How to move list of files from different directories to new directory using bash-CodePudding

I used find to look for .pdf files on my second drive and there are hundreds of results from different subdirectories but I only needed to copy/move these particular pdf files to new directory.

I copy pasted their paths/filenames to moveme.txt.

I am thinking of cat moveme.txt | xargs command but i am stocked there. Please help.

I tried cat moveme.txt | xargs -0 -I % sh -c 'sudo mv -v % /new/directory/' and failed. How to do this right?

edit: I like to add that this path/filenames have spaces. Maybe it matters.

excerpt:

./busd/0128/csm/sorting/read-ables/linus/CLI/Bash-Beginners-Guide-new.pdf
./busd/0128/csm/3t2/readables/etc/xulin/Shell Scripting.pdf
./busd/0128/csm/dais6/Dearables/assorted/Bash Pocket Reference - Arnold Robbins.pdf

CodePudding user response：

This works even if your filenames contain spaces:

xargs -I {} sudo mv -v {} /new/directory </tmp/moveme.txt

I assume that moveme.txt contains one path to a file per line.

CodePudding user response：

Try with this:-

mv dir/* /dir2

CodePudding user response：

Suggesting to dry-run printing each ireversible mv cmd before execution:

  awk '{cmd = "mv \"" $0 "\" /new/directory/"; print cmd}' moveme.txt

When read to execute mv command:

  awk '{cmd = "mv \"" $0 "\" /new/directory/"; system cmd}' moveme.txt

Another option is to transform your moveme.txt file into a bash script using sed command and inspect moveme.sh before execution.

  sed -r 's|(^$)|mv "\1" /new/directory/|' moveme.txt > moveme.sh

Inspect moveme.sh and run it.

  chmod a x ./moveme.sh
  bash ./moveme.sh