for loop not working in a shell script

Question

I've been always using the following format for a "for loop" in a shell script :

example:

for i in {11001..110039}  
do
cp /home/usr/BB${i}  /home/usr/

now, I am getting the following error :

/home/usr/BB{11001..11039} does not exist

it should consider all the files BB11001 to BB11039, it was always working like this, and now I don't know why am I getting this error. Any help ?

is grammar right? should it be for i in words; do #statements done? — scorpiozj
– scorpiozj, Commented May 5, 2014 at 11:08

pah · Accepted Answer · 2014-05-05 11:16:40Z

2

You're probably using /bin/sh instead of /bin/bash.

Edit #1 (PoC):

$ bash --version
GNU bash, version 4.2.45(1)-release (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)
Copyright (C) 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>

This is free software; you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

$ cat t.sh 
#!/bin/bash

for i in {1..5}
do
echo $i
done
$ ./t.sh
1
2
3
4
5
$

And with /bin/sh:

$ cat t.sh 
#!/bin/sh

for i in {1..5}
do
echo $i
done
$ ./t.sh
{1..5}
$

edited May 5, 2014 at 11:16

answered May 5, 2014 at 11:01

pah

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4 Comments

pah Over a year ago

Can you provide your bash version (if you're really using bash)?

infoSyStem Over a year ago

GNU bash version 4.1.5

pah Over a year ago

I'm not sure in which version that syntax was introduced, but v4.1.5 seems to be recent enough to implement it.

pah Over a year ago

I've tried it now with version 4.2.45 and it's running flawlessly. Anyway, you can always use the for ((i=11001;i<=110039;i++)); syntax.

rubenafo · Accepted Answer · 2014-05-05 11:09:02Z

1

The syntax should be:

for i in {11001..110039}; do cp /home/usr/BB${i} /home/usr/; done

answered May 5, 2014 at 11:09

rubenafo

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1 Comment

pah Over a year ago

It's irrelevant. OP syntax is correct as far as he's using a 'done' statement after cp

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