OK, a REAL Linux question... ; -) Ineeda"one-liner" (because I am lazy)

Stephen P Rufle stephen.p.rufle at cox.net
Fri Feb 27 13:22:32 MST 2009


As a developer. I have found that if I can not find an old file with
what I remember doing. It is often just quicker to redo what I need.

This is where a desktop google with some sort of meta data tagging would
come in handy.

google local:
find me "A dotted army soldier"

did you mean Makefile foo.makefile :)


kitepilot at kitepilot.com wrote:
>>> Well it sounds like from your first post this was a one time deal.
> Right now it is, but I could probably find a use for it in the future... 
> 
>>> "most closely" implies, I don't know what it looks like.
> Which is correct.
> I know what I want.
> I don't know what it looks like.
> I know something that looks pretty similar though.
> A dotted army soldier?  :) 
> 
> 
> For a example, say that you have a bunch of make files.
> Somedy added one include path to one of then.
> I have 2 directory trees, names are  meaningless (for the most part), and 
> dates are all the same because someone ran 'touch *' 
> 
> I know that many files had many changes, but the two I'm looking for, had 
> minor changes between them. 
> 
> The question is, which files most closely resemble each other?
> It's a very fuzzy question, but valid, and to put into your context, it 
> would be along the lines of:
> In this box of soldiers that the dog chew away, which 2 of them are missing 
> half an arm in opposite sides.
> Clear as mud?
> Didn't expect any better...   ;-)
> Thanks!
> Enrique 
> 
> 
> Bob Elzer writes: 
> 
>> Well it sounds like from your first post this was a one time deal. 
>>
>>>> I want to find the file that resembles most closely the one I have at
>> hand. 
>>
>> "most closely" implies, I don't know what it looks like. 
>>
>> One Liner means just that. 
>>
>> Is this an on going process, do you have a starting file to work with ? Your
>> first message said you needed to find two near similar files somewhere in a
>> directory tree. 
>>
>> I'm not picking on you, but I used to tell my users, If you ask Santa for a
>> toy soldier and you get a green plastic army man, don't be upset because you
>> really wanted a G.I. Joe doll. 
>>
>> Is what changes in the file the same line each time ? 
>>
>> Can you give us a real example of one of these ? 
>>
>>   
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: plug-discuss-bounces at lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
>> [mailto:plug-discuss-bounces at lists.plug.phoenix.az.us] On Behalf Of
>> kitepilot at kitepilot.com
>> Sent: Friday, February 27, 2009 7:22 AM
>> To: Main PLUG discussion list
>> Subject: Re: OK, a REAL Linux question... ; -) Ineeda"one-liner" (because I
>> am lazy) 
>>
>> Thanks.
>> Time won't work.
>> These files are coming from a repository and they all have the same
>> date/time.  
>>
>>>> There is no command to find something, if you don't know what you 
>>>> want to find.
>> I know what I want to find.
>> I want to find the file that resembles most closely the one I have at hand.
>> It's called a "Fuzzy" search.  
>>
>> One approach would be to fire up a loop to compare every file to another one
>> ignoring white-spaces, log the resulted diff files, choose the smallest
>> results at the end of the run (after you define "smallest") and then use
>> some sort of "Fuzzy algorithm" to pick the finalists.
>> The final decision is hand picked.
>> Far from a "one-liner"...   :)
>> Thanks!   :)
>> ET  
>>
>>   
>>
>>
>> Bob Elzer writes:  
>>
>>> ls -aCltR 
>>>
>>> will list all the files in the current directory and below.  
>>>
>>> each directory will be listed sorted by the date files were modified, 
>>> most recent first. 
>>>
>>> There are flags for the time format, but the most recent changes will 
>>> be at the top of each directory. 
>>>
>>> You will have to some work yourself, but this should narrow it down.  
>>>
>>> There is no command to find something, if you don't know what you want 
>>> to find. 
>>>
>>> Although, the find command, can find files modified at certain times, 
>>> if you know about when the file changed. 
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: plug-discuss-bounces at lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
>>> [mailto:plug-discuss-bounces at lists.plug.phoenix.az.us] On Behalf Of 
>>> kitepilot at kitepilot.com
>>> Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2009 4:58 PM
>>> To: Main PLUG discussion list
>>> Subject: Re: OK, a REAL Linux question... ; -) I needa"one-liner" 
>>> (because I am lazy) 
>>>
>>>>> *diff | wc -l* for each combination of file?
>>>>> have you tried ls -t, to see when the files were modified ?
>>> There are several hundreds of files in a 10-15 depth tree.
>>> That means that "ls -t" won't work, and firing a loop to diff each 
>>> one, to every other, will yield so many false positives that the 
>>> result (if found) will be lost in the noise. 
>>>
>>> It has to be some sort of "fuzzy" diff.
>>> I used to use a program called Uniquefiler that did that for pictures.  
>>> Sometimes it would come up with some very creative matching, but in 
>>> general it was an excellent program.
>>> I don't it need now, but I'd certainly like to know if someone knows 
>>> of a Linux variant.
>>> Thanks!   :)
>>> ET 
>>>
>>>
>>> Eric Cope writes:   
>>>
>>>> *diff | wc -l* for each combination of file?   
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 3:12 PM, Bob Elzer <bob.elzer at gmail.com> wrote:   
>>>>
>>>>> No you don't qualify, this is the Phoenix List.   Just kidding.   
>>>>>
>>>>> have you tried ls -t, to see when the files were modified ?   
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: plug-discuss-bounces at lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
>>>>> [mailto:plug-discuss-bounces at lists.plug.phoenix.az.us] On Behalf Of 
>>>>> kitepilot at kitepilot.com
>>>>> Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:25 PM
>>>>> To: Main PLUG discussion list
>>>>> Subject: OK, a REAL Linux question... ;-) I need a"one-liner" 
>>>>> (because I am
>>>>> lazy) 
>>>>>
>>>>> I have a bunch of text files.
>>>>> Makefile(s), that is.   
>>>>>
>>>>> I know that one of them (THERE ARE TONS!) was slightly modified.
>>>>> Names are meaningless, so it won't work.
>>>>> There are more changes that mere whitespaces, so diff -w ... won't 
>>>>> work either. 
>>>>>
>>>>> Question is:
>>>>> How do I find 2 files that are "almost" the same file?   
>>>>>
>>>>> I have thought of different approaches, but none of then are one-liners.
>>>>> Is there a one-liner for this?
>>>>> Thanks!
>>>>> Enrique 
>>>>>
>>>>> PS: I live in North West GA, play the worker in South Florida, drive 
>>>>> like a mailman and consider "the neighborhood" anything within 200
>> miles.
>>>>> Do I qualify as member of this list?   ;-)
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-- 
Stephen P Rufle
stephen.p.rufle at cox.net
H1:480-626-8022
H2:480-802-7173
Yahoo IM: stephen_rufle
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