How to copy specific files into specific folder linux bash

Question

Create 50 files whose names are from 1 to 50.

Create five folders (0, 10, 20, 30, 40).

Copy those 50 files into folders based on their name (for example, file 21 will go to folder 20).

I have created those files and folders, but have no idea how to move a specific file to specific folder. I tried writing

cp {1..9} /home/user/folder

but that's not acceptable. Is it possible to do using if and elif?

I'd use a simple for loop itc - but you can do without of course, but no need for if and elif as i see it — msrd0
– msrd0, Commented Dec 12, 2016 at 17:37
for i in {1..50} do if [ i -lt10 ] then cp $i.txt 0 Is it possible like this? — Džiugas Kubilinskas
– Džiugas Kubilinskas, Commented Dec 12, 2016 at 17:41
@DžiugasKubilinskas no its for i in {1..50} - see my answer below — msrd0
– msrd0, Commented Dec 12, 2016 at 17:42

John Kugelman · Accepted Answer · 2016-12-12 17:32:18Z

1

cp {1..9} /home/user/folder

That will work, except you should specify the right folder to copy to. Perhaps you meant one of these?

cp {1..9} /home/user/folder/0
cp {1..9} 0

Another way is to use wildcards. * matches any string and ? matches any one character. 2? will match the file names 20 through 29, for instance.

answered Dec 12, 2016 at 17:32

John Kugelman

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Džiugas Kubilinskas Over a year ago

like this? : cp {2?} im only a begineer... :(

msrd0 · Accepted Answer · 2016-12-12 17:41:32Z

0

When you don't mind using a for loop instead of if and else you could use code like this:

#1
touch file{1..50}
#2
mkdir dir{0..40..10}
#3
for i in {1..4}; do
  cp file${i}* dir${i}
done
cp file* dir0 # note that this will copy file50 into dir0

answered Dec 12, 2016 at 17:41

msrd0

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