How to sort output of the find command in a script












0















I have the following simple script to find all directories (at a depth of 2) that were added in the last N days...



#!/bin/bash

DAYS_PRIOR=180

DIR='/mydir'

FILES=`find $DIR -mindepth 2 -maxdepth 2 -type d -mtime -$DAYS_PRIOR -printf '%f\n'`

echo

echo "Files added in the last $DAYS_PRIOR days:"

echo

echo -e $FILES

echo


To get it to add newlines I had to double-escape the printf and use echo -e. That seems odd to me but it was the only way I could get it to print one directory per line on the output.



Everything works up to this point and I get a list of directories as expected. Now I want to sort the list alphabetically. I tried changing the printf in the find command to...



FILES=`find <xxx> -printf '%f\n' | sort`


however this doesn't sort the directory names. Based on other posts I tried the following..



FILES=`find <xxx> -printf %f\n | sort -t '' | awk -F '' '{print $0; print "\n"}'`


This is very close but leaves an extra space at the start of each line and seems horribly awkward.



Is there a simple method to add a sort to the original find command?






bash







share|improve this question























  • could you please paste the partial output of first find command?. I don't see issues in my system.

    – stack0114106
    Nov 14 '18 at 2:05
















0















I have the following simple script to find all directories (at a depth of 2) that were added in the last N days...



#!/bin/bash

DAYS_PRIOR=180

DIR='/mydir'

FILES=`find $DIR -mindepth 2 -maxdepth 2 -type d -mtime -$DAYS_PRIOR -printf '%f\n'`

echo

echo "Files added in the last $DAYS_PRIOR days:"

echo

echo -e $FILES

echo


To get it to add newlines I had to double-escape the printf and use echo -e. That seems odd to me but it was the only way I could get it to print one directory per line on the output.



Everything works up to this point and I get a list of directories as expected. Now I want to sort the list alphabetically. I tried changing the printf in the find command to...



FILES=`find <xxx> -printf '%f\n' | sort`


however this doesn't sort the directory names. Based on other posts I tried the following..



FILES=`find <xxx> -printf %f\n | sort -t '' | awk -F '' '{print $0; print "\n"}'`


This is very close but leaves an extra space at the start of each line and seems horribly awkward.



Is there a simple method to add a sort to the original find command?






bash







share|improve this question























  • could you please paste the partial output of first find command?. I don't see issues in my system.

    – stack0114106
    Nov 14 '18 at 2:05














0












0








0








I have the following simple script to find all directories (at a depth of 2) that were added in the last N days...



#!/bin/bash

DAYS_PRIOR=180

DIR='/mydir'

FILES=`find $DIR -mindepth 2 -maxdepth 2 -type d -mtime -$DAYS_PRIOR -printf '%f\n'`

echo

echo "Files added in the last $DAYS_PRIOR days:"

echo

echo -e $FILES

echo


To get it to add newlines I had to double-escape the printf and use echo -e. That seems odd to me but it was the only way I could get it to print one directory per line on the output.



Everything works up to this point and I get a list of directories as expected. Now I want to sort the list alphabetically. I tried changing the printf in the find command to...



FILES=`find <xxx> -printf '%f\n' | sort`


however this doesn't sort the directory names. Based on other posts I tried the following..



FILES=`find <xxx> -printf %f\n | sort -t '' | awk -F '' '{print $0; print "\n"}'`


This is very close but leaves an extra space at the start of each line and seems horribly awkward.



Is there a simple method to add a sort to the original find command?






bash







share|improve this question














I have the following simple script to find all directories (at a depth of 2) that were added in the last N days...



#!/bin/bash

DAYS_PRIOR=180

DIR='/mydir'

FILES=`find $DIR -mindepth 2 -maxdepth 2 -type d -mtime -$DAYS_PRIOR -printf '%f\n'`

echo

echo "Files added in the last $DAYS_PRIOR days:"

echo

echo -e $FILES

echo


To get it to add newlines I had to double-escape the printf and use echo -e. That seems odd to me but it was the only way I could get it to print one directory per line on the output.



Everything works up to this point and I get a list of directories as expected. Now I want to sort the list alphabetically. I tried changing the printf in the find command to...



FILES=`find <xxx> -printf '%f\n' | sort`


however this doesn't sort the directory names. Based on other posts I tried the following..



FILES=`find <xxx> -printf %f\n | sort -t '' | awk -F '' '{print $0; print "\n"}'`


This is very close but leaves an extra space at the start of each line and seems horribly awkward.



Is there a simple method to add a sort to the original find command?






bash




bash






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked Nov 14 '18 at 1:46









bivouac0bivouac0

1,2381415




1,2381415













  • could you please paste the partial output of first find command?. I don't see issues in my system.

    – stack0114106
    Nov 14 '18 at 2:05



















  • could you please paste the partial output of first find command?. I don't see issues in my system.

    – stack0114106
    Nov 14 '18 at 2:05

















could you please paste the partial output of first find command?. I don't see issues in my system.

– stack0114106
Nov 14 '18 at 2:05





could you please paste the partial output of first find command?. I don't see issues in my system.

– stack0114106
Nov 14 '18 at 2:05












1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















1














First: double-quote your variable references! When you use echo -e $FILES, the variable FILE's value gets split into "words" based on whitespace (spaces, tabs, and newlines), and then echo sticks those words back together with spaces between them. This has the effect of converting newlines into spaces. In order to wind up with newlines at the end, you're having to use n instead of a true newline, and use echo -e to convert it. Just use real newlines, and put double-quotes around the variable reference to avoid all this mess:



FILES=$(find "$DIR" -mindepth 2 -maxdepth 2 -type d -mtime "-$DAYS_PRIOR" -printf '%fn')

# ...

echo "$FILES"


Note that I put double-quotes around all variable references, since this is almost always a good idea. I also used $( ) instead of backticks -- it's easier to read, and avoids some parsing oddities that backticks have.



Anyway, with this format you're using proper newlines throughout, so piping through sort should work as expected.



BTW, I'd also recommend switching from uppercase variable names to lower- or mixed-case names, since there are a bunch of all-caps names that have special meanings, and if you accidentally use one of them bad things can happen.






share|improve this answer


























  • Thanks for the suggestions, but on my system (Ubuntu 18.04) the above prints all directories on the same line, no newline in the output. If I add sort to it, the output is correctly sorted but everything is still on the same line. I also tried this with the double-escape of the -printf %fn but that doesn't add newlines either.

    – bivouac0
    Nov 14 '18 at 2:36











  • Oops. Ignore the above comment, I missed something. This does work. Thanks for the input.

    – bivouac0
    Nov 14 '18 at 2:40











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1 Answer
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1 Answer
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active

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oldest

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oldest

votes









1














First: double-quote your variable references! When you use echo -e $FILES, the variable FILE's value gets split into "words" based on whitespace (spaces, tabs, and newlines), and then echo sticks those words back together with spaces between them. This has the effect of converting newlines into spaces. In order to wind up with newlines at the end, you're having to use n instead of a true newline, and use echo -e to convert it. Just use real newlines, and put double-quotes around the variable reference to avoid all this mess:



FILES=$(find "$DIR" -mindepth 2 -maxdepth 2 -type d -mtime "-$DAYS_PRIOR" -printf '%fn')

# ...

echo "$FILES"


Note that I put double-quotes around all variable references, since this is almost always a good idea. I also used $( ) instead of backticks -- it's easier to read, and avoids some parsing oddities that backticks have.



Anyway, with this format you're using proper newlines throughout, so piping through sort should work as expected.



BTW, I'd also recommend switching from uppercase variable names to lower- or mixed-case names, since there are a bunch of all-caps names that have special meanings, and if you accidentally use one of them bad things can happen.






share|improve this answer


























  • Thanks for the suggestions, but on my system (Ubuntu 18.04) the above prints all directories on the same line, no newline in the output. If I add sort to it, the output is correctly sorted but everything is still on the same line. I also tried this with the double-escape of the -printf %fn but that doesn't add newlines either.

    – bivouac0
    Nov 14 '18 at 2:36











  • Oops. Ignore the above comment, I missed something. This does work. Thanks for the input.

    – bivouac0
    Nov 14 '18 at 2:40
















1














First: double-quote your variable references! When you use echo -e $FILES, the variable FILE's value gets split into "words" based on whitespace (spaces, tabs, and newlines), and then echo sticks those words back together with spaces between them. This has the effect of converting newlines into spaces. In order to wind up with newlines at the end, you're having to use n instead of a true newline, and use echo -e to convert it. Just use real newlines, and put double-quotes around the variable reference to avoid all this mess:



FILES=$(find "$DIR" -mindepth 2 -maxdepth 2 -type d -mtime "-$DAYS_PRIOR" -printf '%fn')

# ...

echo "$FILES"


Note that I put double-quotes around all variable references, since this is almost always a good idea. I also used $( ) instead of backticks -- it's easier to read, and avoids some parsing oddities that backticks have.



Anyway, with this format you're using proper newlines throughout, so piping through sort should work as expected.



BTW, I'd also recommend switching from uppercase variable names to lower- or mixed-case names, since there are a bunch of all-caps names that have special meanings, and if you accidentally use one of them bad things can happen.






share|improve this answer


























  • Thanks for the suggestions, but on my system (Ubuntu 18.04) the above prints all directories on the same line, no newline in the output. If I add sort to it, the output is correctly sorted but everything is still on the same line. I also tried this with the double-escape of the -printf %fn but that doesn't add newlines either.

    – bivouac0
    Nov 14 '18 at 2:36











  • Oops. Ignore the above comment, I missed something. This does work. Thanks for the input.

    – bivouac0
    Nov 14 '18 at 2:40














1












1








1







First: double-quote your variable references! When you use echo -e $FILES, the variable FILE's value gets split into "words" based on whitespace (spaces, tabs, and newlines), and then echo sticks those words back together with spaces between them. This has the effect of converting newlines into spaces. In order to wind up with newlines at the end, you're having to use n instead of a true newline, and use echo -e to convert it. Just use real newlines, and put double-quotes around the variable reference to avoid all this mess:



FILES=$(find "$DIR" -mindepth 2 -maxdepth 2 -type d -mtime "-$DAYS_PRIOR" -printf '%fn')

# ...

echo "$FILES"


Note that I put double-quotes around all variable references, since this is almost always a good idea. I also used $( ) instead of backticks -- it's easier to read, and avoids some parsing oddities that backticks have.



Anyway, with this format you're using proper newlines throughout, so piping through sort should work as expected.



BTW, I'd also recommend switching from uppercase variable names to lower- or mixed-case names, since there are a bunch of all-caps names that have special meanings, and if you accidentally use one of them bad things can happen.






share|improve this answer















First: double-quote your variable references! When you use echo -e $FILES, the variable FILE's value gets split into "words" based on whitespace (spaces, tabs, and newlines), and then echo sticks those words back together with spaces between them. This has the effect of converting newlines into spaces. In order to wind up with newlines at the end, you're having to use n instead of a true newline, and use echo -e to convert it. Just use real newlines, and put double-quotes around the variable reference to avoid all this mess:



FILES=$(find "$DIR" -mindepth 2 -maxdepth 2 -type d -mtime "-$DAYS_PRIOR" -printf '%fn')

# ...

echo "$FILES"


Note that I put double-quotes around all variable references, since this is almost always a good idea. I also used $( ) instead of backticks -- it's easier to read, and avoids some parsing oddities that backticks have.



Anyway, with this format you're using proper newlines throughout, so piping through sort should work as expected.



BTW, I'd also recommend switching from uppercase variable names to lower- or mixed-case names, since there are a bunch of all-caps names that have special meanings, and if you accidentally use one of them bad things can happen.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited Nov 14 '18 at 3:09

























answered Nov 14 '18 at 2:19









Gordon DavissonGordon Davisson

68.4k97894




68.4k97894













  • Thanks for the suggestions, but on my system (Ubuntu 18.04) the above prints all directories on the same line, no newline in the output. If I add sort to it, the output is correctly sorted but everything is still on the same line. I also tried this with the double-escape of the -printf %fn but that doesn't add newlines either.

    – bivouac0
    Nov 14 '18 at 2:36











  • Oops. Ignore the above comment, I missed something. This does work. Thanks for the input.

    – bivouac0
    Nov 14 '18 at 2:40



















  • Thanks for the suggestions, but on my system (Ubuntu 18.04) the above prints all directories on the same line, no newline in the output. If I add sort to it, the output is correctly sorted but everything is still on the same line. I also tried this with the double-escape of the -printf %fn but that doesn't add newlines either.

    – bivouac0
    Nov 14 '18 at 2:36











  • Oops. Ignore the above comment, I missed something. This does work. Thanks for the input.

    – bivouac0
    Nov 14 '18 at 2:40

















Thanks for the suggestions, but on my system (Ubuntu 18.04) the above prints all directories on the same line, no newline in the output. If I add sort to it, the output is correctly sorted but everything is still on the same line. I also tried this with the double-escape of the -printf %fn but that doesn't add newlines either.

– bivouac0
Nov 14 '18 at 2:36





Thanks for the suggestions, but on my system (Ubuntu 18.04) the above prints all directories on the same line, no newline in the output. If I add sort to it, the output is correctly sorted but everything is still on the same line. I also tried this with the double-escape of the -printf %fn but that doesn't add newlines either.

– bivouac0
Nov 14 '18 at 2:36













Oops. Ignore the above comment, I missed something. This does work. Thanks for the input.

– bivouac0
Nov 14 '18 at 2:40





Oops. Ignore the above comment, I missed something. This does work. Thanks for the input.

– bivouac0
Nov 14 '18 at 2:40


















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