how to loop with while using bash

Question

my problem is that i have to count the numbers of files whit a common part of the name (Stefano) in a folder (Name) and for every name i want to echo the name with the number of count's. So names of the files in the folder will be like:

Stefano.A1
Stefano.B2
Stefano.H3

The problem i have is how to echo the files.Because it's giving me the error:

ls Stefano* | wc -l: syntax error in expression (error token is "Stefano* | wc -l")

here's the script

i=1

while [ $i -le $(ls Stefano* | wc -l) ]; do
      echo "Stefano*${i}"
      (i++)
done

i'm trying to make the expression $i -le $(ls Stefano* | wc -l) go — steT
– steT, Commented Jan 13, 2015 at 14:38

Marc Bredt · Accepted Answer · 2015-01-13 14:34:43Z

1

find prints out the names for you :)

find -name "*Stefano*"

answered Jan 13, 2015 at 14:34

Marc Bredt

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3 Comments

ShellFish Over a year ago

find is an epic command, I posted an answer using find's regex but this is much cleaner!

buydadip Over a year ago

I don't think OP wants to use find command... he said himself that he is trying to make $i -le $(ls Stefano* | wc -l) work for his script

Marc Bredt Over a year ago

You are right. But indeed the code just looked like he wants to print out the names ("The problem i have is how to echo the files."). so he could use find and if needed its -exec builtin.

buydadip · Accepted Answer · 2015-01-13 15:43:45Z

0

I understand what you want now... you want to make $i -le $(ls Stefano* | wc -l) work for your while loop, so do the following:

i=1
while [ $i -le $(cd $1 && ls Stefano* | wc -l) ]
do
    echo "Stefano*${i}"
    ((i++))
done

I added cd so that you can execute the script from whatever directory you are in, without actually moving you from your current directory.

edited Jan 13, 2015 at 15:43

answered Jan 13, 2015 at 14:39

buydadip

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Comments

anubhava · Accepted Answer · 2015-01-13 14:33:06Z

0

In BASH you can do:

i=1
for f in Stefano*; do
   echo "${f}${i}"
   ((i++))
done

answered Jan 13, 2015 at 14:33

anubhava

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Comments

Jeanno · Accepted Answer · 2015-01-13 14:34:13Z

0

How about something more simple using a for loop. Something like

for file in Stephano*; do (i++); done

answered Jan 13, 2015 at 14:34

Jeanno

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