diff --git a/SC2012.md b/SC2012.md deleted file mode 100644 index 6d07ab9..0000000 --- a/SC2012.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,99 +0,0 @@ -## Use `find` instead of `ls` to better handle non-alphanumeric filenames. - -### Problematic code: - -```sh -ls -l | grep " $USER " | grep '\.txt$' -``` -```sh -NUMGZ="$(ls -l *.gz | wc -l)" -``` - -### Correct code: - -```sh -find . -maxdepth 1 -name '*.txt' -user "$USER" # Using the names of the files -``` -```sh -gz_files=(*.gz) -numgz=${#gz_files[@]} # Sometimes, you just need a count -```` -### Rationale: - -`ls` is only intended for human consumption: it has a loose, non-standard format and may "clean up" filenames to make output easier to read. - -Here's an example: - -```sh -$ ls -l -total 0 --rw-r----- 1 me me 0 Feb 5 20:11 foo?bar --rw-r----- 1 me me 0 Feb 5 2011 foo?bar --rw-r----- 1 me me 0 Feb 5 20:11 foo?bar -``` - -It shows three seemingly identical filenames, and did you spot the time format change? How it formats and what it redacts can differ between locale settings, `ls` version, and whether output is a tty. - -### Tips for replacing `ls` with `find`: - -#### Just the filenames, ma'am - -`ls` can usually be replaced by `find` if it's just the filenames, or a count of them, that you're after. Note that if you are using `ls` to get at the contents of a directory, a straight substitution of `find` may not yield the same results as `ls`. Here is an example: - -``` -$ ls -c1 .snapshot -rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-01_1605 -rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-01_2005 -rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-02_0005 -rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-02_0405 -rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-02_0805 -rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-02_1205 -snapmirror.1501b4aa-3f82-11e8-9c31-00a098cef13d_2147868328.2019-04-01_190000 -``` -versus -``` -$ find .snapshot -maxdepth 1 -.snapshot -.snapshot/rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-02_0005 -.snapshot/rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-02_0405 -.snapshot/rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-02_0805 -.snapshot/rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-01_1605 -.snapshot/rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-01_2005 -.snapshot/rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-02_1205 -.snapshot/snapmirror.1501b4aa-3f82-11e8-9c31-00a098cef13d_2147868328.2019-04-01_190000 -``` -You can see two differences here. The first is that the `find` output has the full paths to the found files, relative to the current working directory from which `find` was run whereas `ls` only has the filenames. You may have to adjust your code to not add the directory to the filenames as you process them when moving from `ls` to `find`, or (with GNU find) use `-printf '%P\n'` to print just the filename. - -The second difference in the two outputs is that the `find` command includes the searched directory as an entry. This can be eliminated by also using `-mindepth 1` to skip printing the root path, or using a negative name option for the searched directory: -``` -$ find .snapshot -maxdepth 1 ! -name .snapshot -.snapshot/rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-02_0005 -.snapshot/rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-02_0405 -.snapshot/rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-02_0805 -.snapshot/rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-01_1605 -.snapshot/rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-01_2005 -.snapshot/rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-02_1205 -.snapshot/snapmirror.1501b4aa-3f82-11e8-9c31-00a098cef13d_2147868328.2019-04-01_190000 -``` - -**Note:** If the directory argument to `find` is a fully expressed path (`/home/somedir/.snapshot`), then you should use `basename` on the `-name` filter: - -``` -$ theDir="$HOME/.snapshot" -$ find "$theDir" -maxdepth 1 ! -name "$(basename $theDir)" -/home/matt/.snapshot/rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-02_0005 -/home/matt/.snapshot/rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-02_0405 -/home/matt/.snapshot/rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-02_0805 -/home/matt/.snapshot/rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-01_1605 -/home/matt/.snapshot/rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-01_2005 -/home/matt/.snapshot/rnapdev1-svm_4_05am_6every4hours.2019-04-02_1205 -/home/matt/.snapshot/snapmirror.1501b4aa-3f82-11e8-9c31-00a098cef13d_2147868328.2019-04-01_190000 -``` - -#### All the other info - -If trying to parse out any other fields, first see whether `stat` (GNU, OS X, FreeBSD) or `find -printf` (GNU) can give you the data you want directly. - -### Exceptions: - -If the information is intended for the user and not for processing (`ls -l ~/dir | nl; echo "Ok to delete these files?"`) you can ignore this error with a [[directive]].