Anything Forums

is there an argument for wildcards, say for example, you want to delete all files that start with "b" OR ends with ".zip"?

i know how to do AND by rm -f b*.zip, but is there a single command for OR, so it would delete .zips and files that start with b? or do i have to do two separate deletes?

thanks. sorry for the n00b question.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:651, old post ID:5648

seperate the filetypes you want to delete with a space.

rm -f *.txt *.cpp *.html

will delete all .txt text files, all .cpp files, and all .html files.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:651, old post ID:5658

So would the above be rm -f b* *.zip? Just a space and extra star?

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:651, old post ID:5661

Magic wrote: So would the above be rm -f b* *.zip? Just a space and extra star?

the b* would get rid of any file starting with a b, any directory that's empty starting with a b, and the *.zip would get rid of all zip files.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:651, old post ID:5702

megaspaz wrote:

Magic wrote: So would the above be rm -f b* *.zip? Just a space and extra star?

the b* would get rid of any file starting with a b, any directory that's empty starting with a b, and the *.zip would get rid of all zip files.

yeah, read my first post.

thanks.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:651, old post ID:5703

ah... that would get rid of all the zip files starting with b.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:651, old post ID:5706

megaspaz wrote: ah... that would get rid of all the zip files starting with b.

let me get this straight...rm -f b*.zip gets rid of .zip files starting with b, and

rm -f b* *.zip get's rid of ALL zip files regardless of what letter it starts with and ALL files starting with b regardless of ending, right?

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:651, old post ID:5707

Magic wrote:

megaspaz wrote: ah... that would get rid of all the zip files starting with b.

let me get this straight...rm -f b*.zip gets rid of .zip files starting with b, and

rm -f b* *.zip get's rid of ALL zip files regardless of what letter it starts with and ALL files starting with b regardless of ending, right?

almost on the last one. the last one will also get rid of any empty directories starting with a b.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:651, old post ID:5708

megaspaz wrote:

Magic wrote:

megaspaz wrote: ah... that would get rid of all the zip files starting with b.

let me get this straight...rm -f b*.zip gets rid of .zip files starting with b, and

rm -f b* *.zip get's rid of ALL zip files regardless of what letter it starts with and ALL files starting with b regardless of ending, right?

almost on the last one. the last one will also get rid of any empty directories starting with a b.

how do i get rid of directories with files? use recursive argument?

rm- rf b* *.zip?

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:651, old post ID:5709

Magic wrote:

megaspaz wrote:

Magic wrote:

let me get this straight...rm -f b*.zip gets rid of .zip files starting with b, and

rm -f b* *.zip get's rid of ALL zip files regardless of what letter it starts with and ALL files starting with b regardless of ending, right?

almost on the last one. the last one will also get rid of any empty directories starting with a b.

how do i get rid of directories with files? use recursive argument?

rm- rf b* *.zip?

yep

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:651, old post ID:5710

oh yeah, what if i want to leave the directories alone? even empty ones?

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:651, old post ID:5711

add in the file extension. if no file extension, you'll need to write a shell script to check if the file is a directory.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:651, old post ID:5712

megaspaz wrote: add in the file extension. if no file extension, you'll need to write a shell script to check if the file is a directory.

hehe, writing scripts is still new to me. is that basically creating your custom code?

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:651, old post ID:5713

not really as you're only basically going to use the commands and some logical constructs.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:651, old post ID:5714

megaspaz wrote: not really as you're only basically going to use the commands and some logical constructs.

i don't understand your jargon, sorry.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:651, old post ID:5715

Magic wrote:

megaspaz wrote: not really as you're only basically going to use the commands and some logical constructs.

i don't understand your jargon, sorry.

a shell script is basically a sequence of shell commands you normally use. logical constructs allow for action to be taken if they meet certain requirements.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:651, old post ID:5716

megaspaz wrote:

Magic wrote:

megaspaz wrote: not really as you're only basically going to use the commands and some logical constructs.

i don't understand your jargon, sorry.

a shell script is basically a sequence of shell commands you normally use. logical constructs allow for action to be taken if they meet certain requirements.

ahh, thanks there.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:651, old post ID:5717