Automator/Apple Script: Move files with same prefix on a new folder. The folder name must be the files prefix - bash

Question

I'm a photographer and I have multiple jpg files of clothings in one folder. The files name structure is:
TYPE_FABRIC_COLOR (Example: BU23W02CA_CNU_RED, BU23W02CA_CNU_BLUE, BU23W23MG_LINO_WHITE)
I have to move files of same TYPE (BU23W02CA) on one folder named as TYPE.
For example:
MAIN FOLDER>
BU23W02CA_CNU_RED.jpg, BU23W02CA_CNU_BLUE.jpg, BU23W23MG_LINO_WHITE.jpg
Became:
MAIN FOLDER>
BU23W02CA_CNU > BU23W02CA_CNU_RED.jpg, BU23W02CA_CNU_BLUE.jpg
BU23W23MG_LINO > BU23W23MG_LINO_WHITE.jpg

Answer 1

Here are some scripts.
V1
#!/bin/bash
find . -maxdepth 1 -type f -name "*.jpg" -print0 | while IFS= read -r -d '' file
do
# Extract the directory name
dirname=$(echo "$file" | cut -d'_' -f1-2 | sed 's#\./\(.*\)#\1#')
#DEBUG echo "$file --> $dirname"
# Create it if not already existing
if [[ ! -d "$dirname" ]]
then
mkdir "$dirname"
fi
# Move the file into it
mv "$file" "$dirname"
done
it assumes all files that the find lists are of the format you described in your question, i.e. TYPE_FABRIC_COLOR.ext.
dirname is the extraction of the first two words delimited by _ in the file name.
since find lists the files with a ./ prefix, it is removed from the dirname as well (that is what the sed command does).
the find specifies the name of the files to consider as *.jpg. You can change this to something else, if you want to restrict which files are considered in the move.
this version loops through each file, creates a directory with it's first two sections (if it does not exists already), and moves the file into it.
if you want to see what the script is doing to each file, you can add option -v to the mv command. I used it to debug.
However, since it loops though each file one by one, this might take time with a large number of files, hence this next version.
V2
#!/bin/bash
while IFS= read -r dirname
do
echo ">$dirname"
# Create it if not already existing
if [[ ! -d "$dirname" ]]
then
mkdir "$dirname"
fi
# Move the file into it
find . -maxdepth 1 -type f -name "${dirname}_*" -exec mv {} "$dirname" \;
done < <(find . -maxdepth 1 -type f -name "*.jpg" -print | sed 's#^\./\(.*\)_\(.*\)_.*\..*$#\1_\2#' | sort | uniq)
this version loops on the directory names instead of on each file.
the last line does the "magic". It finds all files, and extracts the first two words (with sed) right away. Then these words are sorted and "uniqued".
the while loop then creates each directory one by one.
the find inside the while loop moves all files that match the directory being processed into it. Why did I not simply do mv ${dirname}_* ${dirname}? Since the expansion of the * wildcard could result in a too long arguments list for the mv command. Doing it with the find ensures that it will work even on LARGE number of files.

Answer 2

Suggesting oneliner awk script:
echo "$(ls -1 *.jpg)"| awk '{system("mkdir -p "$1 OFS $2);system("mv "$0" "$1 OFS $2)}' FS=_ OFS=_
Explanation:
echo "$(ls -1 *.jpg)": List all jpg files in current directory one file per line
FS=_ : Set awk field separator to _ $1=type $2=fabric $3=color.jpg
OFS=_ : Set awk output field separator to _
awk script explanation
{ # for each file name from list
system ("mkdir -p "$1 OFS $2); # execute "mkdir -p type_fabric"
system ("mv " $0 " " $1 OFS $2); # execute "mv current-file to type_fabric"
}