Remove files

Cheloo · 03-23-2008, 06:25 PM

I want to delete the first created file from a total number of 7 files in a directory.

I can list it that way: ls -l | tail -n 7 | head -n 1

How can I run 'rm -rf' before it?

Thanks!

Cheloo · 03-23-2008, 06:40 PM

tried a script:

Code:

#!/bin/bash
delete=`ls -l | tail -n 7 | head -n 1`
rm -rfi $delete

but it says:

./deleteit.sh
rm: invalid option -- w

ak_random · 03-23-2008, 07:04 PM

What's the file name of the file you're trying to remove? You may want to add an "echo '$delete'" to your script so you can see what it is.

Another way to possibly go about this might be to use the "find" command. e.g., if your file is older than a certain date, or some other identifying attribute.

Cheloo · 03-24-2008, 01:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ak_random

What's the file name of the file you're trying to remove? You may want to add an "echo '$delete'" to your script so you can see what it is.

Another way to possibly go about this might be to use the "find" command. e.g., if your file is older than a certain date, or some other identifying attribute.

The name is variable by date, like name-24-03-2008, name-23-03-2008...

ak_random · 03-24-2008, 01:24 AM

And what is the file name that is failing (causing the error message to be printed)?

You may want to try starting your script with "#!/bin/bash -x" to see what the script think it's executing.