Trying to script deleting files from wildcards in a text file

Clash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP

up vote
3
down vote

favorite

I'm trying to script deleting files whose filenames match wildcards in a text file.

I'm using the following

if [ -z "$1" ]; then
 echo -e "Usage: $(basename $0) FILEn"
 exit 1
fi

if [ ! -e "$1" ]; then
 echo -e "$1: File doesn't exist.n"
 exit 1
fi

while read -r line; do
 [ -n "$line" ] && rm -- "$line"
done < "$1"

in the file list there are lines

file*
test*

I get the following if i run this

rm: cannot remove ‘file*’: No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove ‘test*’: No such file or directory

I think the * isn't accepted to delete files such as

file 1
file2
file2.txt
test 001 more teskt.txt

Sorry I'm no linux expert. Maybe someone has an easy answer, maybe replace the * with something?

command-line bash scripts

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

wjandrea

7,23342256

asked 3 hours ago

Marco

165

New contributor

Marco is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

add a comment | 

up vote
3
down vote

favorite

I'm trying to script deleting files whose filenames match wildcards in a text file.

I'm using the following

if [ -z "$1" ]; then
 echo -e "Usage: $(basename $0) FILEn"
 exit 1
fi

if [ ! -e "$1" ]; then
 echo -e "$1: File doesn't exist.n"
 exit 1
fi

while read -r line; do
 [ -n "$line" ] && rm -- "$line"
done < "$1"

in the file list there are lines

file*
test*

I get the following if i run this

rm: cannot remove ‘file*’: No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove ‘test*’: No such file or directory

I think the * isn't accepted to delete files such as

file 1
file2
file2.txt
test 001 more teskt.txt

Sorry I'm no linux expert. Maybe someone has an easy answer, maybe replace the * with something?

command-line bash scripts

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

wjandrea

7,23342256

asked 3 hours ago

Marco

165

New contributor

Marco is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

add a comment | 

up vote
3
down vote

favorite

up vote
3
down vote

favorite

I'm trying to script deleting files whose filenames match wildcards in a text file.

I'm using the following

if [ -z "$1" ]; then
 echo -e "Usage: $(basename $0) FILEn"
 exit 1
fi

if [ ! -e "$1" ]; then
 echo -e "$1: File doesn't exist.n"
 exit 1
fi

while read -r line; do
 [ -n "$line" ] && rm -- "$line"
done < "$1"

in the file list there are lines

file*
test*

I get the following if i run this

rm: cannot remove ‘file*’: No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove ‘test*’: No such file or directory

I think the * isn't accepted to delete files such as

file 1
file2
file2.txt
test 001 more teskt.txt

Sorry I'm no linux expert. Maybe someone has an easy answer, maybe replace the * with something?

command-line bash scripts

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

wjandrea

7,23342256

asked 3 hours ago

Marco

165

New contributor

Marco is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

I'm trying to script deleting files whose filenames match wildcards in a text file.

I'm using the following

if [ -z "$1" ]; then
 echo -e "Usage: $(basename $0) FILEn"
 exit 1
fi

if [ ! -e "$1" ]; then
 echo -e "$1: File doesn't exist.n"
 exit 1
fi

while read -r line; do
 [ -n "$line" ] && rm -- "$line"
done < "$1"

in the file list there are lines

file*
test*

I get the following if i run this

rm: cannot remove ‘file*’: No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove ‘test*’: No such file or directory

I think the * isn't accepted to delete files such as

file 1
file2
file2.txt
test 001 more teskt.txt

Sorry I'm no linux expert. Maybe someone has an easy answer, maybe replace the * with something?

command-line bash scripts

command-line bash scripts

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

wjandrea

7,23342256

asked 3 hours ago

Marco

165

New contributor

Marco is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

wjandrea

7,23342256

asked 3 hours ago

Marco

165

New contributor

Marco is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

share|improve this question

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

wjandrea

7,23342256

edited 3 hours ago

wjandrea

7,23342256

edited 3 hours ago

wjandrea

7,23342256

7,23342256

asked 3 hours ago

Marco

165

New contributor

Marco is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

asked 3 hours ago

Marco

165

asked 3 hours ago

Marco

165

165

New contributor

Marco is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

New contributor

Marco is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

Marco is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

add a comment | 

add a comment | 

2 Answers
2

active

oldest

votes

up vote
4
down vote



accepted

Pathname expansion happens after variable expansion, but only on unquoted parts of the command line.

rm -- $line # <- no double quotes to expand wildcards

This wouldn't work for filenames containing spaces, as word splitting also happens after variable expansion.

You can use Perl to expand globs:

perl -lne 'unlink glob' -- list.txt

Normal glob needs whitespace backslashed, but you can switch to File::Glob for a different behaviour if it's more convenient to you:

perl -MFile::Glob=:bsd_glob -lne 'unlink glob' -- list.txt

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 3 hours ago

choroba

6,15911728

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  To clarify, this won't work as expected if $line contains spaces, but it will still delete filenames that contain spaces. By the way, is there a way to do pathname expansion without word splitting?
  – wjandrea
  3 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  or just iterate over glob . . . less mess that way
  – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Is there an command/way to be able to do this on lines with spaces? Maybe replace al " " with " " I have no idea how to use glob i know my basics but
  – Marco
  3 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  @Marco For a thorough solution, you'd have to escape every character in $IFS.
  – wjandrea
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  No, backslashing doesn't work, because it doesn't prevent wordsplitting. Switch to a real programming language where variables are first class citizens, not expanding macros.
  – choroba
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 3 more comments

up vote
-1
down vote

Thanks all

perl -MFile::Glob=:bsd_glob -lne 'unlink glob' -- list.txt

work well upto now

share

answered 9 mins ago

Marco

165

New contributor

Marco is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

add a comment | 

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2 Answers
2

active

oldest

votes

2 Answers
2

active

oldest

votes

active

oldest

votes

active

oldest

votes

up vote
4
down vote



accepted

Pathname expansion happens after variable expansion, but only on unquoted parts of the command line.

rm -- $line # <- no double quotes to expand wildcards

This wouldn't work for filenames containing spaces, as word splitting also happens after variable expansion.

You can use Perl to expand globs:

perl -lne 'unlink glob' -- list.txt

Normal glob needs whitespace backslashed, but you can switch to File::Glob for a different behaviour if it's more convenient to you:

perl -MFile::Glob=:bsd_glob -lne 'unlink glob' -- list.txt

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 3 hours ago

choroba

6,15911728

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  To clarify, this won't work as expected if $line contains spaces, but it will still delete filenames that contain spaces. By the way, is there a way to do pathname expansion without word splitting?
  – wjandrea
  3 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  or just iterate over glob . . . less mess that way
  – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Is there an command/way to be able to do this on lines with spaces? Maybe replace al " " with " " I have no idea how to use glob i know my basics but
  – Marco
  3 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  @Marco For a thorough solution, you'd have to escape every character in $IFS.
  – wjandrea
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  No, backslashing doesn't work, because it doesn't prevent wordsplitting. Switch to a real programming language where variables are first class citizens, not expanding macros.
  – choroba
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 3 more comments

up vote
4
down vote



accepted

Pathname expansion happens after variable expansion, but only on unquoted parts of the command line.

rm -- $line # <- no double quotes to expand wildcards

This wouldn't work for filenames containing spaces, as word splitting also happens after variable expansion.

You can use Perl to expand globs:

perl -lne 'unlink glob' -- list.txt

Normal glob needs whitespace backslashed, but you can switch to File::Glob for a different behaviour if it's more convenient to you:

perl -MFile::Glob=:bsd_glob -lne 'unlink glob' -- list.txt

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 3 hours ago

choroba

6,15911728

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  To clarify, this won't work as expected if $line contains spaces, but it will still delete filenames that contain spaces. By the way, is there a way to do pathname expansion without word splitting?
  – wjandrea
  3 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  or just iterate over glob . . . less mess that way
  – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Is there an command/way to be able to do this on lines with spaces? Maybe replace al " " with " " I have no idea how to use glob i know my basics but
  – Marco
  3 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  @Marco For a thorough solution, you'd have to escape every character in $IFS.
  – wjandrea
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  No, backslashing doesn't work, because it doesn't prevent wordsplitting. Switch to a real programming language where variables are first class citizens, not expanding macros.
  – choroba
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 3 more comments

up vote
4
down vote



accepted

up vote
4
down vote



accepted

Pathname expansion happens after variable expansion, but only on unquoted parts of the command line.

rm -- $line # <- no double quotes to expand wildcards

This wouldn't work for filenames containing spaces, as word splitting also happens after variable expansion.

You can use Perl to expand globs:

perl -lne 'unlink glob' -- list.txt

Normal glob needs whitespace backslashed, but you can switch to File::Glob for a different behaviour if it's more convenient to you:

perl -MFile::Glob=:bsd_glob -lne 'unlink glob' -- list.txt

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 3 hours ago

choroba

6,15911728

Pathname expansion happens after variable expansion, but only on unquoted parts of the command line.

rm -- $line # <- no double quotes to expand wildcards

This wouldn't work for filenames containing spaces, as word splitting also happens after variable expansion.

You can use Perl to expand globs:

perl -lne 'unlink glob' -- list.txt

Normal glob needs whitespace backslashed, but you can switch to File::Glob for a different behaviour if it's more convenient to you:

perl -MFile::Glob=:bsd_glob -lne 'unlink glob' -- list.txt

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 3 hours ago

choroba

6,15911728

share|improve this answer

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

edited 3 hours ago

edited 3 hours ago

answered 3 hours ago

choroba

6,15911728

answered 3 hours ago

choroba

6,15911728

answered 3 hours ago

choroba

6,15911728

6,15911728

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  To clarify, this won't work as expected if $line contains spaces, but it will still delete filenames that contain spaces. By the way, is there a way to do pathname expansion without word splitting?
  – wjandrea
  3 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  or just iterate over glob . . . less mess that way
  – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Is there an command/way to be able to do this on lines with spaces? Maybe replace al " " with " " I have no idea how to use glob i know my basics but
  – Marco
  3 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  @Marco For a thorough solution, you'd have to escape every character in $IFS.
  – wjandrea
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  No, backslashing doesn't work, because it doesn't prevent wordsplitting. Switch to a real programming language where variables are first class citizens, not expanding macros.
  – choroba
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 3 more comments

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  To clarify, this won't work as expected if $line contains spaces, but it will still delete filenames that contain spaces. By the way, is there a way to do pathname expansion without word splitting?
  – wjandrea
  3 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  or just iterate over glob . . . less mess that way
  – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Is there an command/way to be able to do this on lines with spaces? Maybe replace al " " with " " I have no idea how to use glob i know my basics but
  – Marco
  3 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  @Marco For a thorough solution, you'd have to escape every character in $IFS.
  – wjandrea
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  No, backslashing doesn't work, because it doesn't prevent wordsplitting. Switch to a real programming language where variables are first class citizens, not expanding macros.
  – choroba
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

To clarify, this won't work as expected if $line contains spaces, but it will still delete filenames that contain spaces. By the way, is there a way to do pathname expansion without word splitting?
– wjandrea
3 hours ago

To clarify, this won't work as expected if $line contains spaces, but it will still delete filenames that contain spaces. By the way, is there a way to do pathname expansion without word splitting?
– wjandrea
3 hours ago

1

1

or just iterate over glob . . . less mess that way
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
3 hours ago

or just iterate over glob . . . less mess that way
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
3 hours ago

Is there an command/way to be able to do this on lines with spaces? Maybe replace al " " with " " I have no idea how to use glob i know my basics but
– Marco
3 hours ago

Is there an command/way to be able to do this on lines with spaces? Maybe replace al " " with " " I have no idea how to use glob i know my basics but
– Marco
3 hours ago

@Marco For a thorough solution, you'd have to escape every character in $IFS.
– wjandrea
3 hours ago

@Marco For a thorough solution, you'd have to escape every character in $IFS.
– wjandrea
3 hours ago

1

1

No, backslashing doesn't work, because it doesn't prevent wordsplitting. Switch to a real programming language where variables are first class citizens, not expanding macros.
– choroba
3 hours ago

No, backslashing doesn't work, because it doesn't prevent wordsplitting. Switch to a real programming language where variables are first class citizens, not expanding macros.
– choroba
3 hours ago

 | 
show 3 more comments

up vote
-1
down vote

Thanks all

perl -MFile::Glob=:bsd_glob -lne 'unlink glob' -- list.txt

work well upto now

share

answered 9 mins ago

Marco

165

New contributor

Marco is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

add a comment | 

up vote
-1
down vote

Thanks all

perl -MFile::Glob=:bsd_glob -lne 'unlink glob' -- list.txt

work well upto now

share

answered 9 mins ago

Marco

165

New contributor

Marco is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

add a comment | 

up vote
-1
down vote

up vote
-1
down vote

Thanks all

perl -MFile::Glob=:bsd_glob -lne 'unlink glob' -- list.txt

work well upto now

share

answered 9 mins ago

Marco

165

New contributor

Marco is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

Thanks all

perl -MFile::Glob=:bsd_glob -lne 'unlink glob' -- list.txt

work well upto now

share

answered 9 mins ago

Marco

165

New contributor

Marco is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

share

share

answered 9 mins ago

Marco

165

New contributor

Marco is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

answered 9 mins ago

Marco

165

answered 9 mins ago

Marco

165

165

New contributor

Marco is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

New contributor

Marco is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

Marco is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

add a comment | 

add a comment | 

Marco is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.

 

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