Read command interactively in a for loop

Question

I'd like to delete some mp3 files interactively as follows

$ for i in *.mp3; do mplayer "$i"; echo "$i"; sleep 5; interactive_code; done

The interactive_code should delete "$i" file when I press rm, move it to tmp dir when I press mv or continue in a loop when I press space.

it might simplify things to use "continue in a loop if I press ENTER" instead of space-bar; would that be acceptable? — Jeff Schaller, Sep 01 '17 at 00:57
Have you tried to use a menu option in bash? I believe this can solve your problem since you are required to enter some input in order to follow the original loop. http://tldp.org/LDP/Bash-Beginners-Guide/html/sect_09_06.html — Christopher Díaz Riveros, Sep 01 '17 at 01:21
@ChristopherDíazRiveros, I recommend [*not* using tldp](https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/59425/135943). Instead, try the [Wooledge Bash Wiki](http://mywiki.wooledge.org/BashGuide/TestsAndConditionals#Choices_.28case_and_select.29). — Wildcard, Sep 01 '17 at 01:32
What do you exactly mean by "continue in a loop"? Do you want to play the song indefinitely until you press `rm` or `mv`? Or neither delete nor move the file and continue the `for` loop with the next file? I made an answer assuming the second scenario. — nxnev, Sep 01 '17 at 06:15

nxnev · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-01T06:27:48.023

3

This script should do the work:

#!/usr/bin/env bash

for i in ./*.mp3; do

  mplayer "${i}"
  printf '%s\n' "${i}"

  read -p 'What to do?: ' -r ans

  if [[ "${ans}" == 'rm' ]]; then
    rm "${i}"
  elif [[ "${ans}" == 'mv' ]]; then
    mv "${i}" 'tmp'
  fi

done

PS: It assumes that the tmp directory already exists and is in your current working directory. If it is in another location or you were refering to the /tmp directory, just change that part of the code.

edited Sep 01 '17 at 06:27

answered Sep 01 '17 at 06:15

nxnev

3,634
2
12
28

Read comments; given the `read` command, no need for `sleep`. – Wildcard Sep 01 '17 at 06:18
btw. When I type `$ man read` it will display man page for read(2) not [this](http://linuxcommand.org/lc3_man_pages/readh.html). Can I see it from the command line as well? – xralf Sep 01 '17 at 09:03
1

@xralf `read` is a shell builtin, so you should type `$ help read` instead. – nxnev Sep 01 '17 at 09:05

Wildcard · Answer 2 · 2017-09-01T07:01:52.467

1

Untested. This isn't quite what you asked for as it gives two prompts. Type 'y' and press enter on the first prompt to move the file to /tmp (in which case second prompt is skipped), or pass 'y' to the second prompt to remove the file. Ignore both prompts (press enter) to continue with no action.

find *.mp3 -type f -exec mplayer {} \; \( \
  -ok mv -i {} /tmp \; -o \
  -ok rm {} \; \)

edited Sep 01 '17 at 07:01

answered Sep 01 '17 at 06:17

Wildcard

35,316
26
130
258

Kusalananda · Answer 3 · 2017-09-03T18:34:45.020

This gives the user a menu after playing a file:

TMPDIR=${TMPDIR:-/tmp}

for name in ./*.mp3; do
    test -f "$name" || continue

    printf 'Playing "%s"...\n' "$name"
    mplayer "$name"

    select ch in "Move $name to $TMPDIR" "Remove $name"; do
        case "$REPLY" in
            1)  mv "$name" "$TMPDIR" ;;
            2)  rm "$name" ;;
            *)  echo 'Invalid choice' >&2
                continue ;;
        esac
        break
    done
done

This script does not require bash, any sh shell should do.

Read command interactively in a for loop

3 Answers3