Les Mikesell wrote: >On Thu, 2006-06-22 at 07:21, Robert wrote: > > >>Can someone explain why this: >> find . -depth -print0 | cpio --null -pmd /tmp/test >>will copy all files in and below the current directory -and- this: >> find . -depth -print | grep -v .iso$ | wc -l >>will count all the non-iso files -and- this: >> find . -depth -print | grep .iso$ | wc -l >>will count *only* the iso files -but- this: >>find . -depth -print0 | grep -v .iso$ | cpio --null -pmd /tmp/test >>doesn't copy *anything*? >>Any suggestions for a work-around would also be most welcome. >> >> > >This doesn't have much to do with bash except that you >could easily see the answer if you left off the last element >of that last pipeline so you could see the output from >grep. You are feeding grep one long line with null >terminated filenames when it wants things one separate >lines. You can let find do the selection: > >find . -depth ! -name '*.iso' -print0 | cpio ... >but I'd probably: >rsync -av --exclude '*.iso' . /tmp/test >instead. > > > Thanks to all who replied and an apology for not acknowledging them earlier. I had to leave almost immediately after posing the problem. Aside from answering my questions, I'd say that 14 responses within 49 minutes of my original post is a testament to the helpful attitude that characterizes this list. Best regards