LinuxQuestions.org - alias for rm directory

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publicLearner

05-09-2016 11:19 AM

alias for rm directory - prompt

Hi members,
I've an alias for rm to prompt whenever I delete any file as:

Code:

#Make rm as interactive

alias rm='rm -i'

I've this in my .bashrc file.

This works as good as I had wanted.

Is there a way I could alias for rm -rf, and fuse it with interactive flag?

Any guidance would be highly appreciated.

Habitual

05-09-2016 11:41 AM

Based upon your .bashrc, anyh occurrence of rm should automatically include -i so an

Code:

rm -fr

would actually be

Code:

rm -ifr

lazydog

05-09-2016 11:43 AM

If you have an alias setup say

Code:

rm='rm -i'

but you what to use rm in its raw form then you should just need to escape it like

Code:

\rm -rf

and it should work.

publicLearner

05-10-2016 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Habitual (Post 5542719)

Based upon your .bashrc, anyh occurrence of rm should automatically include -i so an

Code:

rm -fr

would actually be

Code:

rm -ifr

Hi habitual,
Thanks for your reply.
Unfortunately, this doesn't happen when I remove directory. :(

Habitual

05-10-2016 10:12 AM

open a terminal and issue:

Code:

type rm

and paste the output please.

Nevermind. That's a strange one.

Directories get clobbered silently.

Code:

type rm

rm is /bin/rm



mkdir -pv var/named

mkdir: created directory ‘var’

mkdir: created directory ‘var/named’



alias rm="rm -i"

rm -fr var/

cd var/

bash: cd: var/: No such file or directory

Files get prompted

Code:

touch xyz



type rm

rm is aliased to `rm -i'



rm  xyz

rm: remove regular empty file ‘xyz’?

Works on files but not directories (which are files, hello)?

I guess I'm missing something basic. Can I blame too much|little caffeine?

publicLearner

05-10-2016 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazydog (Post 5542721)

If you have an alias setup say

Code:

rm='rm -i'

but you what to use rm in its raw form then you should just need to escape it like

Code:

\rm -rf

and it should work.

Hi lazydog,
Thank you for your reply.

Code:

rm one.txt

This prompts for Y, N.

mkdir out_rm

But

Code:

\rm -rf out_rm

doesn't work for a prompt.

publicLearner

05-10-2016 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Habitual (Post 5543253)

open a terminal and issue:

Code:

type rm

and paste the output please.

Hi,
Please see the output:

Code:

$ type rm

rm is aliased to `rm -i'

Habitual

05-10-2016 10:20 AM

I edited

I'm stumped, for now. ;)

publicLearner

05-10-2016 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Habitual (Post 5543253)

open a terminal and issue:

Code:

type rm

and paste the output please.

Nevermind. That's a strange one.

Directories get clobbered silently.

Code:

type rm

rm is /bin/rm



mkdir -pv var/named

mkdir: created directory ‘var’

mkdir: created directory ‘var/named’



alias rm="rm -i"

rm -fr var/

cd var/

bash: cd: var/: No such file or directory

Files get prompted

Code:

touch xyz



type rm

rm is aliased to `rm -i'



rm  xyz

rm: remove regular empty file ‘xyz’?

Works on files but not directories (which are files, hello)?

I guess I'm missing something basic. Can I blame too much|little caffeine?

Hi habitual,

Thanks for your time, and reply.
By files I refer to as .txt, .fasta, .c, .py, .php, .cpp, .hpp, .h, .js, .etc, any random document/file present in any directory.

Code:

touch file.txt

rm file.txt

I'll get a prompt.
I think we're on the same page, and not misunderstanding any thing.
By directories, I refer to folders.

Yes, it is a strange.
I wanted to be more wary while using rm, and thus, looking out for options that could make it interactive. :)

Habitual

05-10-2016 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by publicLearner (Post 5543268)

I'll get a prompt.
I think we're on the same page, and not misunderstanding any thing.
By directories, I refer to folders.

I believe so, yes.

Since I have the same .bashrc I've had for about 5 years, the only interactive rm'ing I see are on remote hosts, servers all.
I suspect rm has been "made interactive" in recent desktops.

On remote hosts, at the very first prompt on "rm /some/file" I hit control+C
and then issue the same command with

Code:

\rm some/file

I consider interactive to be more for Desktop Users than experienced admins.

keefaz

05-10-2016 10:51 AM

The -f switch takes precedence over -i, no?

edit

Code:

rm -rfi # interactive

rm -rif # rm with no question

Habitual

05-10-2016 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keefaz (Post 5543277)

The -f switch takes precedence over -i, no?

edit

Code:

rm -rfi # interactive

rm -rif # rm with no question

Code:

-f, --force

              ignore nonexistent files and arguments, never prompt

I knew it was easy.
I'm gonna say too much caffeine on this one! (facepalm)

Thanks!

publicLearner

05-10-2016 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Habitual (Post 5543283)

Code:

-f, --force

              ignore nonexistent files and arguments, never prompt

I knew it was easy.
I'm gonna say too much caffeine on this one! (facepalm)

Thanks!

haha.
Oh! I see. :D

@habitaul, keefaz, lazydog
Thank you very much for digging this one out. :)

keefaz

05-10-2016 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Habitual (Post 5543283)

Code:

-f, --force

              ignore nonexistent files and arguments, never prompt

I knew it was easy.
I'm gonna say too much caffeine on this one! (facepalm)

Thanks!

Not so easy, on my system the -i takes priority over -f if placed after -f when invocating rm options

eg

Code:

rm -rif => f takes priority over i

rm -rfi => i takes priority over f

Habitual

05-10-2016 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keefaz (Post 5543291)

Not so easy, on my system the -i takes priority over -f if placed after -f when invocating rm options

eg

Code:

rm -rif => f takes priority over i

rm -rfi => i takes priority over f

As usual with Linux, our options have options.
Gotta Love It.

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