removing some files

rng · 12-11-2011, 04:31 AM

I have many downloaded complete web pages which I want to remove now. They are in many subfolders of a folder. The files will have extension 'html' or 'htm'. In addition there are many folders ending with '_files' to be removed. What command should I use?

I was thinking of using following 3 commands:

Code:

rm -rf *.html
rm -rf *.htm
rm -rf *_files

Thanks for your help.

Snark1994 · 12-11-2011, 06:56 AM

Code:

find . -name *.html -print0 | xargs -n1 -0 echo rm
find . -name *.htm -print0 | xargs -n1 -0 echo rm
find . -name *_files -print0 | xargs -n1 -0 echo rm -r

The '-f' flag might be a bad idea, as it won't prompt you to remove stuff. You can, of course, add it back in if you're sure. I've intentionally left the 'echo' in so you can see what you'll be deleting.

rng · 12-11-2011, 09:23 AM

Thanks. Why do we need to add '-print0' to find command? Also why -n1 and -0 options are required in xargs? Can we use simple command as:

Code:

find . -name *.html  | xargs -I {} rm {}
find . -name *.html -exec rm {} \;

Regarding -f command, there will be a lot of files and folders, so I do not want to confirm for each one of them.

Also what is wrong with the rm commands that I suggested?

I appreciate your help in bash scripting.

Snark1994 · 12-12-2011, 03:22 PM

I added the print0 option (and the -0 flag to xargs) so that it will treat a path with spaces in properly - otherwise you would get:

Code:

~ $ ls
My      File    My Document
~ $ find . -name *Document -print | xargs -n1 echo rm
rm My
rm Document

(I haven't tested the example, I'm on Windows atm, but the issue is that spaces in filenames can lead to unintented behaviour)

-n1 is a personal preference. It means pass them one argument at a time, so:

Code:

~ $ find . -name * -print0 | xargs -0 echo rm
rm file1 file2 file3 file4
~ $ find . -name * -print0 | xargs -n1 -0 echo rm
rm file1
rm file2
rm file3
rm file4

I just find the second more readable, especially when you've got a long filepath.

Certainly in zsh, 'rm' doesn't prompt you for every file without the '-f' flag, I think it's only the ones without write permission or something similar. If you know what you're doing, then your command is fine.

Your commands are both fine as far as I can see, though I would add back the -print0 and -0 flags on the first one.

The only reason I thought your 'rm' commands were 'wrong' was because you said

Quote:

They are in many subfolders of a folder.

which suggested to me that if you were executing this in, e.g. ~/folder, you might want to delete ~/folder/subfolder/file.html

Your rm commands won't find this, as they will only be looking for files in ~/folder, not ~/folder/subfolder. If this is wrong, then your commands are fine, I'd just remove the '-r' flag from the *.html and *.htm rms, as you don't need it 'cos you're deleting files not directories.

Hope this helps,

rng · 12-13-2011, 07:01 AM

Thanks.