How to Delete Multi Directory and Files


 
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# 1  
Old 05-06-2008
Question How to Delete Multi Directory and Files

I have a subdirectory which has many child directories and files in it. How can i delete them through a list (txt, rtf. xls , or any file extension) which is created by me. I can not manual delete one by one because it almost over 300 directory and over 4000 files. Any one know please help me?
# 2  
Old 05-06-2008
find command with option user may help.

Execute this to see if these are the files you want to delete
Code:
find . -user <your_user_name> -exec ls -l {} \;

and then remove them using the below command
Code:
find . -user <your_user_name> -exec rm -f {} \;

However, be very sure before using the rm command given above. Verify that you are not deleting more files than what you actually need.
# 3  
Old 05-06-2008
But the problem is how can i choose the list of files i want to delete.
# 4  
Old 05-07-2008
add
Code:
-name \*.txt

to the find.
# 5  
Old 05-08-2008
I begin with create a a file:

#touch list.txt
#nano list.txt

and insert the name of folder i want to delete into this file then i run

#find -name \list.txt

but it didn't work out. Please help. I've just familiar with UNIX so i don't know much about it. Step by step is much appreciated.
# 6  
Old 05-08-2008
To read folder names from list.txt and remove them, you can write a simple script like:
Code:
while read line
do
 rm -R $line
 echo "Folder $line removed"
done<list.txt

Caution: You can place a check whether you are removing the intended folders only, by placing an echo and commenting rm.
 
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