" mv * dir " doesn't work in a script?

Question

I want to move all the files to a new dir. From the command line I can do "mv . newdir" but if I try with this script:

#!/bin/bash -f
#
mkdir newdir
mv *.* newdir

I get the following message:

mv: rename *.* to newdir/*.*: No such file or directory

Answer 1

If you want to move all files, try this:

mkdir newdir

find . -type f -exec mv "{}" newdir \;

Answer 2

The first line of your script reads like:

#!/bin/bash -f

You are passing the -f switch to bash when the script is invoked. This causes the shell to disable file name expansion, which is also known as globbing or pattern matching. Remove that -f from the shebang line.

Also, you should note that to select all files in bash you use just "*", and not "*.*". The later would select only files with a dot in their names. This may also cause you to try to put the directory into itself, which is an invalid operation.

Answer 3

mmm... I do not why but the script is not clear in my post... it goes again:

!/bin/csh -f

mkdir newdir

mv . newdir

Answer 4

Thank you very much!