bash script: Loop through a directory

Question

I am currently trying to take a directory as a parameter, then list the contents of the directory. If another directory is within that directory then do the same recursively.

Current Code:

#! /bin/bash

function gothrudir {
for f in $1
do 
if [ -n "$( file $f|grep "directory" )" ] ;
then
gothrudir $f
else
ls $f
fi
done
]
gothrudir $1
gothrudir `pwd`

I am unsure about how to pass all the files in the directory to be looped through. Currently it is just an endless loop because it only examines the given directory, sees its a directory, then recalls itself.

Thanks for your help!

Gordon Davisson · Accepted Answer · 2010-11-17 07:31:46Z

2

As others have pointed out, find is a much better way to do this. But just for completeness, here's how to fix your recursive bash function. There are three things I changed (plus some minor formatting changes): use "$1"/* to get a list of files in $1, double-quote all paths (they sometimes contain spaces), and use [ -d ... ] rather than calling file to see if something is a directory.

function gothrudir {
    for f in "$1"/*; do
        if [ -d "$f" ]; then
            gothrudir "$f"
        else
            ls "$f"
        fi
    done
}

gothrudir "$1"

answered Nov 17, 2010 at 7:31

Gordon Davisson

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1 Comment

hypervisor666 Over a year ago

hey man just wanted to say thanks for your tip, I found what I needed -- I have a bash script that has to sift through directories and add/remove at times, was driving me crazy, but the double quoted loop variable "$f" fixed it, thanks so much, your completeness saved me a lot of hassle!! :D

Amir Afghani · Accepted Answer · 2010-11-17 04:25:40Z

1

function fnd {

    find $1 -type d -exec ls -d {} \; 

}

answered Nov 17, 2010 at 4:25

Amir Afghani

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1 Comment

amazinghorse24 Over a year ago

Thanks for you help. I took out the -d on ls to show all the contents.

Dave · Accepted Answer · 2010-11-17 04:25:59Z

0

Is there a reason you are doing this rather than using find?

For example: find -ls

answered Nov 17, 2010 at 4:25

Dave

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1 Comment

amazinghorse24 Over a year ago

Yup, just facepalm'd at this. Sorry I am just starting out with Bash/Linux.

Dave L · Accepted Answer · 2010-11-17 04:26:17Z

0

'find . -type d' does this

answered Nov 17, 2010 at 4:26

Dave L

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