DD ZZ to feed my program without the long pathname and file extension. However I have no clue on how start there ! Any hint much appreciated !

score 28 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 17 '13 at 09:29

28

It's better to use an array to hold the filenames. A string variable will not handle filenames which contain spaces.

Also, you don't need to use the basename command. Instead use bash's built-in string manipulation.

Try this:

files=( /very/long/path/to/various/files/*.file )
for file in "${files[@]}"
do
  filename="${file##*/}"
  filenameWithoutExtension="${filename%.*}"
  echo "$filenameWithoutExtension"
done

answered Sep 17 '13 at 09:29

dogbane

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could you please give me the reference from where i can read all these string matching formats... – Jatin Khurana Sep 02 '14 at 10:59
3

Can you at least explain why one shouldn't use basename? And what did that string manipulation pattern actually do / match? – Jon Hudson Mar 16 '15 at 15:28
Essentially looping over http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2664740/extract-file-basename-without-path-and-extension-in-bash – sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio Mar 31 '16 at 18:35

epsilon · Answer 2 · 2013-09-17T09:29:54.047

9

Solution with basename for your question

for file in $files
do
  file_name=$(basename $file)
  file_name_witout_ext=${file_name%.file}
done

edit (generic way to extract filename without (single) extension)

for file in $files
do
  file_name=$(basename $file)
  file_name_witout_ext=${file_name%.*}
done

Another thing that can happen is to have filename like "archive.tar.gz". In this case you will have two (or multiple extension). You can then use a more greddy operator

for file in $files
do
  file_name=$(basename $file)
  file_name_witout_ext=${file_name%%.*}
done

edited Sep 17 '13 at 09:29

answered Sep 17 '13 at 09:20

epsilon

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+1 You can be more general using `filename_without_extension="${filename%.*}"`, taken from http://stackoverflow.com/a/965072/1983854 – fedorqui Sep 17 '13 at 09:25
excat fedorqui, it may be a good thing. I just stick to the OP parameters. – epsilon Sep 17 '13 at 09:28

konsolebox · Answer 3 · 2013-09-17T13:25:57.077

3

It's simpler like this:

files=(/very/long/path/to/various/files/*.file)
names=("${files[@]##*/}") names=("${names[@]%.*}")
progname -files "${files[@]}" -names "${names[@]}"

Or if you could only pass them as a single argument:

progname -files "${files[*]}" -names "${names[*]}"

edited Sep 17 '13 at 13:25

answered Sep 17 '13 at 13:17

konsolebox

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Bash extracting file basename from long path

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