[SOLVED] how can i remove files from a dir but NOT change the dirs modified date?

psycroptic · 08-04-2013, 09:28 PM

title says it all. cp has a "--preserve" option, rm doesn't. Is it even possible? cp --preserve to /dev/null maybe?

evo2 · 08-04-2013, 09:43 PM

Hi,

after calling rm you could use touch to reset the modified date back to what is was. Eg something like

Code:

ts=$(stat -c %y somedir)  # Get the time dir was last modified
rm somedir/somefile       # Remove some file... this will alter the dir mod time 
touch --date="$ts" -m somedir  # Reset the dir mod time back to what it was

HTH,

Evo2.

psycroptic · 08-04-2013, 09:45 PM

right, i figured it would be a kludge like that, just reading the date before the rm and rewriting it afterwards. i've got a bunch of differently-named files that i need to delete, so it'll be somewhat of a PITA. i would have thought that mv and rm would also include preservation options... guess not.

thanks amigo.

evo2 · 08-04-2013, 09:59 PM

Hi,

you can wrap those three lines in a little script. Eg

Code:

#!/bin/bash
set -e
f=$1
d=$(dirname $(readlink -f $f))
ts=$(stat -c %y $d)
\rm $f
touch --date="$ts" -m $d

couple of things to note:
- This script is UNTESTED. Use at own risk (any script containing commands like rm should be treated with suspicion)
- The "set -e" will cause the script to exit on any error.
- \rm is used instead of rm in an attempt to protect against aliases for rm.
- The readlink call is used to get the full path to the file, so that you will get the full path to the directory... careful when using symbolic links.

If you are not familiar with any of the commands used in this script, please carefully read their man pages.

Anyway, HTH,

Evo2.

psycroptic · 08-04-2013, 10:04 PM

word, thanks. i was actually prolly going to just handmake a file that contains, line by line, each path to each file, then making a separate script that reads file and removes each using the commands you initially gave. sandwiching those commands within a single "for" statement, i believe it to be possible in 5 lines. 1 less than yours