Copy files from Folder A to Folder B based on Text File C with bash

Question

How do I copy files from Folder A to Folder B based on Text File C with bash?

folderA: source folder with image files only, e.g. image01.png, image02.png etc. There are no space in the image names, only dash or underscore
folderB: destination folder with nothing inside.
C.txt: is a UTF16 encoded raw text file, inside the text file stored the file names that I want to copy from folderA and these file names are line by line
```
image01.png
image02.png
image04.png
```

Specific paths are

What do you mean "based on text file C"? Can you provide an example of how you expect this to work? — Allan, Commented Jan 15, 2019 at 14:38
I'm glad that you found a solution but the solution doesn't match your question- "How do I copy files from one directory to another based on a text file with filenames" — fd0, Commented Jan 16, 2019 at 16:40
I don't think so fd0, I do exactly this : I changed directory to folderA then 'cp argument1 argument2' where argument 1 is a chain of file names that I want and separated by a space; argument2 is the destination. Talking is unreal, test it in your local host. — gcplau, Commented Jan 16, 2019 at 16:44
Please don‘t add the answer to the Question, Post it as an answer below instead. It might also help to make sure the formatting is correct, and to show how you use C.txt in your solution. — nohillside, Commented Jan 16, 2019 at 16:49

nohillside · Accepted Answer · 2019-01-16 15:58:16Z

2

Assuming your file C contains a list of file names to copy:

A="~/Documents/folderA"
B="~/Documents/folderB"
while IFS= read -r file; do
    cp "${A}/${file}" "${B}/"
done < ~/Documents/c.txt

should do the trick.

answered Jan 15, 2019 at 14:48

nohillside♦

104k42 gold badges222 silver badges275 bronze badges

cd ~/ to change director cp (paste chain of file names here now) (then, type a space) then type your destination folder path/name (hit return)
– gcplau
Commented Jan 16, 2019 at 15:59
this link will help any newbies : openclassrooms.com/en/courses/…
– gcplau
Commented Jan 16, 2019 at 16:01
Tried many times, this script doesn't work for me.
– gcplau
Commented Jan 19, 2019 at 16:28
@gcplau What exactly doesn‘t work?
– nohillside ♦
Commented Jan 20, 2019 at 10:42

Add a comment |

1 Answer 1