CODEWITHSUNDEEP
bash
cf2
cf2

Reputation: 591

Check if file exists using full paths and wildcard for filename bash

I need to be able to check if a filename with a certain string exists within a directory of files using bash. In this example I want to check if there are files that contain the date 20171101 in their filename:

[ -e "/path/to/data/dir/*20171101*" ] && echo true || echo false

When I use find *20171101* within the directory it returns the files containing that date. However when I try the same method on the full path I get a binary operator expected error. This is both for -e and find.

What I need is to be able to search files using a wildcard and the full path and echo true/false when the condition is met. There can be multiple files, but it should return true when at least 1 file is found that meets the condition. Furthermore I need to execute it in 1 line. Thanks!

Upvotes: 3

Views: 10891

Answers (1)

John Zwinck
John Zwinck

Reputation: 249123

[ -n "$(find /path/to/data/dir -name '*20171101*' | head -1)" ] && ...

The quoting is important to prevent the shell from expanding it in the current directory. You need to use test -n because find alone won't tell you if it found matches or not. The head -1 stops when it finds a match, so you don't waste time looking for more.

Upvotes: 6

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