Hans <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> I still don't understand the proper syntax for this: I want to process
> multiple files, e.g. symlinking a bunch or converting graphics.
>
> for i in *;do 'ln -s $i /home/newdir/$i';done
>
> won't work.
This tries to execute the _command_ 'ln -s $i /home/newdir/$i' and not
the command 'ln' with the parameters -s, $i, and /home/newdir/$i;
The proper syntax for this loop would be:
for i in *; do ln -s $i /home/newdir/$i; done
which would create symlinks in the directory /home/newdir pointing to
the (non-hidden) files in the current directory.
> Could someone please explain the rules for doing stuff like this, e.g. when
> to use quotes and what quotes, when to write files to a new file and
> renaming them back.
There are no special quotations needed for the loop. The syntax is:
for NAME [in WORDS ...]; do COMMANDS; done
(from bash's info pages, package bash-doc)
You also wouldn't write
$ 'ls -a'
if you want to execute the command ls, with parameter -a.
Have you searched in the bash manual (info pages, man pages)? There's
also a section about quotations.
hth,
moritz
--
Moritz Schulte <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.chaosdorf.de/moritz/
Debian/GNU supporter - http://www.debian.org/ http://www.gnu.org/
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