UNIX/AWK Tricks: How to copy a long list of files into a directory

1. Make your list of files, with complete paths, call it “imgList.txt”. Put every file on a new line.
2. Write a small awk script with the following 1 line:

   { printf("cp %s images/\n", $0);}

3. Save the script as “copyList.awk”
4. Do the following command:

   awk -f copyList.awk imgList.txt | sh

Brief explanation of the awk script:

• %s means you’re putting a string in that spot of your output,
• $0 is the string you’re putting there
• $0 is a match for each line in the file “imgList.txt”
• images/ is the directory to copy your files to (in this example relative to where the command will be run from – can be absolute, of course)
• \n stands for new line

brief explanation of the command:

• awk executes the awk code found in “copyList.awk” on the lines found in “imgList.txt” and pipes the output to the shell ( | sh).