How to obtain the absolut path of the copy when copying files?

Question

I'm copying like this:

cp "$input_file_absolut_path" "$output_directory_absolut_path"

Now I want to do something with the copied file, but i CAN'T just:

copy_absolut_path="$output_directory_absolut_path/$input_file_absolut_path"

Any tip to obtain the absolut path of the copied file?

New Stackoverflow users should be forced to read all posts with more than 1000 upvotes: https://stackoverflow.com/a/965072/402322 — ceving, Jun 08 '17 at 08:33

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 08 '17 at 08:20

1

No, you have to use the $input_file_absolut_path. But since you copied only the file, not the whole directory structure into $output_directory_absolut_path, you have to do it like this:

copy_absolut_path="$output_directory_absolut_path/$(basename $input_file_absolut_path)"

basename will get you just the filename without the directory structure. Then you concatenate it with the output_directory_absolut_path.

answered Jun 08 '17 at 08:20

fancyPants

50,732
33
89
96

Thank you for the early response, this solved my problem. – Nicolás Uniovi Jun 08 '17 at 08:30
What if `$output_directory_absolute_path` already has a trailing `/`? – Shammel Lee Jun 08 '17 at 08:33
@ShammelLee When you have a path with multiple slashes, this gets ignored. Do a simple `cd whatever//path` with double slashes somewhere and you will get to your desired location. There's no need for super fancy solutions that are harder to read. – fancyPants Jun 08 '17 at 08:40
Good to know. Thanks. – Shammel Lee Jun 08 '17 at 08:53

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 08 '17 at 08:18

0

if your filename doesn't contain slash, you can concatenate $output_directory_absolut_path and basename "$input_file_absolut_path"

answered Jun 08 '17 at 08:18

Kent

189,393
32
233
301

Thank you for the early response, i tried your previous one but i didnt make it work (newbie here).basename solved my problem. – Nicolás Uniovi Jun 08 '17 at 08:32

Shammel Lee · Answer 3 · 2017-06-08T08:30:54.970

0

Solution

copy_absolute_path="$(cd "$output_directory_absolute_path"; pwd)/${input_file_absolute_path##*/}"

Explanation

If output_directory_absolute_path ends with a /, then $(cd "$output_directory_absolute_path"; pwd) will return the path without the trailing /.

$(input_file_absolute_path##*/} returns everything after the last /.

edited Jun 08 '17 at 08:30

answered Jun 08 '17 at 08:24

Shammel Lee

4,092
1
17
20

How to obtain the absolut path of the copy when copying files?

3 Answers3

Solution

Explanation