Скачать или смотреть How to Count Files in Specific Subdirectories Efficiently Using Bash

A comprehensive guide on counting specific files in subdirectories on a Debian machine using bash scripting. Learn how to optimize your commands for efficiency!
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/62358703/ asked by the user 'Radek' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/12947808/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/62358768/ provided by the user 'Slawomir Dziuba' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/11187838/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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Counting sess_* Files in Specific Subdirectories: A Step-by-Step Guide

When working with large sets of data and numerous directories, efficiently counting specific files can be a daunting task. This post addresses a common scenario: counting session files located in tmp directories of client folders on a Debian machine. Whether you’re a system administrator or a data analyst, mastering this technique can significantly speed up your workflows.

Understanding the Problem

Imagine a directory hierarchy where multiple clients have their respective directories filled with data. Your goal is to quantify sess_* files—those session files you care about—in multiple tmp subdirectories scattered throughout the client structures. Each client might have a different number of directories, but the sess_* files are consistently found only in the immediate tmp directories and not within their subdirectories.

Here's how your directory structure may look:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

To solve this, we will break the task into manageable steps and leverage the power of bash scripting.

Step 1: Build a List of tmp Directories

The first step is to construct a list of all the tmp directories we want to investigate. The following bash script does just that:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Explanation:

-type d: Ensures we are only searching for directories.

-maxdepth 1: Limits the search to one level deep to avoid unnecessary subdirectory searching.

-name "tmp": Specifies that we only want directories named tmp.

> list: Redirects the output to a file called list.

By creating a separate list, we enhance execution speed and reduce strain on the system, as it doesn’t need to search for tmp directories every time we run the command.

Step 2: Counting sess_* Files in Each tmp Directory

The next step is to iterate through our list of tmp directories and count the sess_* files. Below is the script that performs this action:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Explanation:

for x in \cat list``: Reads each line from the list file.

printf "%s \t" $x: Displays the directory name.

find $x -maxdepth 1 -type f -name "sess_*": Searches for files named sess_* in the current tmp directory.

-exec printf "1" ;: Outputs a '1' for each file found.

| wc -c: Counts the number of characters outputted (which equals the number of files).

Example Output

When you run the second script, you can expect results structured like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

This format provides not only the path to each tmp directory but also a count of sess_* files found within.

Final Thoughts

By implementing this solution, you can effectively count files in specific subdirectories with great efficiency. The separation into distinct tasks—building a list and then counting—ensures that the process runs smoothly even when dealing with large numbers of files.

Keep in mind, however, that if you use different versions of the find command, some warnings may occur depending upon the order of flags. Always consult the man find command for more in-depth information.

With this guide, you're now equipped to handle the task efficiently. Happy counting!