read files from directory and send to a list file 1

[starlite79]

Hi,

I would like to create a list of the 15 most recent files in a directory. So far I've used the command

ls -rt | tail -15

My question is: How do I assign this to a variable, say LIST, and then copy the list to a file, as in

cp $LIST > $INPUT_LIST ?

My goal is to use this list in a Fortran program to read those 15 files as input.

I am using Korn shell.

 

[fpmurphy]

You can also save the output of ls directly to a file

ls -1 -rt | tail -15 > file

 

[starlite79]

Yes. But I'm trying to do this inside of a script. I would like to set that ls command to a variable.

 

[starlite79]

Figured it out!

 

[KenCunningham]

If you've figured it out, you might like to share for the benefit of others searching for a similar solution. Presumably, you based it on fpmurphy's contribution?

I want to be good, is that not enough?

 

[europe]

try


LIST=/somedirectory/tmpfile.tmp
ls -al /TheDirectoryYouWantToMonitor> 2>/dev/null | tail -5 > $LIST
cat $LIST > /somedirectory/output.txt
rm /somedirectory/tmpfile.tmp

Please let me know if the information that was provided is helpfull.
Edwin Plat
A.K.A. Europe

 

[starlite79]

Good point, Ken. Yes, I did follow fpmurphy's suggestion.

Since I wanted to use the latest 15 files of a particular extension, I did the following:

LIST=$(ls -rt *.ext | tail -15 > OUTPUT.LIST )

where .ext is any extension you want. Europe's suggestion looks good too, though I have not tested it. The OUTPUT.LIST will get overwritten each time a newer file comes along, but that is what I want it to do.

Hopefully others may find the above useful.

 

[feherke]

Hi

Huh ?

                     [red]redirecting output[/red]
                               [red]v[/red]
LIST=$(ls -rt *.ext | tail -15 > OUTPUT.LIST )
      [blue]^[/blue]                                      [blue]^[/blue]
      [blue]`----------- capturing output ---------'[/blue]

After the output is redirected nothing remains to be captured. So $LIST will be always empty. You will need only one of those : either the redirection or the capturing.

Feherke.

http://rootshell.be/~feherke/