[K12OSN] OT: bash help - copying a series of files

[Rob Owens]

Nils Breunese wrote:
> Rob Owens wrote:
> 
>> Nils Breunese wrote:
>>> Rob Owens wrote:
>>>
>>> You could first change the current working directory, so you don't need
>>> to supply the path to every file.
>>>
>>>    cd /usr/local/share/icons
>>>    cp Drawings.desktop Obsolete\ Drawings.desktop Obsolete\ a\
>>> Drawing.desktop /dest/dir
>>>
>>
>> That would work, but how do I error check?  I'd like some verification
>> that the cd worked before cp'ing (because what if I was rm'ing instead?)
> 
> You could check if the current working directory is the directory you
> want it to be, using the pwd command.
> 
>     #!/bin/bash
>     TARGET_DIR=/some/directory
>     cd $HOME
>     if [ `pwd` == $TARGET_DIR ]; then
>         echo "OK"
>     else
>         echo "Not OK"
>     fi
> 
> You could also use the $? variable to check the exit code of last command
> 
>     $ cd $HOME
>     $ echo $?
>     0
>     $ cd non-existent-directory
>     -bash: cd: non-existent-directory: No such file or directory
>     $ echo $?
>     1
> 
> Or in a script:
> 
>     #!/bin/bash
>     TARGET_DIR=/some/directory
>     cd $HOME
>     if [ "$?" == "0" ]; then
>         echo "OK"
>         ... do some stuff in the $TARGET_DIR ...
>     else
>         echo "Not OK"
>     fi
> 
> I haven't tested a line of code in this post, but the general idea is
> clear, I hope.
> 
Thanks for the good suggestions (Petre, you too!).  I learn a lot on
this list.

-Rob
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