Moving files to parent folder in R

Question

I have a file structure similar to this:

D:/bu1/rp1/_archive/

D:/bu1/rp2/_archive/

D:/bu1/rp3/_archive/

D:/bu2/rp1/_archive/

D:/bu2/rp2/_archive/

D:/bu3/rp1/_archive/

D:/bu4/rp1/_archive/

D:/bu4/rp2/_archive/

and would like to move files form the '_archive' folder into their respective parent folders (e.g. from D:/bu1/rp1/_archive/ to D:/bu1/rp1).

I have each of the archive folder paths stored as a list, and think a relatively simple for loop should get the job done - I'm just unsure of how to point the files to the parent directory.

Maybe some variation of this problem http://stackoverflow.com/questions/24319168/how-to-move-backward-parent-folder — Patrick Williams, Mar 14 '17 at 17:06

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 14 '17 at 17:05

0

Try using a batch file:

SET DIRNUMBER=1
SET DIRSRC=C:\bu%DIRNUMER%\rp%DIRNUMER%\_archive\
SET DIRDST=C:\bu%DIRNUMER%\rp%DIRNUMER%\

xcopy %DIRSRC% %DIRDST%

answered Mar 14 '17 at 17:05

Paulo Marques

119
1
5

To complement this example, you can use FOR LOOP to interact with the folders/numbers... see more in [link](http://www.robvanderwoude.com/for.php) – Paulo Marques Mar 14 '17 at 17:09

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 14 '17 at 17:24

Sorry, this isn't tested (since I don't know what or how many files you are copying), but something like this might work

#recreating your directory structure
old_dirs <- list('D:/bu1/rp1/_archive/',
  'D:/bu1/rp2/_archive/',
  'D:/bu1/rp3/_archive/',
  'D:/bu2/rp1/_archive/',
  'D:/bu2/rp2/_archive/',
  'D:/bu3/rp1/_archive/',
  'D:/bu4/rp1/_archive/',
  'D:/bu4/rp2/_archive/')

#splitting filepaths at underscore, which is not really generalized
#but works for your example
new_dirs <- strsplit(unlist(old_dirs), '_')
new_dirs <- lapply(new_dirs, '[[', 1)

#this loop probably needs some work
for(i in old_dirs) {
  all_files <- list.files(old_dirs[[i]])
  file.copy(old_dirs[[i]], new_dirs[[i]])
}

Nice. this is a different solution than I had in mind, but it works perfectly. Thank you! — Adam Khan, Mar 14 '17 at 17:49

Moving files to parent folder in R

2 Answers2