[opensuse] find problem

2007-09-14 Thread Kenneth Schneider 
Can someone explain the following find error. The path is specified
by the . in the command line.

find . -name *copy_3* -exec rm {}\;

find: paths must precede expression

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Ken Schneider
UNIX  since 1989, linux since 1994, SuSE  since 1998

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Re: [opensuse] find problem

2007-09-14 Thread JP Rosevear 

On Fri, 2007-09-14 at 13:22 -0400, Kenneth Schneider wrote:
 Can someone explain the following find error. The path is specified
 by the . in the command line.
 
 find . -name *copy_3* -exec rm {}\;
 
 find: paths must precede expression


It means you have something in . that matches *copy_3* so you get file
expansion.

find . -name \*copy_3\* -exec rm {}\;

or 

find . -name *copy_3* -exec rm {}\;

-JP
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JP Rosevear [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Novell, Inc.

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Re: [opensuse] find problem

2007-09-14 Thread Randall R Schulz 
On Friday 14 September 2007 10:22, Kenneth Schneider wrote:
 Can someone explain the following find error. The path is
 specified by the . in the command line.

 find . -name *copy_3* -exec rm {}\;

 find: paths must precede expression

My guess would be that the current directory contains at least two files 
that match the glob pattern *copy_3*.

In general, you should quote arguments that have the form of a glob or 
regular expression pattern (or any other special shell syntax):

find . -name '*copy_3*' -exec rm {} \;


Note, too, that the semicolon that tells find where the exec argument 
list ends must be a separate argument.


 --
 Ken Schneider


Randall Schulz
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Re: [opensuse] find problem

2007-09-14 Thread Jeffrey L. Taylor 
Quoting Kenneth Schneider [EMAIL PROTECTED]:
 Can someone explain the following find error. The path is specified
 by the . in the command line.
 
 find . -name *copy_3* -exec rm {}\;

Try:

find . -name *copy_3* -exec rm \{} \;
 
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