File won't Delete and appears with LS but not DIR

[dman7777777]

There were two files with the same filename that I created. One was 0 bytes and the other had like 3642 bytes. I tried to cat the file but it wouldn't. So I deleted the file. Afterwards, the file with 0 bytes was gone but the file that actually had bytes still remained. I tried to delete that file but it said the file didn't exist. Yet it appears when I do a LS but not DIR. How can I get rid of it and what is wrong?

 

[andy61]

First I think you need to run ls -lba on the directory to check for any unprintable characters in the name

 

[p5wizard]

You can also have space or tab character(s) at the end of the filename. An ls -lba wont show/highlight spaces, but it will show tabs as \011 though.

to find spaces in filenames:

[tt]for i in *
do
echo "'$i'"
done[/tt]

You can use something other than just * to limit the number of generated names. E.g. if the filename starts with 'a':

[tt]for i in a*
do
echo "'$i'"
done[/tt]


HTH,

p5wizard

 

[dman7777777]

I think I did a backspace when I typed in the filename of the application I was running that wrote it. I did a ls -lba but it didn't show the file. How can I get rid of it?

 

[khalidaaa]

Have a look at this thread:

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1441553&page=1

I hope you find it useful for your case!

Regards,
Khalid

 

[KenCunningham]

Try finding the inode number (ls -i), then do a find to delete that:

find . -inum [number] -exec rm {} \;

You might try an ls {} first to be sure you're picking up the correct file.


I want to be good, is that not enough?

 

[dman7777777]

I found it with ls -i! Can I just do a rm and the node number? I feel funny executing that other code because it's a live system and I don't want to mess up anything.

 

[khalidaaa]

You can't delete the node number using rm unless you use the find command!

Have you tried the other alternatives in the link above?

Regards,
Khalid

 

[KenCunningham]

man rm, but no, so it looks as though the find is the best option - as I say try

find . -inum [number] -exec ls {} \;

to make sure you're getting the correct file before using rm on it.

I want to be good, is that not enough?

 

[khalidaaa]

KenCunningham I think we are sharing the thoughts at exactly the same time

 

[KenCunningham]

Certainly seems that way Khalid - as long as we agree, everything should be fine!

I want to be good, is that not enough?

 

[dman7777777]

Thanks guys for your help! That works on my own personal AIX shell. I'm still scared to use it on the system at work though. Maybe I will.

 

[costiles]

Use rm -i {} and it will prompt you if you want to remove it!