Remove all files with particular name but different extensions at once

Question

I have a directory where I have the following set of files:

cheatsheetold.aux
cheatsheetold.log
cheatsheetold.out
cheatsheetold.pdf
cheatsheetold.synctex.gz
cheatsheetold.tex
cheatsheetnew.aux
cheatsheetnew.log
cheatsheetnew.out
cheatsheetnew.pdf
cheatsheetnew.synctex.gz
cheatsheetnew.tex

What I want to do is to remove all the cheetsheetold.

cheatsheetold.aux
cheatsheetold.log
cheatsheetold.out
cheatsheetold.pdf
cheatsheetold.synctex.gz
cheatsheetold.tex

without touching the cheatsheetnew

cheatsheetnew.aux
cheatsheetnew.log
cheatsheetnew.out
cheatsheetnew.pdf
cheatsheetnew.synctex.gz
cheatsheetnew.tex

I already had a look at this other question, but it didn't solve the problem as there is a complete set of extension for both file names

which shell? in bash it works to run rm -- cheatsheetold.* — fraleone, Feb 09 '20 at 14:25
Great! Many thanks @fraleone. that worked! I think I'm on bash. but I'm not shure. How can I know for next time? — ecjb, Feb 09 '20 at 14:29
echo $BASH should print out something when you are on bash as should echo $SHELL in both cases might most likely be /bin/bash which is the quasi standard path to the bash shell (for instance on fedora and ubuntu) — fraleone, Feb 09 '20 at 14:33

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 09 '20 at 14:41

5

Unix does not have file-name-extensions, nor does Microsoft's Windows (not after Windows ME. However file-explorer still has the concept). What you need to do is find all files starting with ... (in your case starting with cheatsheetold..

You can do this with cheatsheetold.*. It will then pass the file list to rm. You can use it with any command. It is not an rm thing.

Practice with echo cheatsheetold.*

answered Feb 09 '20 at 14:41

ctrl-alt-delor

27,993

thanks for your answer @ctrl-alt-delor – ecjb Feb 09 '20 at 14:45
1

what is the difference between rm -- cheatsheetold.* and rm cheatsheetold.*? – ecjb Feb 09 '20 at 14:46
1

That would be a new question: but it will tell you for free, just type man rm. It means end of options, and as on option in a lot of commands. Anything after it even if it starts with a - or -- is not an option. It this case it will be a filename. – ctrl-alt-delor Feb 09 '20 at 18:34
thanks for your comment @ctrl-alt-delor – ecjb Feb 09 '20 at 18:58
@ecjb There is a urban legend/ story where somebody had a file named --rf in his home directory. Wanting to delete all files, he issued a rm * instead of rm -- * which the shell then expanded to something like rm file1 file2 [......] --rf meaning that even more files and subdirectories have been removed by "acccident" and unintentedly. Therefore there is no harm to use -- for additional safety line in case of *. – fraleone Feb 10 '20 at 08:56
It is -rf (one hython). – ctrl-alt-delor Feb 10 '20 at 21:47

fraleone · Accepted Answer · 2020-02-09T14:38:52.647

It was not stated in which shell (bash, fish, zsh, csh) you desire to use some sort of wildcard when removing files.

As bash is a prominent shell I state that it would be possible to simply use this command:

rm -- cheatsheetold.*

note that the wildcard * is used after the -- as to avoid any unindented mishaps by bash shell extensions

the command line env | grep 'SHELL' might show you the shell you use. I have also tested the command line in the more POSIX reduced dash shell.

I simply do not use any other shells (like csh and tsh or fish) so I cannot tell how globbing works there.

another way to get an idea which shell is running might be this ps -p $$ where the $$ should be the PID of the current process (the shell) and ps the tool to list processes limited to the PID of the current shell.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ShellGlobbing

Many thanks for your answer @fraleone. Can you just tell me additionally, how to know which shell I used for the next time I ask a question about terminal? — ecjb, Feb 09 '20 at 14:32

score 1 · Answer 3 · edited Feb 09 '20 at 14:33

1

You can use the wildcard, but you got to be very careful as it can delete other files that may match.

rm cheatsheetold.*

The command above will delete any file whose name starts with cheatsheetold. and is followed by anything, so any extension.

edited Feb 09 '20 at 14:33

Stéphane Chazelas

544,893

answered Feb 09 '20 at 14:29

Heysus Escobar

439

many thanks for your answer. @HeysusEscobar – ecjb Feb 09 '20 at 14:30

Remove all files with particular name but different extensions at once

3 Answers3