Question

I have files: x0001_test.xml z0054_test.xml k5487_test.xml….

I would like to save them doing something like: cp *_test.xml ${BEGINNING}_test.xml.SAVE.

Is there a way in bash script to store the content of * for each file in order to re-inject it after? Or should I use a loop?

Answer 1

A loop to do that is probably trivial enough to not need a separate one-line command. You don’t need to save a portion of the filename since you’re just adding .SAVE to the whole thing:

for fspec in *_test.xml; do
    cp "${fspec}" "${fspec}.SAVE"
done

And, in any case, you can do it in one line if you really want:

for fspec in *_test.xml; do cp "${fspec}" "${fspec}.SAVE" ; done