Linux – Copy directory structure only at year end

A way would be to modify the file names that you get when running find. So in your loop, having a matched file name in $filename you shall:

1. In $filename, replace the leading $i with nothing
2. find out the $dir_name in the result of 1 by using dirname
3. append a trailing $copyLocation to $dirname and use it as argument for mkdir -p to create missing directories
4. copy $filename to "$copyLocation/$dirname"

I'm also going to suggest yet another file sync alternative: unison. It is easier to use than rsync.

Run a shell from find -exec and manipulate the paths there:

find /var/tmp/test -type f \
   \( -name "*.tif" -o -name "*.TIF" -o -name "*.tiff" -o -name "*.TIFF" \) \
   -mtime -1 \
   -exec sh -c '
      for f do
         parent="$(basename "$(dirname "$f")")"
         grandparent="$(basename "$(dirname "$(dirname "$f")")")"
         printf "%s\n" "$grandparent$parent.jp2"
         # convert   -- whatever arguments you want
      done
   ' sh-find {} +

I used dirname and basename in a non-optimal way. You can use shell parameter expansion instead (${f%/*} etc.) and e.g. realpath if needed.

The point is you run a shell and you can do anything in it.

In my example the whole shell code is single-quoted (this is because any expansion by the outer shell is potentially unsafe, the inner shell will parse the result). If you need single-quotes inside the code then proper quoting will get somewhat complicated. In this case instead of -exec sh -c '…' sh-find {} + consider -exec sh ./script {} + where script is a file containing the code. Inside the file you quote like in any other shell script.

If you need Bash, use -exec bash. Use whatever shell you need. Or something else. If you need Python, use -exec python. This approach is quite powerful.

More information:

• How to use find -exec sh -c safely?
• About the mysterious sh-find: this question.