[SOLVED] Complex commands

hexapla · 10-10-2011, 07:08 AM

Hi guys,

can you please help me with an issue that i encountered?

I have to list all files (their full paths) in /tmp/test/ and subdirectories, that contain the left bracket "[" .

I used find $PWD -name \*[\* but it is not working becuase [ is a special character and I don't now how to escape it.

I am using Oracle Enterprise 5.

Thanks!!!

camorri · 10-10-2011, 07:42 AM

Your command worked for me, I copied it, pasted it, pressed enter, it worked...

Quote:

find $PWD -name \*[\*
/home/cliff/.cache/vlc/art/artistalbum/ACDC/AC_DC Live [1992]

This link describes the escape sequence, as far as I can see, you have it O.K.

Possibly you don't have an entry with a [ barce?

EricTRA · 10-10-2011, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hexapla

Hi guys,

can you please help me with an issue that i encountered?

I have to list all files (their full paths) in /tmp/test/ and subdirectories, that contain the left bracket "[" .

I used find $PWD -name \*[\* but it is not working becuase [ is a special character and I don't now how to escape it.

I am using Oracle Enterprise 5.

Thanks!!!

Hello and Welcome to LinuxQuestions,

It worked for me too so I suppose it's something that your shell cannot handle. Try putting the regex between '' like this:

Code:

find $PWD -name '*\[*'

Looking forward to your participation in the forums. Have fun with Linux.

Kind regards,

Eric

hexapla · 10-10-2011, 08:25 AM

it worked thank you

EricTRA · 10-10-2011, 08:44 AM

Hi,

You're welcome. If you consider your problem solved, then please mark this thread as such. Have fun with Linux.

Kind regards,

Eric

hen770 · 10-10-2011, 12:59 PM

just for my clearness, what is the * after the \ ?
as far as i know the \ is the escape character, and here we want to escape the [ and not the *?

Thanks.

crts · 10-10-2011, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hen770

just for my clearness, what is the * after the \ ?
as far as i know the \ is the escape character, and here we want to escape the [ and not the *?

Thanks.

Hi,

you also need to protect the asterisk from bash expansion. So you either have to escape or quote it. The '[' is also a special character and therefore it will be interpreted as characterclass by find. So if you want a literal match then you need to escape it for 'find'. 'find' has its own gobbing mechanism.

BTW, this also worked:

Code:

find . -name \*\\[\*