Moving file using test command

Shell Programming and Scripting
1

My process creates file like

abc.20090427.txt i.e abc.date.txt

next time when my process it has to detect if any previous "abc" exist.
If exist then move to archive and create a new abc file.

I am using test command but it doesnt allow wild card.

if [[ -f abc.*.txt ]]
then 
mv abc.*.txt archive/abc.*.txt
fi

case statement will not work in this scenario since it cannot detect whether the file "abc" already exists.

Appreciate your help

2

That is not the test command; the test command is test or [.

is_file() { [ -f "$1" ]; }

if is_file abc.*.txt
then
  mv abc.*.txt archive/
fi
3

In my directory i have
abc.txt
def.txt

#!/bin/ksh
is_file() { [ -f "$1" ]; }
if is_file *.txt
then
  mv *.txt archive
fi

when i run the above code the files are still there

4

What is the output of this script:

is_file() { [ -f "$1" ]; }

printf "%s\n" *.txt
if is_file *.txt
then
  mv *.txt archive
fi
printf "%s\n" *.txt

This version of is_file is a little more robust:

is_file() {
  for f; do
    [ -f "$f" ] && return
  done
  return 1
}
5

Tried both doesnt gives any output.

I have two files with .txt at ending but they are not moved

#!/bin/ksh
is_file() {
  for f; do
    [ -f "$1" ] && return
  done
  return 1
}
printf "%s\n" *.txt
if is_file *.txt
then
  mv *.txt archive
fi
printf "%s\n" *.txt


#!/bin/ksh
is_file() {
  for f; do
    [ -f "$f" ] && return
  done
  return 1
}
printf "%s\n" *.txt
if is_file *.txt
then
  mv *.txt archive
fi
printf "%s\n" *.txt
~
~
6

If there is no output, you don't have any *.txt files in the current directory.

Are you running the script in a different directory?

7

I am running in the directory where i have two .txt files
ABC.txt
DEF.txt

Script runs no output and files are not moved

$ksh -x test
+ + basename test
cmd=test
+ test
8

If there is no output, then there are no *.txt files in the directory, or you are not running the code I gave you.

What is the result of this command typed at the command line in the same directory where you ran the script:

pwd
ls -l *.txt

Now, what is the result of these commands, also run at the command prompt in the same directory:

pwd
ls -l *.txt
mv *.txt archive
ls -l *.txt

Don't give your scripts the same name as a standard command; test is both a shell builtin and an external command.