Script to create 200 test files in my directory with a timestamp different by 1 second or so...

[Shaun Aldrich]

Hello everyone,

Does anyone know how to create a Script which will create 200 test files in my directory with a timestamp different by 1 second or so... I would greatly appreciate any help...

I believe this would be done with a For loop..

Shaun Aldrich
SAldrich@chaptersinc.com

[Scott D. Allen]

shaun,

you can try something like this....

#!/bin/sh
i=0
while [ $i -lt 200 ]
do
touch file${i}
sleep 1
i=`expr $i + 1`
done

--Scott

[Steve Sauve]

I would do something like this:

count=0
while [ $count != 1001 ]
do
touch ./file.$count
sleep 1
count=`expr ${count} + 1`
done

Then just change the sleep line based on the time delay you want.

Hope this helps,
Steve

[Tom Danzig]

How about:

#!/usr/bin/csh

@ count = 0

while ($count < 60)
if($count < 10) set count = "0${count}"
touch -t 082012${count} xxx${count}.tmp
touch -t 082112${count} yyy${count}.tmp
@ count ++
end

[Shaun Aldrich]

Thanks a lot for your response Scott... What does the following line do?

i=`expr $i + 1`

What is the expr? Do I need to replace that with anything? Sorry about all the questions but I am really rusty on scripting...

Do I need to do anything else to it?

Thanks for you help...

Shaun Aldrich
SAldrich@chaptersinc.com

[John Palmer · Accepted solution]

Or using shell integer arithmetic:-

#!/usr/bin/sh

let I=1

while (( I < 201 ));
do
touch file${I}
let I=I+1
sleep 1
done

[Steve Sauve]

The expr just lets you up the variable by one (which is used to name the next file).

Hope this helps,
Steve

[Scott D. Allen]

Shaun,
Steve's right. It just increments the counter. It could be more sexy if you use csh or ksh.
--Scott

[James R. Ferguson]

Shaun:

All of the responses given to your question do the job as you requested. At the risk of nit-picking, I thought that I might point out that the timestamps that you will see with a 'ls' command only show precision of one-minute.

If you aren't impatient, you could change the sleep interval to 60+ seconds. Otherwise, you could use the 'touch' command with its '-t' option to create files that you can more readily distinguish.

...JRF...

[Shaun Aldrich]

Thanks for your help everyone...

I just created the following script and called it test1.

#!/usr/bin/ksh
i=0
while [ $i -lt 200 ]
do
touch file${i}
sleep 1
i=`expr $i + 1`
done

when I execute it I get the following error message:

./test1[4]: $i: unknown test operator

Does anyone have any idea why?

When I do an ls on the directory where I execute the script I now have two listings. Both the script test1 and a blank file called file0.

Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

Shaun Aldrich

[Shaun Aldrich]

Thanks for your help everyone...

I just created the following script and called it test1.

#!/usr/bin/ksh
i=0
while [ $i -lt 200 ]
do
touch file${i}
sleep 1
i=`expr $i + 1`
done

when I execute it I get the following error message:

./test1[4]: $i: unknown test operator

Does anyone have any idea why?

When I do an ls on the directory where I execute the script I now have two listings. Both the script test1 and a blank file called file0.

Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

Shaun Aldrich

[Rick Garland]

Put some double quotes around the $i and the 200.

while [ "$i" -lt "200" ]

[Anthony deRito]

Shaun, [ $i -lt 200 ] is an arithmetic conditional. Use (( )) to evaluate relational operators in an arithmetic conditional. The result is NOT a textual result, it just sets an exit status according to the truth of the expression. 0 for true or 1 for false. So for example,

((${i} < 200))
if [ $? = 0 ];then
echo "the exp is true"
[do whatever]
else
echo "the exp is false"
[do whatever]
fi

Tony

[John Palmer]

Shell integer arithmetic and the let construct are easier to understand and are more efficient than string manipulation. See my example above.

[Steve Sauve]

Make sure it's i=0 (as in zero)...

Silly, but it could be the problem.
Steve