Tell `ls` to print only the base filename

Question

This is the default behaviour of ls

ls /net/nas/data/languages/pypm/sites/rex/free/2.6/*/pool/v/vi/virtual*1.4.4*pypm
/net/nas/data/languages/pypm/sites/rex/free/2.6/linux-x86/pool/v/vi/virtualenv-1.4.4_linux-x86_2.6_1.pypm
/net/nas/data/languages/pypm/sites/rex/free/2.6/linux-x86_64/pool/v/vi/virtualenv-1.4.4_linux-x86_64_2.6_1.pypm
/net/nas/data/languages/pypm/sites/rex/free/2.6/macosx/pool/v/vi/virtualenv-1.4.4_macosx_2.6_1.pypm
/net/nas/data/languages/pypm/sites/rex/free/2.6/win32-x86/pool/v/vi/virtualenv-1.4.4_win32-x86_2.6_1.pypm

How do I make ls print only the basename? Like:

ls $OPTIONS /net/nas/data/languages/pypm/sites/rex/free/2.6/*/pool/v/vi/virtual*1.4.4*pypm
virtualenv-1.4.4_linux-x86_2.6_1.pypm
virtualenv-1.4.4_linux-x86_64_2.6_1.pypm
virtualenv-1.4.4_macosx_2.6_1.pypm
virtualenv-1.4.4_win32-x86_2.6_1.pypm

Note: I prefer shell globbing over using find as /net/nas/data/languages/pypm/sites/rex/free contains huge number of files and directories.

Solution 1

While xargs -0 is intended to be used for input delimited by \0 (like find -print0), ls has no such option to delimit its output in this way.

However,

ls -1 /path/glob | tr '\n' '\0' | xargs -0 -n 1 basename

would do the trick to convert newlines to nulls along the way. This then allows xargs to work with names that have spaces.

EDIT: added -n 1 to xargs

Solution 2

I use this:

ls | tr '\n' '\n'

It gives a list like:

file1.mp3
file2.mp3
file3.mp3
...

Solution 3

ls -1 <path> | sed 's#.*/##'

Solution 4

Both GNU basename and FreeBSD basename accept an -a argument allowing you to pass multiple paths to the command. This works great with shell globbing.

basename -a /path/glob*

Solution 5

awk solution:

ls -1 /path/glob | awk -F'/' '{print $NF}'

View more solutions

Comments

[akira]

you prefer shell globbing OVER using find when the directory contains lots of files? typo??

[Steve Folly]

-1: ls can't delimit names by \0 which is what xargs -0 is looking for.

[Sridhar Ratnakumar]

This does not work for me: basename: extra operand \033[0m/net/nas/data/languages/pypm/sites/rex/free/2.6/macos‌​x/pool/v/vi/virtuale‌​nv-1.4.4_macosx_2.6_‌​1.pypm\033[0m'`

[Steve Folly]

@Sridhar: you might need the -n 1 you suggested elsewhere as an option to xargs ? (answer edited)

[Sridhar Ratnakumar]

Unfortunately, -printf option is not available in MacOSX version of find.

[Sridhar Ratnakumar]

Although I personally prefer my own answer (as I almost never have to deal with spaces in filenames), I will mark this as the answer for it handles spaces as well.

[Ryan Bright]

Good call; apologies for the oversight. I've updated the answer.

[intuited]

If the mac version of xargs supports the -d (delimiter) option, you can do ls ... | xargs -d '\n' -n 1 basename.

[HikeMike]

This is essentially the same as ls -1 (and coloring disabled), as ls implies those when not writing to a terminal. It looks like you're missing the point a bit, as the issue is stripping the dir name swhen specifying ls path arguments using wild cards. Try ls -d "$PWD/"* | tr '\n' '\n' to see what the actual issue is.

[Mmmh mmh]

AH! Finally something that works with multiple arguments!

[slhck]

-1 – not sure why people keep upvoting this answer. Not only does it do the same thing as ls -1, it also does not work when globs have been used, as Daniel Beck pointed out.

[SineSwiper]

-1 - This is the same as ls -1, and only works in the current directory, not with a path like ls path/*.

[Scott - Слава Україні]

(1) Have you tried this?  (2) Try it with directories and wildcards on the command line, like in the question; e.g., ls vacation/*.jpg.  (3) If you still think this is a good answer, try it with files with spaces in their names.

[Cymatical]

Would have thought just --- $ ls | xargs basename --- but found it problematic. This works.

[Cymatical]

Recall reading ls command is bad for xargs, and find command is better.

[Cymatical]

Note comment below for answer below - not sure why people keep upvoting this answer (ls | tr '\n' '\n' ) ... not only does it do the same thing as ls -1, it also does not work when globs have been used, as Daniel Beck pointed out. "

[verboze]

much more performant than the accepted basename solution

[verboze]

this works, but I wouldn't run this on a directory with hundreds or thousands of files. The awk/sed solutions are much more performant.