Test for an empty directory 2

[columb]

What I've got so far is

[[ -z $(ls $dir) ]] && echo $dir is empty

but I'm sure it could be done without invoking ls. Any ideas?

Thanks

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Columb Healy

 

[mrn]

du -s dir

if output = 0 then empty

unless of course it's full of empty files!

Mike

"Whenever I dwell for any length of time on my own shortcomings, they gradually begin to seem mild, harmless, rather engaging little things, not at all like the staring defects in other people's characters."

 

[PHV]

[ $dir/* = "$dir/*" ] && echo $dir is empty

Hope This Helps, PH.
FAQ219-2884
FAQ181-2886

 

[columb]

Nice one PH

Just the sort of thing I was looking for!

mrn, yes, there could be empty files.

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Columb Healy

 

[olded]

works only for ksh type shells:

listfiles() { ls -1 ${1:+"$@"} 2>/dev/null; }
is_dir_empty() { test ! -d $1 -o -z "$(listfiles -A $1)";}

object=./mytmp
is_dir_empty $object && echo $object is empty

 

[p5wizard]

[ $dir/* = "$dir/*" ] && echo $dir is empty

I thought of that too PHV, but what happens if there are only hidden files in the dir? And won't test complain about missing operators if the $dir/* expands to multiple names?


HTH,

p5wizard

 

[columb]

Hmm...
It starts with UUOC and UUOG but, once the fever grips, the drive to remove unneccessary use of commands can get obsessive. PHV's code looked good at first, and satisfied my cravings but p5wizard's points are valid and the final version, which allows for hidden and.or mutliple files, looks like

[ -z "ls -A $dir" ] && echo $dir is empty

which looks pretty bullet proof.

Thanks to all

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Columb Healy

 

[p5wizard]

Surely you must mean

[tt][ -z `ls -A $dir` ] && echo $dir is empty

or

[ -z $(ls -A $dir) ] && echo $dir is empty[/tt]



HTH,

p5wizard

 

[PHV]

won't test complain about missing operators if the $dir/* expands to multiple names?
Good point.
[ -e $dir/* ] || echo $dir is empty

Hope This Helps, PH.
FAQ219-2884
FAQ181-2886

 

[columb]

PH I've tested your suggestion and

b01301$ mkdir newtestdir
b01301$ export dir=newtestdir
b01301$ [ -e $dir/* ] || echo $dir is empty
newtestdir is empty
b01301$ touch newtestdir/.hidden
b01301$ [ -e $dir/* ] || echo $dir is empty
newtestdir is empty
b01301$ touch newtestdir/nothidden
b01301$ [ -e $dir/* ] || echo $dir is empty
b01301$ touch newtestdir/nothidden2
b01301$ [ -e $dir/* ] || echo $dir is empty

so it doesn't work for hidden files. However it works fine for multiples and fits my 'No Unneccessary Use of Command' criteria.

p5wizard Yes, I meant

[ -z "$(ls -A $dir)" ] && echo $dir is empty

(note the quotes)

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Columb Healy

 

[PHV]

it doesn't work for hidden files
And this ?

[ -e $dir/* ] || [ -f $dir/.[!.]* ] || echo $dir is empty

Hope This Helps, PH.
FAQ219-2884
FAQ181-2886

 

[columb]

PH Thanks - that one fixed it! Tested with

b01301$ rm -fr newtestdir
b01301$ mkdir newtestdir
b01301$ [ -e $dir/* ] || [ -f $dir/.[!.]* ] || echo $dir is empty
newtestdir is empty
b01301$ touch newtestdir/.hidden
b01301$ [ -e $dir/* ] || [ -f $dir/.[!.]* ] || echo $dir is empty
b01301$ touch newtestdir/.hidden2
b01301$ [ -e $dir/* ] || [ -f $dir/.[!.]* ] || echo $dir is empty
b01301$ touch newtestdir/nothidden
b01301$ [ -e $dir/* ] || [ -f $dir/.[!.]* ] || echo $dir is empty
b01301$ touch newtestdir/nothidden2
b01301$ [ -e $dir/* ] || [ -f $dir/.[!.]* ] || echo $dir is empty

I'm not sure if our combined efforts are worth the tiny improvement in performance in my script by removing the call to ls but it's been interesting and informative. Thanks to all.

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Columb Healy

 

[PHV]

Oops, sorry for the typo:
[ -e $dir/* ] || [ -[!]e[/!] $dir/.[!.]* ] || echo $dir is empty

And now you may even play with an hidden directory ...

Hope This Helps, PH.
FAQ219-2884
FAQ181-2886

 

[p5wizard]

if you use echo, one test can do it:

[ "$(echo $dir/* $dir/.*)" = "$dir/* $dir/. $dir/.." ] && echo $dir is empty

HTH,

p5wizard

 

[SamBones]

This might work...

rmdir $dir && echo The directory $dir [b]WAS[/b] empty

OK, a little destructive. But it won't delete it if there are files there.