Automatically Create Destination Directory Structure for Softlinks (ln -s)?

[SendDerek]

Hello All!

I have a file that has been created by exiftools and then parsed and cut to fit my needs and thrown into a file that looks like this:

ln -s /source/directory/2009/10/img1.jpg /destination/directory/gallery/2009/10/img1.jpg
ln -s /source/directory/2009/10/img2.jpg /destination/directory/gallery/2009/10/img2.jpg
ln -s /source/directory/2009/10/img3.jpg /destination/directory/gallery/2009/10/img3.jpg
ln -s /source/directory/2009/10/img4.jpg /destination/directory/gallery/2009/10/img4.jpg
ln -s /source/directory/2009/11/img1.jpg /destination/directory/gallery/2009/11/img1.jpg
ln -s /source/directory/2009/11/img2.jpg /destination/directory/gallery/2009/11/img2.jpg
ln -s /source/directory/2009/11/img3.jpg /destination/directory/gallery/2009/11/img3.jpg
ln -s /source/directory/2009/11/img4.jpg /destination/directory/gallery/2009/11/img4.jpg

I then make the file executable and then execute it. Trouble is, the destination directories don't actually exist, so naturally, the "ln -s" fails.

Is there a way to create the destination directories dynamically based on what is specified in the file above?

I would sure appreciate any insight. Thanks in advance.

[aleph]

Hint1: dirname takes a path and outputs the "directory name" part i.e. path with trailing "/xxx" removed.
Hint2: mkdir -p create parent directories recursively.

[SendDerek]

Why is it so obvious now? haha

I appreciate that. I think it's the final key for my little project I'm working on.

Thanks again!

[SendDerek]

Well, here's what I ended up doing... it might not be the most elegant solution, but it worked for me and my script:

echo -n "Create a directory creation script..."
cat list_of_files | sed 's/^/mkdir -p "$(dirname /' | sed 's/$/)"/' > make_directories_script
echo " done"

chmod +x make_directories_script
sh make_directories_script

It changed this:

/destination/derek/pictures/2009/11\ -\ November\At\ the\ beach\IMG0001.jpg
/destination/derek/pictures/2009/11\ -\ November\At\ the\ beach\IMG0002.jpg
/destination/derek/pictures/2009/11\ -\ November\At\ the\ beach\IMG0003.jpg
/destination/derek/pictures/2009/11\ -\ November\At\ the\ beach\IMG0004.jpg
/destination/derek/pictures/2009/12\ -\ December\Snowboarding\IMG0001.jpg
/destination/derek/pictures/2009/12\ -\ December\Snowboarding\IMG0002.jpg
/destination/derek/pictures/2009/12\ -\ December\Snowboarding\IMG0003.jpg
/destination/derek/pictures/2009/12\ -\ December\Snowboarding\IMG0004.jpg

To this for execution:

mkdir -p "$(dirname /destination/derek/pictures/2009/11\ -\ November\At\ the\ beach\IMG0001.jpg)"
mkdir -p "$(dirname /destination/derek/pictures/2009/11\ -\ November\At\ the\ beach\IMG0002.jpg)"
mkdir -p "$(dirname /destination/derek/pictures/2009/11\ -\ November\At\ the\ beach\IMG0003.jpg)"
mkdir -p "$(dirname /destination/derek/pictures/2009/11\ -\ November\At\ the\ beach\IMG0004.jpg)"
mkdir -p "$(dirname /destination/derek/pictures/2009/12\ -\ December\Snowboarding\IMG0001.jpg)"
mkdir -p "$(dirname /destination/derek/pictures/2009/12\ -\ December\Snowboarding\IMG0002.jpg)"
mkdir -p "$(dirname /destination/derek/pictures/2009/12\ -\ December\Snowboarding\IMG0003.jpg)"
mkdir -p "$(dirname /destination/derek/pictures/2009/12\ -\ December\Snowboarding\IMG0004.jpg)"