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Accepted
SaidbakR
Asked: 2023-02-12 00:02:25 +0800 CST

Is there any way to control ls output format

  • 772

I have a directory contains some svg images among its contents. I list them with following ls command to save the output in a file:

ls *200px.svg > animList.js

The output file looks like:

file1-200px.svg
file2-200px.svg
file3-200px.svg
...
fileX-200px.svg

I need the file name to be written like 'fileX-200px.svg', to easily make this files list working like JavaScript array. i.e. I need the output file to be:

'file1-200px.svg',
'file2-200px.svg',
'file3-200px.svg',
...
'fileX-200px.svg',

So at the end I just need to add something like var arr = [ at the beginning of the file and then add ]; at the end of the file to work as JavaScript array. Is there any way in Linux to control the output display of the ls command?

ls

2 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Although you can alter the formatting of ls output to some extent, for example

    LC_CTYPE=C ls --quoting-style=locale *200px.svg

    for single-quotes (see info coreutils ls 'formatting the file names' for details) it would be simpler just pass the results of the glob to the shell's printf function:

    printf "'%s',\n" *200px.svg
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  2. Additionally to the accepted answer, we can group three printf commands to generate complete JavaScript array file without the need to manual editing:

    (printf "var arr =[\n" && printf "'%s',\n" *.svg && printf "];") >animList.js

    I placed the above command in an executable listing.sh file in the same directory for easier call later:

    #!/bin/bash
(printf "var arr =[\n" && printf "'%s',\n" *.svg && printf "];") >animList.js
echo "Done!"

    ?Notice:

    This is not an answer. It is only an addition to optimize the value of the question's solution in a practical aspect.

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