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Old 09-11-2009, 10:49 PM   #1
swamprat
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rm: cannot lstat


I'm having problems deleting a file as indicated below...also please note the quote marks around the file name, I don't know if this has anything to do with the problem. The file got to where it is using Kompozer.

Using find / -name zombie* -print doesn't show the file but it is there when I go into the directory and list the files in that directory.

Can't cat it either. I have no idea how to resolve this and I'd like to get rid of this.

Thanks CENTOS 5.3

-rw-r--r-- 1 rifkinho rifkinho 395 Sep 11 23:08 'zombieonehomepage.html'
[root@centos5 rifkinho]# rm -r 'zombieonehomepage.html'
rm: cannot lstat `zombieonehomepage.html': No such file or directory
[root@centos5 rifkinho]# rm 'zombieonehomepage.html'
rm: cannot lstat `zombieonehomepage.html': No such file or directory
[root@centos5 rifkinho]# cd /
[root@centos5 /]# pwd
/
[root@centos5 /]# find / -name zombie* -print
/var/www/html/zombieone
/var/log/httpd/zombieone.com-error_log
/var/log/httpd/zombieone.com-access_log
[root@centos5 /]#
 
Old 09-11-2009, 11:06 PM   #2
ongte
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You refer to the file like this:
\'zombieonehomepage.html\'

To delete it:
rm \'zombieonehomepage.html\'
 
Old 09-11-2009, 11:11 PM   #3
swamprat
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Ongte,

Worked like a charm...this is one post that I'll keep around in my notes for a long time to come.

Thanks again much appreciated.
 
Old 09-11-2009, 11:26 PM   #4
syg00
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Better to understand why it works - and how "escaping" special characters can help you more generally.
Try searching on "escaping filename"
 
Old 09-13-2009, 08:31 AM   #5
swamprat
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Yes, you are correct, I was going to ask Ongte where is the best place to find out how this works?
 
Old 09-13-2009, 08:40 AM   #6
ongte
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These are called escape characters.

TLDP is a good resource for learning these basics. Link below to the Bash Beginners Guide.
http://tldp.org/LDP/Bash-Beginners-Guide/html/
Look in Chapter 3.3.
 
Old 09-13-2009, 08:48 AM   #7
karlatLQ
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Quote:
Originally Posted by swamprat View Post
Using find / -name zombie* -print doesn't show the file but it is there when I go into the directory and list the files in that directory.

Can't cat it either. I have no idea how to resolve this and I'd like to get rid of this.
You would need to use the escape character for the find command as well. It was looking for files that started with "z" but it did not find it because the file you wanted to find started with "'". You removed the file, but if you have a similar file you would find it like this:

Code:
find / -name \'zombie* -print
And you would cat it using the escape character as well:

Code:
cat \'zombie*
 
  


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