Bash Move file and rename with incrementing extension

Question

I have to write a Bash script that will look to see if a file exists and move the file to a specific directory, then rename the file with an extension of .1 or .2 etc if .1 already exists. I feel like I have a good start on it but it's not recognizing the directory even though I can enter mv file destination directly and it works. Where am I going wrong?

#!/bin/bash
DESTINATION="~hbrown31/homework"
FILE=$1
if [ -e "$FILE" ]
 then
  for $FILE in 'ls|sort -g -r'
   do
    echo "File is being moved and renamed"
    NEWFILE="$DESTINATION""$FILE""."
    mv "$FILE" "$(NEWFILE + 1)"
   fi
 else
  echo "File does not exist"
fi

You probably need a final `/` on DESTINATION, or use "$DESTINATION/$FILE" — William Pursell, Nov 09 '14 at 22:57
Also, $DESTINATION$FILE is probably not an integer, so what does it mean to increment it? — William Pursell, Nov 09 '14 at 22:58
Correct. I was missing the final / in the destination path. When I move the file I have to add .number to the end of the file name. If .1 already exists then I have to make it .2 — Heather, Nov 09 '14 at 23:14
Are you sure you need the tilde prefix in `DESTINATION` to be quoted? I guess you want: `DESTINATION=~hbrown31/"homework"` — gniourf_gniourf, Nov 09 '14 at 23:38

William Pursell · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-10T02:38:47.337

0

It's not entirely clear to me what you want (I don't understand the 'ls|sort', but I think you are looking for something like:

#!/bin/bash
DEST=~hbrown31/homework  # Do not quote or the ~ will not be expanded

move() {
  suffix=0
  file="$DEST/$1"
  while test -e "$file"; do
    file="$DEST/$1.$((++suffix))"
  done
  mv -v "$1" "$file"
}

for x; do move "$x"; done

Note that some versions of mv do support options such as -b and --backup that may actually do most of the work for you.

edited Nov 10 '14 at 02:38

answered Nov 09 '14 at 23:23

William Pursell

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`: $((suffix += 1 ))` is cute but `((suffix+=1))` or even `((++suffix))` is enough `;)`. – gniourf_gniourf Nov 09 '14 at 23:31
@gniourf_gniourf I like that the correct form of increment is used. – Maxim Egorushkin Nov 09 '14 at 23:59
Suffix += 1 is more expressive. It states what is being done rather than relying on a side-effect. Using the post-increment would be appropriate if it were written as a one-liner: `file="$DEST/$1.$((++suffix))` – William Pursell Nov 10 '14 at 02:34

Bash Move file and rename with incrementing extension

1 Answers1