bash shell script for deleting files

james jackson · 07-29-2012, 07:46 PM

hello, i would like to know how to remove files from a directory and its sub-directories using shell script. the script should be able to handle files and directory with space in them.
thank you

unSpawn · 07-29-2012, 07:51 PM

Do let us know your level of experience in shell scripting and what you've tried already by posting (pseudo) code.

james jackson · 07-29-2012, 07:55 PM

i just install ubuntu, i'm very new to linux. i know the basic command but i dont know how to use them in script. i been doing some reading about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by unSpawn

Do let us know your level of experience in shell scripting and what you've tried already by posting (pseudo) code.

Jerry Mcguire · 07-29-2012, 08:02 PM

$ man find

$ find . -name '*.bored' -delete

james jackson · 07-29-2012, 08:16 PM

ok i want to delete file that end in .c and .text
would it handle file with space and directory
find -name /home '.c' '.text' -delete

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerry Mcguire

$ man find

$ find . -name '*.bored' -delete

Jerry Mcguire · 07-29-2012, 08:56 PM

yes.

It should be

# find /home -name '*.c' -delete
# find /home -name '*.text' -delete

Read the man page again.

and be very careful since you are deleting files as root. Don't yell if anything goes wrong.

amboxer21 · 07-29-2012, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by james jackson

ok i want to delete file that end in .c and .text
would it handle file with space and directory
find -name /home '.c' '.text' -delete

Hi James, This will remove any files with the extensions c or text:

Code:

find /home/ -regex ".*\(text\|c\)$" -delete

james jackson · 07-29-2012, 09:43 PM

pretty cool trick i loving linux
what if i want to do that in a script using rm command with multiple pattern
for example in the command prompt i type remove /home ".c" ".text" "~"
remove would be the name of my script so $1=/home, $2=the patterns
would this code work
for -d in $1 do
rm -regex ".$2"

Quote:

Originally Posted by amboxer21

Hi James, This will remove any files with the extensions c or text:

Code:

find /home/ -regex ".*\(text\|c\)$" -delete

amboxer21 · 08-01-2012, 01:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by james jackson

pretty cool trick i loving linux
what if i want to do that in a script using rm command with multiple pattern
for example in the command prompt i type remove /home ".c" ".text" "~"
remove would be the name of my script so $1=/home, $2=the patterns
would this code work
for -d in $1 do
rm -regex ".$2"

Maybe something like this?

Code:

#!/bin/bash


        if [ $# -lt '1' ]; then
        echo -e "\n=> Listing files." && ls;
        echo -e "\nUSAGE: $0 + extensions to files you want to remove completely.\n"
fi

        if [ $# -eq '1' ]; then
        find -regex ".*\($1\)$" -delete
        echo -e "\nRemoving files with extension $1."
fi

        if [ $# -eq '2' ]; then
        find -regex ".*\($1\|$2\)$" -delete
        echo -e "\nRemoving files with extensions $1 and $2."
fi

        if [ $# -eq '3' ]; then
        find -regex ".*\($1\|$2\|$3\)$" -delete
        echo -e "\nRemoving files with extensions $1, $2 and $3."
fi