How to use find with regex to delete files beginning with certain letters
I have a nested directory structure that looks like this:
top_dir
└── nested_1
└── nested_2
├── a_file.txt
├── b_file.txt
├── directory
├── other_directory
├── y_file.txt
└── z_file.txt
I want to delete the files inside nested_2 that don't start with A-M, and leave the directories alone. So I want to delete y_file.txt and z_file.txt.
I need to run the find + regex command in top_dir.
I've tried multiple versions of this:
find nested_1/nested_2 -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -type f -regex "nested_1/nested_2/.*^[a-m]" #-delete
It doesn't seem to matter what regex I use - the only one that produces any result at all is
find nested_1/nested_2 -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -type f -regex ".*" #-delete
which just gives me a list of all the files in the directory with the leading nested directories (as expected).
Testing it out on regexr hasn't helped either.
What am I missing here?
linux regex
edited Feb 12 at 21:43
Kamil Maciorowski
28.6k156187
asked Feb 12 at 21:18
katiekeelkatiekeel
84
add a comment |
I have a nested directory structure that looks like this:
top_dir
└── nested_1
└── nested_2
├── a_file.txt
├── b_file.txt
├── directory
├── other_directory
├── y_file.txt
└── z_file.txt
I want to delete the files inside nested_2 that don't start with A-M, and leave the directories alone. So I want to delete y_file.txt and z_file.txt.
I need to run the find + regex command in top_dir.
I've tried multiple versions of this:
find nested_1/nested_2 -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -type f -regex "nested_1/nested_2/.*^[a-m]" #-delete
It doesn't seem to matter what regex I use - the only one that produces any result at all is
find nested_1/nested_2 -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -type f -regex ".*" #-delete
which just gives me a list of all the files in the directory with the leading nested directories (as expected).
Testing it out on regexr hasn't helped either.
What am I missing here?
linux regex
edited Feb 12 at 21:43
Kamil Maciorowski
28.6k156187
asked Feb 12 at 21:18
katiekeelkatiekeel
84
add a comment |
I have a nested directory structure that looks like this:
top_dir
└── nested_1
└── nested_2
├── a_file.txt
├── b_file.txt
├── directory
├── other_directory
├── y_file.txt
└── z_file.txt
I want to delete the files inside nested_2 that don't start with A-M, and leave the directories alone. So I want to delete y_file.txt and z_file.txt.
I need to run the find + regex command in top_dir.
I've tried multiple versions of this:
find nested_1/nested_2 -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -type f -regex "nested_1/nested_2/.*^[a-m]" #-delete
It doesn't seem to matter what regex I use - the only one that produces any result at all is
find nested_1/nested_2 -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -type f -regex ".*" #-delete
which just gives me a list of all the files in the directory with the leading nested directories (as expected).
Testing it out on regexr hasn't helped either.
What am I missing here?
linux regex
edited Feb 12 at 21:43
Kamil Maciorowski
28.6k156187
asked Feb 12 at 21:18
katiekeelkatiekeel
84
I have a nested directory structure that looks like this:
top_dir
└── nested_1
└── nested_2
├── a_file.txt
├── b_file.txt
├── directory
├── other_directory
├── y_file.txt
└── z_file.txt
I want to delete the files inside nested_2 that don't start with A-M, and leave the directories alone. So I want to delete y_file.txt and z_file.txt.
I need to run the find + regex command in top_dir.
I've tried multiple versions of this:
find nested_1/nested_2 -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -type f -regex "nested_1/nested_2/.*^[a-m]" #-delete
It doesn't seem to matter what regex I use - the only one that produces any result at all is
find nested_1/nested_2 -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -type f -regex ".*" #-delete
which just gives me a list of all the files in the directory with the leading nested directories (as expected).
Testing it out on regexr hasn't helped either.
What am I missing here?
linux regex
linux regex
edited Feb 12 at 21:43
Kamil Maciorowski
28.6k156187
asked Feb 12 at 21:18
katiekeelkatiekeel
84
edited Feb 12 at 21:43
Kamil Maciorowski
28.6k156187
asked Feb 12 at 21:18
katiekeelkatiekeel
84
edited Feb 12 at 21:43
Kamil Maciorowski
28.6k156187
edited Feb 12 at 21:43
Kamil Maciorowski
28.6k156187
edited Feb 12 at 21:43
Kamil Maciorowski
28.6k156187
28.6k156187
asked Feb 12 at 21:18
katiekeelkatiekeel
84
asked Feb 12 at 21:18
katiekeelkatiekeel
84
asked Feb 12 at 21:18
katiekeelkatiekeel
84
84
add a comment |
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
^[a-m]should be[^a-m].- After the first letter there may be the rest of the filename, so you need
.*after[^a-m], not before. - These backshlashes are not needed (they don't hurt though).
find nested_1/nested_2 -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -type f -regex "nested_1/nested_2/[^a-m].*" #-delete
Notes:
- Linux and its filesystems are case sensitive. Things "that don't start with A-M" would be
[^A-M].*. - Sometimes
[^a-m](or[^A-M]) may not be what you think.
answered Feb 12 at 21:38
Kamil MaciorowskiKamil Maciorowski
28.6k156187
Thank you so much! Yes, the lack of closing quote was a typo. Super frustrating to learn that the caret being inside the bracket was the main problem, but hey... that's programming :)
– katiekeel
Feb 12 at 21:42
add a comment |
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1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
^[a-m]should be[^a-m].- After the first letter there may be the rest of the filename, so you need
.*after[^a-m], not before. - These backshlashes are not needed (they don't hurt though).
find nested_1/nested_2 -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -type f -regex "nested_1/nested_2/[^a-m].*" #-delete
Notes:
- Linux and its filesystems are case sensitive. Things "that don't start with A-M" would be
[^A-M].*. - Sometimes
[^a-m](or[^A-M]) may not be what you think.
answered Feb 12 at 21:38
Kamil MaciorowskiKamil Maciorowski
28.6k156187
Thank you so much! Yes, the lack of closing quote was a typo. Super frustrating to learn that the caret being inside the bracket was the main problem, but hey... that's programming :)
– katiekeel
Feb 12 at 21:42
add a comment |
^[a-m]should be[^a-m].- After the first letter there may be the rest of the filename, so you need
.*after[^a-m], not before. - These backshlashes are not needed (they don't hurt though).
find nested_1/nested_2 -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -type f -regex "nested_1/nested_2/[^a-m].*" #-delete
Notes:
- Linux and its filesystems are case sensitive. Things "that don't start with A-M" would be
[^A-M].*. - Sometimes
[^a-m](or[^A-M]) may not be what you think.
answered Feb 12 at 21:38
Kamil MaciorowskiKamil Maciorowski
28.6k156187
Thank you so much! Yes, the lack of closing quote was a typo. Super frustrating to learn that the caret being inside the bracket was the main problem, but hey... that's programming :)
– katiekeel
Feb 12 at 21:42
add a comment |
^[a-m]should be[^a-m].- After the first letter there may be the rest of the filename, so you need
.*after[^a-m], not before. - These backshlashes are not needed (they don't hurt though).
find nested_1/nested_2 -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -type f -regex "nested_1/nested_2/[^a-m].*" #-delete
Notes:
- Linux and its filesystems are case sensitive. Things "that don't start with A-M" would be
[^A-M].*. - Sometimes
[^a-m](or[^A-M]) may not be what you think.
answered Feb 12 at 21:38
Kamil MaciorowskiKamil Maciorowski
28.6k156187
^[a-m]should be[^a-m].- After the first letter there may be the rest of the filename, so you need
.*after[^a-m], not before. - These backshlashes are not needed (they don't hurt though).
find nested_1/nested_2 -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -type f -regex "nested_1/nested_2/[^a-m].*" #-delete
Notes:
- Linux and its filesystems are case sensitive. Things "that don't start with A-M" would be
[^A-M].*. - Sometimes
[^a-m](or[^A-M]) may not be what you think.
answered Feb 12 at 21:38
Kamil MaciorowskiKamil Maciorowski
28.6k156187
edited Feb 12 at 21:44
answered Feb 12 at 21:38
Kamil MaciorowskiKamil Maciorowski
28.6k156187
answered Feb 12 at 21:38
Kamil MaciorowskiKamil Maciorowski
28.6k156187
answered Feb 12 at 21:38
Kamil MaciorowskiKamil Maciorowski
28.6k156187
28.6k156187
Thank you so much! Yes, the lack of closing quote was a typo. Super frustrating to learn that the caret being inside the bracket was the main problem, but hey... that's programming :)
– katiekeel
Feb 12 at 21:42
add a comment |
Thank you so much! Yes, the lack of closing quote was a typo. Super frustrating to learn that the caret being inside the bracket was the main problem, but hey... that's programming :)
– katiekeel
Feb 12 at 21:42
Thank you so much! Yes, the lack of closing quote was a typo. Super frustrating to learn that the caret being inside the bracket was the main problem, but hey... that's programming :)
– katiekeel
Feb 12 at 21:42
Thank you so much! Yes, the lack of closing quote was a typo. Super frustrating to learn that the caret being inside the bracket was the main problem, but hey... that's programming :)
– katiekeel
Feb 12 at 21:42
add a comment |
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