Linux Practical Set F Solution – Count Files and Directories

In this article, we will solve VNSGU TYBCA Semester 5 Linux (UNIX) Practical – Set F using shell scripting.

This practical focuses on:

• File and directory identification
• Current working directory
• File test operators
• Shell loops
• find
• wc

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📌 Practical Question

Write a shell script to find total number of files and total number of directories in current working directory.

The script should count the files and directories present in the current working directory.

Important

For this question, we are counting the direct contents of the current directory only.

For example:

project/
├── file1.txt
├── file2.txt
├── script.sh
├── notes/
└── programs/

The result is:

Files       : 3
Directories : 2

Files inside notes/ or programs/ are not counted.

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🧠 Concepts Used

Concept	Purpose
pwd	Display current directory
find	Search files/directories
-type f	Identify regular files
-type d	Identify directories
wc -l	Count results
for loop	Process directory entries
-f	File test
-d	Directory test

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✅ Solution 1: Using find

This is one of the cleanest solutions for the practical.

Shell Script

#!/bin/bash

files=$(find . -maxdepth 1 -type f | wc -l)

directories=$(find . -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d | wc -l)

echo "Current Working Directory: $(pwd)"
echo "Total Files       : $files"
echo "Total Directories : $directories"

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🔍 Step-by-Step Explanation

Step 1: Find Files

find . -maxdepth 1 -type f

Here:

• . means the current directory.
• -maxdepth 1 means don't go inside subdirectories.
• -type f means search for regular files.

For example:

./file1.txt
./file2.txt
./script.sh

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Step 2: Count the Files

find . -maxdepth 1 -type f | wc -l

The | is called a pipe.

The output of find becomes the input of wc.

find
  ↓
pipe
  ↓
wc -l

wc -l counts the number of lines returned by find.

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Step 3: Find Directories

find . -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d

This finds directories in the current directory.

The important part is:

-mindepth 1

It prevents find from counting the current directory . itself.

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🖥️ Example

Suppose the current directory contains:

file1.txt
file2.txt
program.sh
notes/
backup/

Run:

./script.sh

Output:

Current Working Directory: /home/student/linux
Total Files       : 3
Total Directories : 2

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✅ Solution 2: Using Shell Loop and File Tests

This approach is useful for understanding shell scripting logic instead of depending mainly on find.

Shell Script

#!/bin/bash

files=0
directories=0

for item in *
do
    if [ -f "$item" ]
    then
        files=$((files + 1))

    elif [ -d "$item" ]
    then
        directories=$((directories + 1))
    fi
done

echo "Current Working Directory: $(pwd)"
echo "Total Files       : $files"
echo "Total Directories : $directories"

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🔍 How This Solution Works

Step 1: Initialize Counters

files=0
directories=0

Both counters start from zero.

---

Step 2: Loop Through Items

for item in *

The * represents entries in the current directory.

The loop processes each item one by one.

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Step 3: Check for File

if [ -f "$item" ]

The -f test returns true if the item is a regular file.

Then:

files=$((files + 1))

increases the file counter.

---

Step 4: Check for Directory

elif [ -d "$item" ]

The -d test returns true if the item is a directory.

Then:

directories=$((directories + 1))

increases the directory counter.

---

🖥️ Example

Suppose:

project/
├── a.txt
├── b.txt
├── c.sh
├── notes/
└── backup/

The loop processes:

a.txt     → File
b.txt     → File
c.sh      → File
notes     → Directory
backup    → Directory

Output:

Current Working Directory: /home/student/project
Total Files       : 3
Total Directories : 2

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✅ Solution 3: Using find with -mindepth

We can also count both types directly without first storing the results in variables.

Shell Script

#!/bin/bash

echo "Current Working Directory: $(pwd)"

echo "Total Files       : $(find . -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type f | wc -l)"

echo "Total Directories : $(find . -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d | wc -l)"

The -mindepth 1 option ensures that the current directory itself is not counted.

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🔍 Understanding -mindepth

Consider:

find . -maxdepth 1 -type d

It can return:

.
./notes
./backup

The . represents the current directory.

Now:

find . -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d

returns:

./notes
./backup

So there is no need to subtract 1 from the result.

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📊 Comparing the Solutions

Method	Main Concept	Difficulty	Recommended
find + wc	Linux commands	⭐ Easy	✅ Excellent
for + -f/-d	Shell scripting	⭐⭐	✅ Excellent
find + -mindepth	find options	⭐⭐	✅ Excellent

Which Solution Should You Use?

For the practical exam, Solution 1 or Solution 3 is very convenient.

If the examiner wants to see your shell scripting logic, Solution 2 is a better choice because it uses:

for
if
-f
-d

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🧠 Important Difference: -maxdepth 1

This is very important for this question.

Consider:

project/
├── a.txt
├── notes/
│   ├── b.txt
│   └── c.txt
└── script.sh

If we use:

find . -type f

the result includes:

./a.txt
./notes/b.txt
./notes/c.txt
./script.sh

So it searches recursively.

But:

find . -maxdepth 1 -type f

only finds:

./a.txt
./script.sh

Therefore, -maxdepth 1 is important when the question specifically asks for files in the current working directory.

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⚠️ Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Counting Recursively

Don't use:

find . -type f | wc -l

if the question means only the current directory.

This will also count files inside subdirectories.

Use:

find . -maxdepth 1 -type f | wc -l

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Mistake 2: Counting . as a Directory

This:

find . -maxdepth 1 -type d

includes:

.

which represents the current directory.

Use:

-mindepth 1

to exclude it.

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Mistake 3: Forgetting Quotes

Prefer:

[ -f "$item" ]

instead of:

[ -f $item ]

Quotes make the script safer when file or directory names contain spaces.

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🎯 Practical Exam Tips

Remember these important commands.

Find Files

find . -maxdepth 1 -type f

Find Directories

find . -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d

Count Results

wc -l

Check File

[ -f "$item" ]

Check Directory

[ -d "$item" ]

Current Directory

pwd

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📝 Quick Revision

The simplest command-based solution is:

files=$(find . -maxdepth 1 -type f | wc -l)

directories=$(find . -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d | wc -l)

echo "Files       : $files"
echo "Directories : $directories"

The shell-loop approach is:

for item in *
do
    if [ -f "$item" ]
    then
        files=$((files + 1))
    elif [ -d "$item" ]
    then
        directories=$((directories + 1))
    fi
done

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📚 Related Linux Practical Sets

This solution is part of the VNSGU TYBCA Sem 5 Linux (UNIX) Practical – OCT/Nov 2025 solution series.

• Set A – Simple Interest & Compound Interest
• Set B – Vowels Count & Case Conversion
• Set C – Palindrome String
• Set D – File Operations & Text Processing
• Set E – Display Lines with Validation
• Set F – Count Files & Directories
• Set G – Recently Modified Files
• Set H – Employee Gross Salary

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🐧 Conclusion

The Set F practical is a good exercise for understanding how Linux identifies files and directories.

The most important concepts are:

-type f → File
-type d → Directory
-maxdepth 1 → Do not search inside subdirectories
-mindepth 1 → Exclude the starting directory itself

If you understand these options, you can easily solve variations of this practical question.

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💬 What Do You Prefer?

Which approach do you prefer for counting files and directories?

find command or shell for loop with -f and -d?

Share your approach in the comments! 🐧💻

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📌 Tags

linux shell unix beginners