linux - Basic Bash Function to find and copy files based on filetype

Question

I use the little bit of code below to find files in a folder with a given filetype and then copy them to a different folder.

find ./ -name '*.chk' -exec cp -prv '{}' "./" ';'

I tried to change this into a function in my .bash_profile so I could use it more quickly, but for some reason, it's not working. By not working, I mean nothing seems to happen when I execute "mymove .txt folder". Bash just goes to a new line, ready to accept more input.

mymove() {
        find ./ -name "$1" -exec cp -prv '{}' "$2" ';';
}

Any advice?

question from:https://stackoverflow.com/questions/65901490/basic-bash-function-to-find-and-copy-files-based-on-filetype

Answer 1

You mention that you execute mymove with two parameters, .txt and folder:

$ mymove .txt folder

This will not work as .txt doesn't match any files, change it to:

$ mymove '*.txt' folder

Note the quotes, you do not want to shell to expand *.txt.