2

If we have a dir/file setup like the following

var
  |-->usr
  |    |-FileA
  |    |-FileB
  |    |-FileC
  |    |-FileD

How can I move FileA and FileD without specifying the path twice like in the following cmd?

mv /var/usr/FileA /var/usr/FileB /home
Anthon
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Jackarter
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2 Answers2

5

Try doing this :

mv /var/usr/{FileA,FileB} /home

or :

( cd /var/usr/ && mv FileA FileB /home )

The later one use a subshell to return to the previous PATH.

Check brace expansion

Stéphane Chazelas
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Gilles Quénot
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2

You could just do:

mv /va[r]/usr/File[AB] /home

And possibly even...

mv /va[r]/usr/File[AB] /home
mikeserv
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  • What's the point of the brackets around `[r]`? – Noumenon Dec 23 '16 at 14:49
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    @noumenon - they expand the known `/var/` path first so the stderr is more easy to test. i did an answer on it somewhere here that made more sense before - especially where `*` is used - but its not especially useful without variables. basically, even if you insert variables somewhere in the path, a filename that exists will always evaluate to `/var/...` whereas any broken or inaccessible pathname will work out to `/va[r]/...` – mikeserv Dec 31 '16 at 22:46