remove files and prompt directories only - linux

Question

As I was deleting many obsolete file trees on a Linux machine I was wondering if there is an easy way to remove files recursively while prompting only on directories.
I could use rm -ri but there some much files that it would be really annoying to answer for every one of them. What really matter to me is being prompted on folders to have more control on what happens.
I am not a bash expert so I am asking if there is a simple way to do this.
Here is my attempt with a long bash script:
#!/bin/bash
promptRemoveDir()
{
fileCount=$(ls -1 $1 | wc -l)
prompt=1
while [ $prompt == 1 ]
do
read -p "remove directory: $1($fileCount files) ? [yl]: " answer
case $answer in
[yY])
rm -r $1
prompt=0
;;
l)
echo $(ls -A $1)
;;
*)
prompt=0
;;
esac
done
}
removeDir()
{
if [ "$(ls -A $1)" ]
then dirs=$(find $1/* -maxdepth 0 -type d)
fi
if [[ -z $dirs ]]
then
promptRemoveDir $1
else
for dir in $dirs
do
removeDir $dir
done
promptRemoveDir $1
fi
}
for i in $*
do
if [ -d $i ]
then
removeDir $i
else
rm $i
fi
done

Answer 1

If i understand your question properly this should work
Dirs=$(find . -type d)
Removes just the files in the directories specified
for i in "$Dirs"; do read -p "Delete files in "$i": ";if [[ $REPLY == [yY] ]]; then find $i -maxdepth 1 -type f | xargs -0 rm ; fi ;done
If you want to delete the folders as well, this will read from lowest directory(none below it) upwards.
for i in $(echo "$Dirs" | sed '1!G;h;$!d' ); do read -p "Delete files in $i: ";if [[ $REPLY == [yY] ]]; then rm -r "$i"; fi ;done

Answer 2

Here's a simplified version from me. There's no need to use ls and find.
#!/bin/bash
shopt -s nullglob
shopt -s dotglob
function remove_dir_i {
local DIR=$1 ## Optional. We can just use $1.
local SUBFILES=("$DIR"/*) FILE
for (( ;; )); do
read -p "Remove directory: $DIR (${#SUBFILES[#]} files)? [YNLQ]: "
case "$REPLY" in
[yY])
echo rm -fr "$DIR"
return 0
;;
[nN])
for FILE in "${SUBFILES[#]}"; do
if [[ -d $FILE ]]; then
remove_dir_i "$FILE" || return 1
# else
# ## Apparently we skip deleting a file. If we do this
# ## we could actually simplify the function further
# ## since we also delete the file at first loop.
# # echo "Removing file \"$FILE.\""
# # rm -f "$FILE"
fi
done
return 0
;;
[lL])
printf '%s\n' "${SUBFILES[#]}"
;;
[qQ])
return 1
;;
# *)
# echo "Please answer Y(es), N(o), L(ist) or Q(uit)."
# ;;
esac
done
}
for FILE; do
if [[ -d $FILE ]]; then
remove_dir_i "$FILE"
else
# echo "Removing file \"$FILE.\""
echo rm -f "$FILE"
fi
done
Remove echo from rm commands when you're sure it's working already. Test:
rm -f /tmp/tar-1.27.1/ABOUT-NLS
rm -f /tmp/tar-1.27.1/acinclude.m4
rm -f /tmp/tar-1.27.1/aclocal.m4
rm -f /tmp/tar-1.27.1/AUTHORS
Remove directory: /tmp/tar-1.27.1/build-aux (12 files)? [YNLQ]: n
Remove directory: /tmp/tar-1.27.1/build-aux/snippet (5 files)? [YNLQ]: n
rm -f /tmp/tar-1.27.1/ChangeLog
rm -f /tmp/tar-1.27.1/ChangeLog.1
rm -f /tmp/tar-1.27.1/config.h.in
rm -f /tmp/tar-1.27.1/configure
rm -f /tmp/tar-1.27.1/configure.ac
rm -f /tmp/tar-1.27.1/COPYING
Remove directory: /tmp/tar-1.27.1/doc (25 files)? [YNLQ]: n
Remove directory: /tmp/tar-1.27.1/gnu (358 files)? [YNLQ]: n
Remove directory: /tmp/tar-1.27.1/gnu/uniwidth (2 files)? [YNLQ]: n
rm -f /tmp/tar-1.27.1/INSTALL
Remove directory: /tmp/tar-1.27.1/lib (19 files)? [YNLQ]:
...

Answer 3

Actually I just came upon the -depth option of the find command that is exactly what I was looking for. I can't believe I just missed that:
-depth Process each directory's contents before the directory itself. The -delete action also implies -depth.
So similar to #Jidder's code, I can write this:
dirs=$(find ./test_script -depth -type d); for i in $dirs; do read -p "Delete files in $i? " REPLY; if [[ $REPLY == [yY] ]]; then rm -r $i; fi; done;
And for more readability:
dirs=$(find ./test_script -depth -type d)
for i in $dirs
do
read -p "Delete files in $i? " REPLY
if [[ $REPLY == [yY] ]]
then rm -r $i
fi
done;