Shell Scripting: Convert file string to be usable in a command

Question

I'm stuck on figuring out a way to take text of a file name and converting it into a string that can be usable in commands.

I would like to take a file name (for example: [foo] bar - foo.mkv) and add backslashes to spaces, square brackets, and any other characters (for example \[foo\]\ bar\ -\ foo.mkv) so that they are usable in a command such as mv.

Thank you for helping me.

You do not need to do this, your file name is 100% usable as is, you just need to quote it when you use it just like you should quote ALL shell variables unless you have a specific purpose in mind by not doing so. — Ed Morton
– Ed Morton, Commented Oct 31, 2016 at 2:06

John Kugelman · Accepted Answer · 2016-10-31 02:16:24Z

4

I don't think there is a need for that. You could enclose the filename variable in double quotes and the commands would handle the rest.

$ touch "[foo] bar - foo.mkv"
$ ls
[foo] bar - foo.mkv
$ mv "[foo] bar - foo.mkv" "abcd"
$ ls
abcd

So just enclose the string in double quotes and it must solve your problem:

mv "$oldname" "$newname"

There's rarely a need, but if you want to have substitutions you can use this:

$ printf '%q' "[foo] bar - foo.mkv"
\[foo\]\ bar\ -\ foo.mkv

edited Oct 31, 2016 at 2:16

John Kugelman

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answered Oct 31, 2016 at 1:34

riteshtch

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