Find Command Syntax
I'm trying to write a script to feed the mail in my spam folder to Spamassassin's sa-learn and then delete the mails older than 1 day in that spam folder. Here's my current directory listing: blacklamb ll /path/to/Maildir/.Spam/cur total 70 -rw--- 1 user group 6118 Sep 22 02:08 1095844100.98444_0.blacklamb.mykitchentable.net:2, -rw--- 1 user group 3545 Sep 22 02:21 1095844907.98477_0.blacklamb.mykitchentable.net:2, -rw--- 1 user group 7408 Sep 22 03:18 1095848327.99825_0.blacklamb.mykitchentable.net:2, -rw--- 1 user group 6560 Sep 22 03:44 1095849842.99908_0.blacklamb.mykitchentable.net:2, -rw--- 1 user group 5203 Sep 22 04:57 1095854240.48102_0.blacklamb.mykitchentable.net:2, -rw--- 1 user group 3313 Sep 22 05:21 1095855688.48172_0.blacklamb.mykitchentable.net:2, -rw--- 1 user group 5718 Sep 22 06:34 1095860049.48407_0.blacklamb.mykitchentable.net:2, -rw--- 1 user group 5254 Sep 22 07:22 1095862947.48525_0.blacklamb.mykitchentable.net:2, -rw-r--r-- 1 user group 23314 Sep 21 18:41 1095863122.M795851P95252V5B00I0031FB22_1.blacklamb.mykitchentable.net,S=23314:2,S I'm trying to use the find command to do the deleting but am having trouble with the syntax. For testing, I'm using this command: blacklamb find /path/to/Maildir/.Spam/cur \! -newerct 1d -print blacklamb It finds nothing. I read in the manual that time specifications don't have much meaning without the '-' or '+' operator so I try adding it: blacklamb find /usr/home/tomlinson_dr/Maildir/.Spam/cur \! -newerct -1d -print find: Can't parse date/time: -1d blacklamb find /usr/home/tomlinson_dr/Maildir/.Spam/cur \! -newerct +1d -print find: Can't parse date/time: +1d I've also tried a combination of adding ()'s around the expression but that hasn't worked either. What am I missing? Is this an appropriate choice for what I want to do? Is there another command better suited for this task? Thanks, Drew -- Visit The Alchemist's Warehouse Magic Tricks, DVDs, Videos, Books, More! http://www.alchemistswarehouse.com smime.p7s Description: S/MIME Cryptographic Signature
Re: Find Command Syntax
Drew Tomlinson wrote: I've also tried a combination of adding ()'s around the expression but that hasn't worked either. What am I missing? Is this an appropriate choice for what I want to do? Is there another command better suited for this task? Use quotes # find . -name aaa -print differs from # find . -name aaa - print ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Find Command Syntax
On Wed, Sep 22, 2004 at 08:26:07AM -0700, Drew Tomlinson wrote: I'm trying to write a script to feed the mail in my spam folder to Spamassassin's sa-learn and then delete the mails older than 1 day in that spam folder. Here's my current directory listing: I'm trying to use the find command to do the deleting but am having trouble with the syntax. For testing, I'm using this command: blacklamb find /path/to/Maildir/.Spam/cur \! -newerct 1d -print blacklamb It finds nothing. I read in the manual that time specifications don't have much meaning without the '-' or '+' operator so I try adding it: Try: find /path/to/Maildir/.Spam/cur -type f -mtime +1 -print Or you might want to use -ctime instead of -mtime -- I think mtime is probably a more reliable measure than ctime. Cheers, Matthew -- Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 26 The Paddocks Savill Way PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey Marlow Tel: +44 1628 476614 Bucks., SL7 1TH UK pgpZnn7RZ9fVo.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: Find Command Syntax
On 9/22/2004 8:39 AM Matthew Seaman wrote: On Wed, Sep 22, 2004 at 08:26:07AM -0700, Drew Tomlinson wrote: I'm trying to write a script to feed the mail in my spam folder to Spamassassin's sa-learn and then delete the mails older than 1 day in that spam folder. Here's my current directory listing: I'm trying to use the find command to do the deleting but am having trouble with the syntax. For testing, I'm using this command: blacklamb find /path/to/Maildir/.Spam/cur \! -newerct 1d -print blacklamb It finds nothing. I read in the manual that time specifications don't have much meaning without the '-' or '+' operator so I try adding it: Try: find /path/to/Maildir/.Spam/cur -type f -mtime +1 -print Or you might want to use -ctime instead of -mtime -- I think mtime is probably a more reliable measure than ctime. Thanks for your reply. This seems to work. However I'm confused. Should I use -ctime or -mtime? Drew -- Visit The Alchemist's Warehouse Magic Tricks, DVDs, Videos, Books, More! http://www.alchemistswarehouse.com smime.p7s Description: S/MIME Cryptographic Signature
Re: Find Command Syntax
On Wed, Sep 22, 2004 at 09:04:38AM -0700, Drew Tomlinson wrote: On 9/22/2004 8:39 AM Matthew Seaman wrote: Try: find /path/to/Maildir/.Spam/cur -type f -mtime +1 -print Or you might want to use -ctime instead of -mtime -- I think mtime is probably a more reliable measure than ctime. Thanks for your reply. This seems to work. However I'm confused. Should I use -ctime or -mtime? Hmmm... well, if you just save the Spam messages into that directory and don't alter them after that, then mtime and ctime will actually be the same. Either will do. Cheers, Matthew -- Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 26 The Paddocks Savill Way PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey Marlow Tel: +44 1628 476614 Bucks., SL7 1TH UK pgp9bpfou37bh.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: Find Command Syntax
On 9/22/2004 10:34 AM Matthew Seaman wrote: On Wed, Sep 22, 2004 at 09:04:38AM -0700, Drew Tomlinson wrote: On 9/22/2004 8:39 AM Matthew Seaman wrote: Try: find /path/to/Maildir/.Spam/cur -type f -mtime +1 -print Or you might want to use -ctime instead of -mtime -- I think mtime is probably a more reliable measure than ctime. Thanks for your reply. This seems to work. However I'm confused. Should I use -ctime or -mtime? Hmmm... well, if you just save the Spam messages into that directory and don't alter them after that, then mtime and ctime will actually be the same. Either will do. OK, I'm trying to understand the difference. According to the manual -ctime is change of file status and -mtime is last modification time. I think I understand what modification means (changing the contents of the file) but what is change of file status? In my particular situation, while reviewing my spam folder for possible ham, my IMAP client may change the message status from unread to read. How would this affect the actual message file? Thanks again! Drew smime.p7s Description: S/MIME Cryptographic Signature
RE: Find Command Syntax
OK, I'm trying to understand the difference. According to the manual -ctime is change of file status and -mtime is last modification time. I think I understand what modification means (changing the contents of the file) but what is change of file status? In my particular situation, while reviewing my spam folder for possible ham, my IMAP client may change the message status from unread to read. How would this affect the actual message file? Contents change is when what's inside the file changes. Status change is when the file descriptor status, like read-only, or permissions changes. Ralph ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Find Command Syntax
On Wed, Sep 22, 2004 at 10:47:38AM -0700, Drew Tomlinson wrote: OK, I'm trying to understand the difference. According to the manual -ctime is change of file status and -mtime is last modification time. I think I understand what modification means (changing the contents of the file) but what is change of file status? In my particular situation, while reviewing my spam folder for possible ham, my IMAP client may change the message status from unread to read. How would this affect the actual message file? The ctime entry (originally 'creation time') used to be intended to record when the file was created. Nowadays it records the last time the inode for the file changed -- that includes such things as changes to file permissions, ACLs, option flags etc., but not such things as modifications to the file contents which don't change the file size a great deal. This status has nothing to do with what your IMAP client reports as the file status. The ctime concept applies to any file on the system, no matter what it's used for. IMAP status just records or modifies an extra header within the message to indicate if it's been read or not. Thus reading those messages via IMAP might change mtime but not ctime. However, I'm not certain of that. You'll have to experiment. You can print out the ctime and mtime for the files by: % stat -f 'ctime=%Sc mtime=%Sm %N' -t '%c' * Usually mtime and ctime will be exactly the same. Cheers, Matthew -- Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 26 The Paddocks Savill Way PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey Marlow Tel: +44 1628 476614 Bucks., SL7 1TH UK pgp7LoNKysm6B.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: Find Command Syntax
On 9/22/2004 11:23 AM Matthew Seaman wrote: On Wed, Sep 22, 2004 at 10:47:38AM -0700, Drew Tomlinson wrote: OK, I'm trying to understand the difference. According to the manual -ctime is change of file status and -mtime is last modification time. I think I understand what modification means (changing the contents of the file) but what is change of file status? In my particular situation, while reviewing my spam folder for possible ham, my IMAP client may change the message status from unread to read. How would this affect the actual message file? The ctime entry (originally 'creation time') used to be intended to record when the file was created. Nowadays it records the last time the inode for the file changed -- that includes such things as changes to file permissions, ACLs, option flags etc., but not such things as modifications to the file contents which don't change the file size a great deal. This status has nothing to do with what your IMAP client reports as the file status. The ctime concept applies to any file on the system, no matter what it's used for. IMAP status just records or modifies an extra header within the message to indicate if it's been read or not. Thus reading those messages via IMAP might change mtime but not ctime. However, I'm not certain of that. You'll have to experiment. You can print out the ctime and mtime for the files by: % stat -f 'ctime=%Sc mtime=%Sm %N' -t '%c' * Usually mtime and ctime will be exactly the same. Cheers, Matthew Thank you very much for the explanation. I will use your stat example and do some investigating. Drew -- Visit The Alchemist's Warehouse Magic Tricks, DVDs, Videos, Books, More! http://www.alchemistswarehouse.com smime.p7s Description: S/MIME Cryptographic Signature
