Selecting file names in a shell - one word or another

For 2023 (and 2024 ...) - we are now fully retired from IT training.
We have made many, many friends over 25 years of teaching about Python, Tcl, Perl, PHP, Lua, Java, C and C++ - and MySQL, Linux and Solaris/SunOS too. Our training notes are now very much out of date, but due to upward compatability most of our examples remain operational and even relevant ad you are welcome to make us if them "as seen" and at your own risk.

Lisa and I (Graham) now live in what was our training centre in Melksham - happy to meet with former delegates here - but do check ahead before coming round. We are far from inactive - rather, enjoying the times that we are retired but still healthy enough in mind and body to be active!

I am also active in many other area and still look after a lot of web sites - you can find an index ((here))

If you want to select all file names that include the words "cat" or "dog" in them with file name matching, you can do so using curly braces - that's supported by most modern shells as part of what is known as "globbing".

Here's an example - I've just been copying images off my digital camera and I wanted all files from 28th January, 31st January and 1st February - so file names starting P128, P131 and P201, and this is what I wrote:

cp /Volumes/Untitled/DCIM/100OLYMP/P{128,131,201}* .

Sometimes, there is confusion between square brackets and curly braces in file name matching. If I had written
[128,131,201]
I would have been looking for any ONE character from the list in the brackets - so that's a 0 1 2 3 8 or comma (and the specification of the comma 1 and 2 several times would have shown that I didn't realise what I was doing. And if I had written
[128][131][201]
then I would have been looking for a 1 2 or 8 followed by a 1 or 3 (or 1!) followed by s 2 a 0 or a 1

Oh - want to see one of the pictures?

Nottingham at Night - City Centre
(written 2008-02-02)

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Some other Articles

Expecting a item from a list of possibles
Railway Acronyms and Abbreviations
Tcl - learning how to use namespaces, packages and libraries together
Object Oriented Tcl
Selecting file names in a shell - one word or another
Carers at work - court case changes
Just one thing let the service down - but that is my memory
Nottingham - just text!
Ive just received an email from myself. Should I be worried?
Paging Martin Noke, who petitions for more trains from Trowbridge to Swindon

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This is a page archived from The Horse's Mouth at http://www.wellho.net/horse/ - the diary and writings of Graham Ellis. Every attempt was made to provide current information at the time the page was written, but things do move forward in our business - new software releases, price changes, new techniques. Please check back via our main site for current courses, prices, versions, etc - any mention of a price in "The Horse's Mouth" cannot be taken as an offer to supply at that price.

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