Ah, well in this case I know exactly what I want rm to do. I actually
have the files backed up and perhaps rm on the Mac is different, but
on my Linux box if I typed rm -rf or even just rm -r, it woud in fact
go through the directories and remove the files I've requested, i.e.
rm -r *.junk.
I guess my problem is I assumed which we know about assuming, but it
would behave the same way, but apparently it does not. The main
reason I wanted to do it this way is I have quite a pile of folders
with sub folders inside those folders. grin See why it would take
some time?
tnx
Scott
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Jul 1, 2006, at 3:39 PM, Cheryl Homiak wrote:
You don't have to change to each of the directories!!! Just type
the path using completion. And it really isn't "insane" that rm
doesn't do what you want it to do. It's purpose is to recursively
remove directories, not to go through all directories recursively
and remove files via a wild card.
Also, you probably should be careful using the -f option when
experimenting; in most cases it won't make any difference anyway
and where it does make a difference you could lose files and not be
able to get them back. I do know that in some linux ddistributions
(fedora if I recall correctly0 you have to use the "f" or you get
prompted to confirm every deletion but this isn't by and large true
and it isn't true on our Mac systems. Unless you use the
"i" (interactive) option, or unless you try to remove something for
which you don't have permission, the files will be removed without
any request for confirmation. so unless you know exactly what your
"rm" command will do, I would at least initially leave out the "f"
option. Not insulting your intelligence; it's just that I've had
the experience of accidentally removing fthe wrong files and I'm
sure other linux users on this list can relate similar tales of woe.
--
Cheryl
"Where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also".
