Unix pipe: find | ln -s

Question

I'm trying to symlink some php files using the following command:

find `pwd` -name "*.php" | ln -s * /home/frankv/www/bietroboter.de/symlinks

However, all the symlinks are broken because the little * does not reference the full path, only the file name itself. When I write them into a file using:

find `pwd` -name "*.php" > test.txt

It works. How can I pipe it correctly? Also, how can I tell it that I do not want any ".php" files that contain ".php~"

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 02 '11 at 19:02

6

A pipe takes the stdout from one process and connects it to the stdin of the next process; that doesn't make any sense for what you're trying to do (ln doesn't do anything with stdin).

You probably want something like this (untested):

find `pwd` -name "*.php" -execdir ln -s {} /home/frankv/www/bietroboter.de/symlinks \;

answered Dec 02 '11 at 19:02

Oliver Charlesworth

1,052
7
11

Thanks Oli. What would I do if, let's say, they are all written down in a file and I read them out with cat test.txt? – Frank Vilea Dec 02 '11 at 19:24

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 16 '20 at 16:06

1

You can also use xargs to execute commands from standard input:

find pwd -name "*.php" | xargs ln -s -t /home/frankv/www/bietroboter.de/symlinks

answered Jul 16 '20 at 16:06

Andrija

11
1

Unix pipe: find | ln -s

2 Answers2