file name

paziulek · 05-26-2011, 02:52 PM

hello,

i managed to create a file with a following name:

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 548517316 May 26 15:02 -f.h264.sub.avi

since it is "-" in the beginning, I am unable to rename, move etc...
the escape "\", "*" is not having an effect, including single and double quotes:

Quote:

# ls "\-f.h264.sub.avi"
ls: invalid option -- '.'

ls "\-f.h264.sub.avi"
ls \-f.h264.sub.avi
ls *avi

any other ideas?

tx

markush · 05-26-2011, 03:01 PM

Move all other files out of the directory and delete the directory with "rm -r".

Markus

Edit: note that I didn't understand that the OP has an important file which got the wrong name by accident, I thought that the file was created by accident and only had to be removed. So this suggestion may be not very helpful.

paziulek · 05-26-2011, 03:06 PM

Markus,

If the file with "-" in its name would be a collection of your family photos from past 10 years, would you also do it?
I want to fix it and not just get rid of the problem....

Thanks Markus...

markush · 05-26-2011, 03:11 PM

Well, I didn't understand this

Unfortunately I can't manage to create a file with a leading '-' so I can't try it out

what about

Code:

mv *rw-r* file.avi

Markus

paziulek · 05-26-2011, 03:15 PM

you can not manage to create one and I cannot rename it... sounds similar.
no... *rw-r* has no reason to work...

again, the file name is : -f.h264.sub.avi

Quote:

Originally Posted by markush

Well, I didn't understand this

Unfortunately I can't manage to create a file with a leading '-' so I can't try it out

what about

Code:

mv *rw-r* file.avi

Markus

T3RM1NVT0R · 05-26-2011, 03:15 PM

@ paziulek

Go to that directory where the files are located and run the following command:

mv ./-filename newfilename

@ Markush

You can create it by the following command:

touch ./-testfile

paziulek · 05-26-2011, 03:18 PM

WOW! thanks!!!

the ./ does the trick!! thanks a lot T3RM1NVT0R

T3RM1NVT0R · 05-26-2011, 03:20 PM

You're welcome. Glad to hear that it has been resolved.

markush · 05-26-2011, 03:35 PM

Thanks T3RM1NVT0R, it works, maybe I can use it once.

Markus

szboardstretcher · 05-26-2011, 03:38 PM

Code:

touch -- -thisfile.txt
mv -- -thisfile.txt thisfile.txt

This is how I take care of dashed files. The first creates a file, the second renames it.

The double dash will work with a fairly large portion of commands. Tar, rsync, mv, cp, etc. etc.

Good thing to know.

markush · 05-26-2011, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by szboardstretcher

Code:

touch -- -thisfile.txt
mv -- -thisfile.txt thisfile.txt

This is how I take care of dashed files. The first creates a file, the second renames it.

The double dash will work with a fairly large portion of commands. Tar, rsync, mv, cp, etc. etc.

Good thing to know.

Well, I found this in the manpage of bash

Code:

 --        A  -- signals the end of options and disables further option processing.  Any arguments after the -- are treated as
                 filenames and arguments.  An argument of - is equivalent to --.

which explains the issue. With -- you tell the shell that the - is not part of an option.

Markus

T3RM1NVT0R · 05-26-2011, 03:52 PM

@ szboardstretcher

Thank you. I learned one more way!!

@ Markush

Thank you for the explanation on the functioning of --

Telengard · 05-26-2011, 04:54 PM

prename

Code:

foo$ cp -- infile -f.h264.sub.avi
foo$ ls -1
chargen
-f.h264.sub.avi
infile
t
foo$ rename 's/^-//' <<< '-f.h264.sub.avi'
foo$ ls -1
chargen
f.h264.sub.avi
infile
t

MTK358 · 05-26-2011, 07:33 PM

Note that this actaully has nothing whatsoever to do with bash - the commands themselves interpret the "-".

Quote:

Originally Posted by markush

Move all other files out of the directory and delete the directory with "rm -r".

What on earth were you thinking when you said that!?!?!?!?!?

markush · 05-27-2011, 01:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MTK358

...What on earth were you thinking when you said that!?!?!?!?!?

Well, I thought the file was created by accident and had to be removed, I did not understand that it was an important file which by accident got the wrong name.

Markus