# Ruby Script read excel file to then read a directo **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [February 21, 2013, 10:51pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-script-read-excel-file-to-then-read-a-directo/226817 "2013-02-21T22:51:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jack\_e](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jack\_e](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jack_e)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 10:51pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-script-read-excel-file-to-then-read-a-directo/226817/1 "2013-02-21T22:51:40Z")
at the moment i have a excel spreadsheet with a list of the current images by product code (17153, 17154 etc) and i have to go through the directory manually searching for each image associated with the product ( 17153.jpg, 17153a.jpg, 17153b.jpg, 17154.jpg etc) I am wanting to create a script that goes through a excel file cell by cell (column A) to then find the corresponding images (17153.jpg, 17153a.jpg, 17153b.jpg, etc) in a directory and then copy these image in another directory Regards ---
**Author:** ![jack\_e](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jack\_e](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jack_e)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 11:20pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-script-read-excel-file-to-then-read-a-directo/226817/2 "2013-02-21T23:20:42Z")
Treat this as a step-by step process: Step 1: Read the data from the spreadsheet. Try a gem like “spreadsheet”, “roo”, or any of the other great ones which can handle reading excel documents. Step 2: Find the files. Look up Dir.glob or Ruby’s “Find”. Step 3: Move the files. Look up Ruby’s File or Fileutils. There are several options there. ---
**Author:** ![jack\_e](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jack\_e](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jack_e)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 4:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-script-read-excel-file-to-then-read-a-directo/226817/3 "2013-02-22T16:47:09Z")
I have now come up with this script that does part one but im getting a error on part 2 dont know if anyone could help regards require ‘fileutils’ require ‘spreadsheet’ input = “/Users/eccleshall/ImageCleanUp/” #where images are stored output = “/Users/eccleshall/ImageCleanUp/Keep” #where images will be copied to book = Spreadsheet.open ‘/Users/eccleshall/Desktop/ImageCleanUpScript/B002.xls’ #opens workbook sheet1 = book.worksheet 0 # sets worksheet sheet1.each do |row| #for each row output puts row ``` Dir.glob("/Users/eccleshall/ImageCleanUp/" row).each do|f| #search ``` /Users/eccleshall/ImageCleanUp/ for files startig with row puts f end end error i’m getting ImageCleanUp.rb:14: syntax error, unexpected tIDENTIFIER, expecting ‘)’ …s/eccleshall/ImageCleanUp/" row).each do|f| #search /Users/e… ---
**Author:** ![jack\_e](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jack\_e](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jack_e)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 12:43pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-script-read-excel-file-to-then-read-a-directo/226817/4 "2013-02-23T12:43:21Z")
Excel File and directory are set up like this Excel File Directory 24005 24005.jpg 20007 20007.jpg 20008 20007a.jpg 20009 20008.jpg 20010 20008a.jpg 20021 20010.jpg 20022 20022.jpg 20024 20022a.jpg 20022b.jpg 20024.jpg ---
**Author:** ![jack\_e](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jack\_e](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jack_e)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 11:00am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-script-read-excel-file-to-then-read-a-directo/226817/5 "2013-02-23T11:00:19Z")
You’re missing the wildcard from the search, which would defeat the point of using glob, that case you might as well just specify the filename directly. Isn’t “row” an array? I’m not sure you can add the array to a string like that. To debug, try breaking this down into smaller steps, each with their own variable assignation and debugging output. Compare the filename strings you’re picking up from the sheet to the real filenames you have to check for differences. I dont’ know how the spreadsheet data compares to the file itself, but you could try something like ("/Users/eccleshall/ImageCleanUp/#{ row[0] }\*") That is: your directory path + the first cell of data in your row + a wildcard to account for file extensions.