9.5 Build Strings with { }

I've been finding more and more uses for the {} pattern-expansion characters in csh , tcsh , and bash . (Other shells can use {} , too; see article 15.3 .) They're similar to * , ? , and [] ( 15.2 ) , but they don't match filenames the way that * , ? , and [] do. You can give them arbitrary text (not just filenames) to expand - that "expand-anything" ability is what makes them so useful.

Here are some examples to get you thinking:

• To fix a typo in a filename (change fixbold5.c to fixbold6.c ):

  % 
  
  mv fixbold{5,6}.c
  
  

  An easy way to see what the shell does with {} is by adding echo ( 8.6 ) before the mv :

  % 
  
  echo mv fixbold{5,6}.c
  
  
  mv fixbold5.c fixbold6.c

• To copy filename to filename.bak in one easy step:

  % 
  
  cp filename{,.bak}
  
  

• To print files from other directory(s) without retyping the whole pathname:

  % 
  
  lpr /usr3/hannah/training/{ed,vi,mail}/lab.{ms,out}
  
  

  That would give lpr ( 43.2 ) all of these files:

  /usr3/hannah/training/ed/lab.ms
  /usr3/hannah/training/ed/lab.out
  /usr3/hannah/training/vi/lab.ms
  /usr3/hannah/training/vi/lab.out
  /usr3/hannah/training/mail/lab.ms
  /usr3/hannah/training/mail/lab.out

  ...in one fell swoop!

• To edit ten new files that don't exist yet:

  % 
  
  vi /usr/foo/file{a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j}
  
  

  That would make /usr/foo/filea , /usr/foo/fileb , ... /usr/foo/filej . Because the files don't exist before the command starts, the wildcard vi   /usr/foo/file[a-j] would not work ( 9.4 ) .

• An easy way to step through three-digit numbers 000, 001, ..., 009, 010, 011, ..., 099, 100, 101, ... 299 is:

  foreach	foreach n ({0,1,2}{0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}{0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}) ... Do whatever with the number $n ... end

  Yes, csh also has built-in arithmetic, but its @ operator ( 47.4 ) can't make numbers with leading zeros. This nice trick shows that the {} operators are good for more than just filenames.

• To create sets of subdirectories:

  % 
  
  mkdir man
  
  
  % 
  
  mkdir man/{man,cat}{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8}
  
  
  % 
  
  ls -F man
  
  
  cat1/   cat3/   cat5/   cat7/   man1/   man3/   man5/   man7/
  cat2/   cat4/   cat6/   cat8/   man2/   man4/   man6/   man8/

• To print ten copies of the file project_report (if your lpr ( 43.2 ) command doesn't have a -#10 option):

  % 
  
  lpr project_repor{t,t,t,t,t,t,t,t,t,t}