How to List Video Files with Specific Extensions in GNU Bash

List Video Files with Specific Extensions in GNU Bash

In this article, we will learn how to list video files with specific extensions such as .mp4 and .avi using the powerful GNU Bash scripting language. We will cover regular expressions, file globbing, and other relevant concepts to help you master this skill.

Understanding Regular Expressions

To efficiently filter files based on their extensions, it's crucial to understand regular expressions (regex). A regular expression is a sequence of characters that forms a search pattern. It can be used to check whether a string contains the desired sequence of characters. In our case, we will use regex to match file extensions.

File Globbing in Bash

Bash provides file globbing, a feature that allows you to match filenames using wildcard characters. Common wildcards include:

• *: Matches any string, including an empty string
• ?: Matches any single character
• [...]: Matches any single character found within the brackets

Listing Video Files with Specific Extensions

Now, let's create a Bash script that lists video files with the .mp4 and .avi extensions. Here's the script:

Explanation:

• #!/bin/bash: Specifies the shell to be used for interpreting the script
• dir="/path/to/your/directory": Defines the target directory
• exts="(\.mp4|\.avi)": Defines the allowed extensions using regex
• find "$dir" -type f: Starts searching in the specified directory for files (-type f)
• -regextype posix-egrep: Sets the regex type to posix-egrep
• -regex ".*/([^/]*$exts)": Filters the results based on the regex pattern. This pattern looks for any filename ending with .mp4 or .avi.

This article covered listing video files with specific extensions using regex and file globbing in GNU Bash. With Bash's find command and the correct regex pattern, you can easily filter files based on their extensions or other criteria.

References

• Bash Pattern Matching
• GNU Findutils Manual
• Regular Expressions Info