Bash script to find files with a string in the title and print them and ask to delete them












0















I need to make a bash script that takes two arguments, one is the string to search for in the filenames and the next one is the file path to search in. Next it needs to go through one matching file at a time and print it out and then prompt the user if they want to delete it.
An example of it would be:



./scriptName.sh foo /path/to/directory/

/path/to/directory/foo.txt

Delete this? (y/n)

user input

/path/to/directory/foop.txt

Delete this? (y/n)

user input

etc...


I originally tried



find $2 -type f -name "*$1*" -print


and



find $2 -type f -name "*$1*" -delete


Where $1 is the first argument and $2 are the second argument of course.
And this worked until I realized it had to list each one separately then prompt to delete them which is a bit of problem since the previous two lines of code just do all the matching files at once.










share|improve this question





























    0















    I need to make a bash script that takes two arguments, one is the string to search for in the filenames and the next one is the file path to search in. Next it needs to go through one matching file at a time and print it out and then prompt the user if they want to delete it.
    An example of it would be:



    ./scriptName.sh foo /path/to/directory/

    /path/to/directory/foo.txt

    Delete this? (y/n)

    user input

    /path/to/directory/foop.txt

    Delete this? (y/n)

    user input

    etc...


    I originally tried



    find $2 -type f -name "*$1*" -print


    and



    find $2 -type f -name "*$1*" -delete


    Where $1 is the first argument and $2 are the second argument of course.
    And this worked until I realized it had to list each one separately then prompt to delete them which is a bit of problem since the previous two lines of code just do all the matching files at once.










    share|improve this question



























      0












      0








      0








      I need to make a bash script that takes two arguments, one is the string to search for in the filenames and the next one is the file path to search in. Next it needs to go through one matching file at a time and print it out and then prompt the user if they want to delete it.
      An example of it would be:



      ./scriptName.sh foo /path/to/directory/

      /path/to/directory/foo.txt

      Delete this? (y/n)

      user input

      /path/to/directory/foop.txt

      Delete this? (y/n)

      user input

      etc...


      I originally tried



      find $2 -type f -name "*$1*" -print


      and



      find $2 -type f -name "*$1*" -delete


      Where $1 is the first argument and $2 are the second argument of course.
      And this worked until I realized it had to list each one separately then prompt to delete them which is a bit of problem since the previous two lines of code just do all the matching files at once.










      share|improve this question
















      I need to make a bash script that takes two arguments, one is the string to search for in the filenames and the next one is the file path to search in. Next it needs to go through one matching file at a time and print it out and then prompt the user if they want to delete it.
      An example of it would be:



      ./scriptName.sh foo /path/to/directory/

      /path/to/directory/foo.txt

      Delete this? (y/n)

      user input

      /path/to/directory/foop.txt

      Delete this? (y/n)

      user input

      etc...


      I originally tried



      find $2 -type f -name "*$1*" -print


      and



      find $2 -type f -name "*$1*" -delete


      Where $1 is the first argument and $2 are the second argument of course.
      And this worked until I realized it had to list each one separately then prompt to delete them which is a bit of problem since the previous two lines of code just do all the matching files at once.







      shell-script






      share|improve this question















      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited 34 mins ago









      Rui F Ribeiro

      40.1k1479136




      40.1k1479136










      asked Apr 10 '16 at 4:32









      user276019user276019

      1




      1






















          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          0














          You could either use -ok to execute rm on the found pathnames, or use -exec to execute rm -i.



          This shows short examples of each, and assumes that $searchpath is the search path and $pattern is the final name pattern (e.g. "*$1*").



          Using -ok: The -ok action of find is similar to -exec, but it asks the user for confirmation first, before executing the given utility. We use it to execute rm on each found pathname individually.



          find "$searchpath" -type f -name "$pattern" -ok rm {} ;


          Using rm -i: This would make the rm utility itself ask for confirmation before removing a file. We can use this on batches of pathnames.



          find "$searchpath" -type f -name "$pattern" -exec rm -i {} +





          share|improve this answer

































            -1














            pattern=$1
            dir=$2

            for file in $(find ${dir} -type f -name "*${pattern}*")
            do
            /bin/rm -i ${file}
            done


            Basically you are looping through the files the find command returns and rm -i command is asking you a y/n question to delete the file or not. I think it is what you are looking for but if not, let people know what your exact need is for further help.






            share|improve this answer
























            • thank you for your help, I'm sure I can figure it out myself but the major part of this is the prompt to the user to decide whether or not to delete the file. Can I put this between the do done?

              – user276019
              Apr 10 '16 at 4:53






            • 1





              Don’t do for file in $(find …); do …; do find "$dir" -type f -name "*${pattern}*" -exec rm -i {} +. Note that $dir should be quoted (in double quotes); putting it in braces accomplishes nothing.

              – G-Man
              Apr 10 '16 at 5:31








            • 1





              @G-Man is correct. in this particular case, the braces, while harmless, do nothing of any use, but double-quoting the variables would protect against embedded spaces and other problem characters. He's also correct about not using for file in $(find ...). Use find ... -exec rm -i {} + as he suggested or find ... | while IFS= read file ; do rm -i "$file" ; done. The former (-exec rm) works for all files, even those with newlines in the filename, whereas the second (while loop) works for all filenames except those with newlines. These are not matters of opinion, they are facts.

              – cas
              Apr 10 '16 at 8:49






            • 2





              Don't read lines with for

              – glenn jackman
              Apr 10 '16 at 11:56






            • 1





              (Cont’d) …  You say, “at the most unexpected moment, they (braces) save you a lot of headache …”  I’m going to disagree with that.  If you use $foo_bar (or even "$foo_bar") when you meant ${foo}_bar (or "${foo}_bar" or "$foo"_bar), i.e., you want the value of $foo + the literal string _bar, and you do any testing, you will discover your error immediately.  But if you use $foo (or even ${foo}) when you meant "$foo" (or "${foo}"), that error will cause you a lot of headache at the most unexpected moment; when you encounter a filename with special character(s) in it.

              – G-Man
              Apr 11 '16 at 5:35











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            2 Answers
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            active

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            2 Answers
            2






            active

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            active

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            active

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            0














            You could either use -ok to execute rm on the found pathnames, or use -exec to execute rm -i.



            This shows short examples of each, and assumes that $searchpath is the search path and $pattern is the final name pattern (e.g. "*$1*").



            Using -ok: The -ok action of find is similar to -exec, but it asks the user for confirmation first, before executing the given utility. We use it to execute rm on each found pathname individually.



            find "$searchpath" -type f -name "$pattern" -ok rm {} ;


            Using rm -i: This would make the rm utility itself ask for confirmation before removing a file. We can use this on batches of pathnames.



            find "$searchpath" -type f -name "$pattern" -exec rm -i {} +





            share|improve this answer






























              0














              You could either use -ok to execute rm on the found pathnames, or use -exec to execute rm -i.



              This shows short examples of each, and assumes that $searchpath is the search path and $pattern is the final name pattern (e.g. "*$1*").



              Using -ok: The -ok action of find is similar to -exec, but it asks the user for confirmation first, before executing the given utility. We use it to execute rm on each found pathname individually.



              find "$searchpath" -type f -name "$pattern" -ok rm {} ;


              Using rm -i: This would make the rm utility itself ask for confirmation before removing a file. We can use this on batches of pathnames.



              find "$searchpath" -type f -name "$pattern" -exec rm -i {} +





              share|improve this answer




























                0












                0








                0







                You could either use -ok to execute rm on the found pathnames, or use -exec to execute rm -i.



                This shows short examples of each, and assumes that $searchpath is the search path and $pattern is the final name pattern (e.g. "*$1*").



                Using -ok: The -ok action of find is similar to -exec, but it asks the user for confirmation first, before executing the given utility. We use it to execute rm on each found pathname individually.



                find "$searchpath" -type f -name "$pattern" -ok rm {} ;


                Using rm -i: This would make the rm utility itself ask for confirmation before removing a file. We can use this on batches of pathnames.



                find "$searchpath" -type f -name "$pattern" -exec rm -i {} +





                share|improve this answer















                You could either use -ok to execute rm on the found pathnames, or use -exec to execute rm -i.



                This shows short examples of each, and assumes that $searchpath is the search path and $pattern is the final name pattern (e.g. "*$1*").



                Using -ok: The -ok action of find is similar to -exec, but it asks the user for confirmation first, before executing the given utility. We use it to execute rm on each found pathname individually.



                find "$searchpath" -type f -name "$pattern" -ok rm {} ;


                Using rm -i: This would make the rm utility itself ask for confirmation before removing a file. We can use this on batches of pathnames.



                find "$searchpath" -type f -name "$pattern" -exec rm -i {} +






                share|improve this answer














                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer








                edited 5 mins ago

























                answered 12 mins ago









                KusalanandaKusalananda

                129k16244402




                129k16244402

























                    -1














                    pattern=$1
                    dir=$2

                    for file in $(find ${dir} -type f -name "*${pattern}*")
                    do
                    /bin/rm -i ${file}
                    done


                    Basically you are looping through the files the find command returns and rm -i command is asking you a y/n question to delete the file or not. I think it is what you are looking for but if not, let people know what your exact need is for further help.






                    share|improve this answer
























                    • thank you for your help, I'm sure I can figure it out myself but the major part of this is the prompt to the user to decide whether or not to delete the file. Can I put this between the do done?

                      – user276019
                      Apr 10 '16 at 4:53






                    • 1





                      Don’t do for file in $(find …); do …; do find "$dir" -type f -name "*${pattern}*" -exec rm -i {} +. Note that $dir should be quoted (in double quotes); putting it in braces accomplishes nothing.

                      – G-Man
                      Apr 10 '16 at 5:31








                    • 1





                      @G-Man is correct. in this particular case, the braces, while harmless, do nothing of any use, but double-quoting the variables would protect against embedded spaces and other problem characters. He's also correct about not using for file in $(find ...). Use find ... -exec rm -i {} + as he suggested or find ... | while IFS= read file ; do rm -i "$file" ; done. The former (-exec rm) works for all files, even those with newlines in the filename, whereas the second (while loop) works for all filenames except those with newlines. These are not matters of opinion, they are facts.

                      – cas
                      Apr 10 '16 at 8:49






                    • 2





                      Don't read lines with for

                      – glenn jackman
                      Apr 10 '16 at 11:56






                    • 1





                      (Cont’d) …  You say, “at the most unexpected moment, they (braces) save you a lot of headache …”  I’m going to disagree with that.  If you use $foo_bar (or even "$foo_bar") when you meant ${foo}_bar (or "${foo}_bar" or "$foo"_bar), i.e., you want the value of $foo + the literal string _bar, and you do any testing, you will discover your error immediately.  But if you use $foo (or even ${foo}) when you meant "$foo" (or "${foo}"), that error will cause you a lot of headache at the most unexpected moment; when you encounter a filename with special character(s) in it.

                      – G-Man
                      Apr 11 '16 at 5:35
















                    -1














                    pattern=$1
                    dir=$2

                    for file in $(find ${dir} -type f -name "*${pattern}*")
                    do
                    /bin/rm -i ${file}
                    done


                    Basically you are looping through the files the find command returns and rm -i command is asking you a y/n question to delete the file or not. I think it is what you are looking for but if not, let people know what your exact need is for further help.






                    share|improve this answer
























                    • thank you for your help, I'm sure I can figure it out myself but the major part of this is the prompt to the user to decide whether or not to delete the file. Can I put this between the do done?

                      – user276019
                      Apr 10 '16 at 4:53






                    • 1





                      Don’t do for file in $(find …); do …; do find "$dir" -type f -name "*${pattern}*" -exec rm -i {} +. Note that $dir should be quoted (in double quotes); putting it in braces accomplishes nothing.

                      – G-Man
                      Apr 10 '16 at 5:31








                    • 1





                      @G-Man is correct. in this particular case, the braces, while harmless, do nothing of any use, but double-quoting the variables would protect against embedded spaces and other problem characters. He's also correct about not using for file in $(find ...). Use find ... -exec rm -i {} + as he suggested or find ... | while IFS= read file ; do rm -i "$file" ; done. The former (-exec rm) works for all files, even those with newlines in the filename, whereas the second (while loop) works for all filenames except those with newlines. These are not matters of opinion, they are facts.

                      – cas
                      Apr 10 '16 at 8:49






                    • 2





                      Don't read lines with for

                      – glenn jackman
                      Apr 10 '16 at 11:56






                    • 1





                      (Cont’d) …  You say, “at the most unexpected moment, they (braces) save you a lot of headache …”  I’m going to disagree with that.  If you use $foo_bar (or even "$foo_bar") when you meant ${foo}_bar (or "${foo}_bar" or "$foo"_bar), i.e., you want the value of $foo + the literal string _bar, and you do any testing, you will discover your error immediately.  But if you use $foo (or even ${foo}) when you meant "$foo" (or "${foo}"), that error will cause you a lot of headache at the most unexpected moment; when you encounter a filename with special character(s) in it.

                      – G-Man
                      Apr 11 '16 at 5:35














                    -1












                    -1








                    -1







                    pattern=$1
                    dir=$2

                    for file in $(find ${dir} -type f -name "*${pattern}*")
                    do
                    /bin/rm -i ${file}
                    done


                    Basically you are looping through the files the find command returns and rm -i command is asking you a y/n question to delete the file or not. I think it is what you are looking for but if not, let people know what your exact need is for further help.






                    share|improve this answer













                    pattern=$1
                    dir=$2

                    for file in $(find ${dir} -type f -name "*${pattern}*")
                    do
                    /bin/rm -i ${file}
                    done


                    Basically you are looping through the files the find command returns and rm -i command is asking you a y/n question to delete the file or not. I think it is what you are looking for but if not, let people know what your exact need is for further help.







                    share|improve this answer












                    share|improve this answer



                    share|improve this answer










                    answered Apr 10 '16 at 4:44









                    MelBurslanMelBurslan

                    5,29811533




                    5,29811533













                    • thank you for your help, I'm sure I can figure it out myself but the major part of this is the prompt to the user to decide whether or not to delete the file. Can I put this between the do done?

                      – user276019
                      Apr 10 '16 at 4:53






                    • 1





                      Don’t do for file in $(find …); do …; do find "$dir" -type f -name "*${pattern}*" -exec rm -i {} +. Note that $dir should be quoted (in double quotes); putting it in braces accomplishes nothing.

                      – G-Man
                      Apr 10 '16 at 5:31








                    • 1





                      @G-Man is correct. in this particular case, the braces, while harmless, do nothing of any use, but double-quoting the variables would protect against embedded spaces and other problem characters. He's also correct about not using for file in $(find ...). Use find ... -exec rm -i {} + as he suggested or find ... | while IFS= read file ; do rm -i "$file" ; done. The former (-exec rm) works for all files, even those with newlines in the filename, whereas the second (while loop) works for all filenames except those with newlines. These are not matters of opinion, they are facts.

                      – cas
                      Apr 10 '16 at 8:49






                    • 2





                      Don't read lines with for

                      – glenn jackman
                      Apr 10 '16 at 11:56






                    • 1





                      (Cont’d) …  You say, “at the most unexpected moment, they (braces) save you a lot of headache …”  I’m going to disagree with that.  If you use $foo_bar (or even "$foo_bar") when you meant ${foo}_bar (or "${foo}_bar" or "$foo"_bar), i.e., you want the value of $foo + the literal string _bar, and you do any testing, you will discover your error immediately.  But if you use $foo (or even ${foo}) when you meant "$foo" (or "${foo}"), that error will cause you a lot of headache at the most unexpected moment; when you encounter a filename with special character(s) in it.

                      – G-Man
                      Apr 11 '16 at 5:35



















                    • thank you for your help, I'm sure I can figure it out myself but the major part of this is the prompt to the user to decide whether or not to delete the file. Can I put this between the do done?

                      – user276019
                      Apr 10 '16 at 4:53






                    • 1





                      Don’t do for file in $(find …); do …; do find "$dir" -type f -name "*${pattern}*" -exec rm -i {} +. Note that $dir should be quoted (in double quotes); putting it in braces accomplishes nothing.

                      – G-Man
                      Apr 10 '16 at 5:31








                    • 1





                      @G-Man is correct. in this particular case, the braces, while harmless, do nothing of any use, but double-quoting the variables would protect against embedded spaces and other problem characters. He's also correct about not using for file in $(find ...). Use find ... -exec rm -i {} + as he suggested or find ... | while IFS= read file ; do rm -i "$file" ; done. The former (-exec rm) works for all files, even those with newlines in the filename, whereas the second (while loop) works for all filenames except those with newlines. These are not matters of opinion, they are facts.

                      – cas
                      Apr 10 '16 at 8:49






                    • 2





                      Don't read lines with for

                      – glenn jackman
                      Apr 10 '16 at 11:56






                    • 1





                      (Cont’d) …  You say, “at the most unexpected moment, they (braces) save you a lot of headache …”  I’m going to disagree with that.  If you use $foo_bar (or even "$foo_bar") when you meant ${foo}_bar (or "${foo}_bar" or "$foo"_bar), i.e., you want the value of $foo + the literal string _bar, and you do any testing, you will discover your error immediately.  But if you use $foo (or even ${foo}) when you meant "$foo" (or "${foo}"), that error will cause you a lot of headache at the most unexpected moment; when you encounter a filename with special character(s) in it.

                      – G-Man
                      Apr 11 '16 at 5:35

















                    thank you for your help, I'm sure I can figure it out myself but the major part of this is the prompt to the user to decide whether or not to delete the file. Can I put this between the do done?

                    – user276019
                    Apr 10 '16 at 4:53





                    thank you for your help, I'm sure I can figure it out myself but the major part of this is the prompt to the user to decide whether or not to delete the file. Can I put this between the do done?

                    – user276019
                    Apr 10 '16 at 4:53




                    1




                    1





                    Don’t do for file in $(find …); do …; do find "$dir" -type f -name "*${pattern}*" -exec rm -i {} +. Note that $dir should be quoted (in double quotes); putting it in braces accomplishes nothing.

                    – G-Man
                    Apr 10 '16 at 5:31







                    Don’t do for file in $(find …); do …; do find "$dir" -type f -name "*${pattern}*" -exec rm -i {} +. Note that $dir should be quoted (in double quotes); putting it in braces accomplishes nothing.

                    – G-Man
                    Apr 10 '16 at 5:31






                    1




                    1





                    @G-Man is correct. in this particular case, the braces, while harmless, do nothing of any use, but double-quoting the variables would protect against embedded spaces and other problem characters. He's also correct about not using for file in $(find ...). Use find ... -exec rm -i {} + as he suggested or find ... | while IFS= read file ; do rm -i "$file" ; done. The former (-exec rm) works for all files, even those with newlines in the filename, whereas the second (while loop) works for all filenames except those with newlines. These are not matters of opinion, they are facts.

                    – cas
                    Apr 10 '16 at 8:49





                    @G-Man is correct. in this particular case, the braces, while harmless, do nothing of any use, but double-quoting the variables would protect against embedded spaces and other problem characters. He's also correct about not using for file in $(find ...). Use find ... -exec rm -i {} + as he suggested or find ... | while IFS= read file ; do rm -i "$file" ; done. The former (-exec rm) works for all files, even those with newlines in the filename, whereas the second (while loop) works for all filenames except those with newlines. These are not matters of opinion, they are facts.

                    – cas
                    Apr 10 '16 at 8:49




                    2




                    2





                    Don't read lines with for

                    – glenn jackman
                    Apr 10 '16 at 11:56





                    Don't read lines with for

                    – glenn jackman
                    Apr 10 '16 at 11:56




                    1




                    1





                    (Cont’d) …  You say, “at the most unexpected moment, they (braces) save you a lot of headache …”  I’m going to disagree with that.  If you use $foo_bar (or even "$foo_bar") when you meant ${foo}_bar (or "${foo}_bar" or "$foo"_bar), i.e., you want the value of $foo + the literal string _bar, and you do any testing, you will discover your error immediately.  But if you use $foo (or even ${foo}) when you meant "$foo" (or "${foo}"), that error will cause you a lot of headache at the most unexpected moment; when you encounter a filename with special character(s) in it.

                    – G-Man
                    Apr 11 '16 at 5:35





                    (Cont’d) …  You say, “at the most unexpected moment, they (braces) save you a lot of headache …”  I’m going to disagree with that.  If you use $foo_bar (or even "$foo_bar") when you meant ${foo}_bar (or "${foo}_bar" or "$foo"_bar), i.e., you want the value of $foo + the literal string _bar, and you do any testing, you will discover your error immediately.  But if you use $foo (or even ${foo}) when you meant "$foo" (or "${foo}"), that error will cause you a lot of headache at the most unexpected moment; when you encounter a filename with special character(s) in it.

                    – G-Man
                    Apr 11 '16 at 5:35


















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