Script to delete files with 0k file size in a directory

justgiver · 10-12-2005, 04:54 PM

im looking to write a script with fairly basic code.

i need to accept a directory as an optional command line parameter.

display error message if more than one parameter is entered or use the current directory if no parameter is provided.

displays an error message and terminates if provided parameter is not a directory

the script will then cycle through the directory, prompting the user if he/she wants to delete the file that is 0k.

im just having a hard time getting started on this script and accepting a parameter. one thing i found was: set -- $(ls -l filename)
but im not too sure how to use it.

thanks a lot for answering this noob question!

AwesomeMachine · 10-12-2005, 04:57 PM

you'll delete all your device files if you do that. There are a lot of files of size 0 that you need. In fact, most files that are 0 are called empty documents. Just leave those alone.

justgiver · 10-12-2005, 05:13 PM

the user will be prompted to delete the file before it is deleted.

this will only be used on a test directory. im just new to learning linux and the program has no real value except learning how to do simple commands

homey · 10-12-2005, 06:15 PM

This aught to get you started.
It just list the files and size in the /home/images folder.
You will have to add some more stuff for deleting.
If you want to make a couple of empty files to help in testing,
the easiest way is use the command: >
For example: >file.txt

Edit: you could test for more than one argument with this...
test $# == 1 || usage

Code:

#!/bin/bash
# Example: ./test /home/images

usage()
{
        echo "Usage: $0 Directory_Name"
        exit 1;
}

test -d "$1" || usage

for i in `ls $1/*` ; do
   size=`stat -c %s $i`

if [ $size -lt 1 ]; then
   echo "$i is $size ( This one is empty ) "
else
   echo "$i is $size "
fi

done

daelomin · 01-28-2008, 04:56 AM

My 2¢ worth.. Unelegant but works.

Quote:

##/bin/bash

dir_to_clean=$1

cd $1
ls -1s |awk '{if ($1==0) print ("rm -f "$2)}' > rmscript
chmod +x rmscript
echo "The following files with zero size will be removed:"
cat rmscript

echo -n "Proceed? [Y/N]: "
read response
if [ "$response" == "Y" ]; then
rmscript
fi

rm -rf rmscript