Zip It Your Way: A Bash Script for Selective File Archiving

In computational chemistry research, organizing large datasets is essential. To streamline archiving selected files while preserving folder structures, I wrote a Bash script that compresses files based on extensions, facilitating archival of simulation results, inputs, and other critical data while excluding unnecessary files.

The complete code of the script is given below:

#!/bin/bash

usage() {
    echo "Usage: $0 -ext [extensions] -f [folder]"
    echo "  -ext  List of file extensions to include in the zip without the dot (e.g., xyz inp out)"
    echo "  -f    Target directory to zip"
    exit 1
}

exit_with_message() {
    echo "$1"
    exit 1
}

# Initial check for no arguments
if [ "$#" -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "No arguments provided. You will be prompted to enter the necessary information."
    # Prompt for extensions
    echo "Enter file extensions to include (space-separated, no dots, e.g., xyz inp out):"
    read -ra extensions
    if [ ${#extensions[@]} -eq 0 ]; then
        exit_with_message "No extensions provided. Exiting."
    fi
    # Prompt for folder
    echo "Enter the target folder to zip:"
    read folder
    if [ -z "$folder" ]; then
        exit_with_message "No folder provided. Exiting."
    fi
else
    # Initialize variables
    declare -a extensions
    folder=""

    # Parse command line arguments
    while [[ "$#" -gt 0 ]]; do
        case $1 in
            -ext) shift
                  while [[ "$#" -gt 0 && "${1:0:1}" != "-" ]]; do
                      extensions+=("${1#.}")
                      shift
                  done ;;
            -f)   shift
                  folder="${1%/}"
                  shift ;;
            *)    echo "Unknown parameter passed: $1"
                  usage ;;
        esac
    done

    # Verify if extensions and folder are properly specified
    if [ ${#extensions[@]} -eq 0 ] || [ -z "$folder" ]; then
        exit_with_message "Error: Missing required parameters. Exiting."
    fi
fi

# Check if the specified folder exists
if [ ! -d "$folder" ]; then
    exit_with_message "Error: The specified folder '$folder' does not exist. Exiting."
fi

# Prepare the find command with dynamic inclusion of file extensions
cmd="find $folder \( -false"
for ext in "${extensions[@]}"; do
    cmd+=" -o -name '*.$ext'"
done
cmd+=" \) -print"

# Run the find command and zip the results
if eval $cmd | zip -@ "${folder}.zip" -x "*/.DS_Store"; then
    echo "${folder}.zip has been created with the specified file types."
else
    exit_with_message "Failed to create zip file. Exiting."
fi

Download Link

zip_by_extension Download

How to Use the Script
Save the Script: Save the script to a file, e.g., zip_by_extension.sh.

Make the Script Executable: Run chmod +x zip_by_extension.sh to make the script executable.

Run the Script: Use the following command to run the script:

./zip_by_extension.sh -ext txt log csv -f your_directory

This command will create a your_directory.zip file containing only the .txt, .log, and .csv files from the your_directory folder and its subfolders, preserving the directory structure. If the script is run without arguments, it will ask to input the extensions and folder through an interactive prompt.

Zip It Your Way: A Bash Script for Selective File Archiving

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