Find and delete files that contain same string in filename in linux terminal - linux

Question

I want to delete all files from a folder that contain a not unique numerical string in the filename using linux terminal. E.g.:
werrt-110009.jpg => delete
asfff-110009.JPG => delete
asffa-123489.jpg => maintain
asffa-111122.JPG => maintain
Any suggestions?

Answer 1

I only now understand your question, I think. You want to remove all files that contain a numeric value that is not unique (in a particular folder). If a filename contains a value that is also found in another filename, you want to remove both files, right?
This is how I would do that (it may not be the fastest way):
# put all files in your folder in a list
# for array=(*) to work make sure you have enabled nullglob: shopt -s nullglob
array=(*)
delete=()
for elem in "${array[#]}"; do
# for each elem in your list extract the number
num_regex='([0-9]+)\.'
[[ "$elem" =~ $num_regex ]]
num="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
# use the extracted number to check if it is unique
dup_regex="[^0-9]($num)\..+?(\1)"
# if it is not unique, put the file in the files-to-delete list
if [[ "${array[#]}" =~ $dup_regex ]]; then
delete+=("$elem")
fi
done
# delete all found duplicates
for elem in "${delete[#]}"; do
rm "$elem"
done
In your example, array would be:
array=(werrt-110009.jpg asfff-110009.JPG asffa-123489.jpg asffa-111122.JPG)
And the result in delete would be:
delete=(werrt-110009.jpg asfff-110009.JPG)
Is this what you meant?

Answer 2

you can use the linux find command along with the -regex parameter and the -delete parameter
to do it in one command

Answer 3

Use "rm" command to delete all matching string files in directory
cd <path-to-directory>/ && rm *110009*
This command helps to delete all files with matching string and it doesn't depend on the position of string in file name.
I was mentioned rm command option as another option to delete files with matching string.
Below is the complete script to achieve your requirement,
#!/bin/sh -eu
#provide the destination fodler path
DEST_FOLDER_PATH="$1"
TEMP_BUILD_DIR="/tmp/$( date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)_clenup_duplicate_files"
#++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
clean_up()
{
if [ -d $TEMP_BUILD_DIR ]; then
rm -rf $TEMP_BUILD_DIR
fi
}
trap clean_up EXIT
[ ! -d $TEMP_BUILD_DIR ] && mkdir -p $TEMP_BUILD_DIR
TEMP_FILES_LIST_FILE="$TEMP_BUILD_DIR/folder_file_names.txt"
echo "$(ls $DEST_FOLDER_PATH)" > $TEMP_FILES_LIST_FILE
while read filename
do
#check files with number pattern
if [[ "$filename" =~ '([0-9]+)\.' ]]; then
#fetch the number to find files with similar number
matching_string="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
# use the extracted number to check if it is unique
#find the files count with matching_string
if [ $(ls -1 $DEST_FOLDER_PATH/*$matching_string* | wc -l) -gt 1 ]; then
rm $DEST_FOLDER_PATH/*$matching_string*
fi
fi
#reload remaining files in folder (this optimizes the loop and speeds up the operation
#(this helps lot when folder contains more files))
echo "$(ls $DEST_FOLDER_PATH)" > $TEMP_FILES_LIST_FILE
done < $TEMP_FILES_LIST_FILE
exit 0
How to execute this script,
Save this script into file as
path-to-script/delete_duplicate_files.sh (you can rename whatever
you want)
Make script executable
chmod +x {path-to-script}/delete_duplicate_files.sh
Execute script by providing directory path where duplicate
files(files with matching number pattern) needs to be deleted
{path-to-script}/delete_duplicate_files.sh "{path-to-directory}"