FTP's "mdelete *" command is recursive 3

[sleepingSatellite]

I've noticed that the FTP's "mdelete *" command removes not only the content of the current remote work directory, but also of the subdirectories. How comes this ? This is not signalled in the "man ftp" pages. How can I delete only the current work directory's files ?

 

[PHV]

From my ftp man page

For mdelete and mget, each remote filename is expanded separately on the remote machine and the lists are not merged. Expansion of a directory name is likely to be different from expansion of the name of an ordinary file: the exact result depends on the foreign operating system and ftp server, and can be previewed by doing mls remote-files -.

Hope This Helps, PH.
Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at FAQ219-2884 or FAQ222-2244

 

[ericbrunson]

Very interesting, PHV. I didn't know that, and it is a *very* good point that you need to differentiate the behavior of client and server. Thanks, ASFY.

 

[sleepingSatellite]

Thank you PHV.