While loop does not execute

Question

I currently have this code:

listing=$(find "$PWD")
fullnames=""
while read listing;
do
    if [ -f "$listing" ]
        then
            path=`echo "$listing" | awk -F/ '{print $(NF)}'`
            fullnames="$fullnames $path"
            echo $fullnames
    fi 
done

For some reason, this script isn't working, and I think it has something to do with the way that I'm writing the while loop / declaring listing. Basically, the code is supposed to pull out the actual names of the files, i.e. blah.txt, from the find $PWD.

try ding - - - while [ read listing; ] do Example - here tldp.org/HOWTO/Bash-Prog-Intro-HOWTO-7.html — Atul O Holic
– Atul O Holic, Commented Apr 2, 2014 at 13:32
Ohh, my bad. I was only trying to help. Thanks for correcting. :) — Atul O Holic
– Atul O Holic, Commented Apr 2, 2014 at 13:49

chepner · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-02 13:36:07Z

6

read listing does not read a value from the string listing; it sets the value of listing with a line read from standard input. Try this:

# Ignoring the possibility of file names that contain newlines
while read; do
    [[ -f $REPLY ]] || continue
    path=${REPLY##*/}
    fullnames+=( $path )
    echo "${fullnames[@]}"
done < <( find "$PWD" )

With bash 4 or later, you can simplify this with

shopt -s globstar
for f in **/*; do
    [[ -f $f ]] || continue
    path+=( "$f" )
done
fullnames=${paths[@]##*/}

answered Apr 2, 2014 at 13:36

chepner

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4 Comments

fedorqui Over a year ago

Is $REPLY the default variable name for the while read? Otherwise I don't understand it.

Josh Jolly Over a year ago

Apparently so @fedorqui (tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/internalvariables.html) - I learned something new too :)

William Pursell Over a year ago

Note that while read; do ...; done < <(find "$PWD") is often written find . | while read ..., with the side effect of the while loop running in a subshell.

chepner Over a year ago

Not only is using REPLY less typing by itself, but the entire line (including trailing and leading whitespace) is included.

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