2

Wondering if there is an easy way to do what im attempting and the best way to go about something like this. 

answer=y 
while [ "$answer" = y ]
do 
    echo "type name of the file you wish to delete"
    IFS= read -r file
    echo "would you like to delete another file [y/n]?"
    IFS= read -r answer
done 

echo "Exiting Program"
exit 0

My questions here is when an input is entered it gets stored in file but I would like when the answer is y that it can then get stored to another variable like file1. Im then left with variables containing all the filenames someone wishes to delete which I can echo back.

How can I use a loop in this to keep adding the input until someone types n

Thanks for the help.

Lance Oxley
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    Learn about bash arrays. – Mat Oct 06 '17 at 13:36
  • This is covered comprehensively in [BashFAQ #6](http://mywiki.wooledge.org/BashFAQ/006). Instead of having `file1`, `file2` and `file3`, you should have `file[1]`, `file[2]`, `file[3]` -- that is, three different indexes into just one array variable named `file`. – Charles Duffy Oct 06 '17 at 16:19

2 Answers2

2

I wouldn't use a realtime read loop to delete files. Too many things can go wrong. Rather, maybe take a file of input and check each.

But for a simplistic answer to your question -

typeset -l answer=y  # force to lowercase
lst=/tmp/file.list.$$
while [[ y == "$answer" ]]
do 
    echo "type name of the file you wish to delete"
    IFS= read -r file
    if [[ -e "$file" ]]
    then echo "$file" >> $lst
    else echo "That file does not exist/is not accessible."
    fi
    echo "would you like to delete another file [y/n]?"
    IFS= read -r answer
done 
echo -e "Files to be deleted:\n===\n$(<$lst)"
echo -e "\n===\n Delete all listed files [y/n]?"
IFS= read -r answer
if [[ y == "$answer" ]]
then rm $(<$lst)
fi
rm $lst
Paul Hodges
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-1

Maybe this helps:

while :; do
    read -s -n 1 answer
    if [ $answer = "y" ||  $answer = "Y" ]; then <your code>
    elif [ $answer = "n" ||  $answer = "N" ]; then echo; echo; break
    elif [ $answer = "" ]; then continue                # pressed: return key
    fi
  done

depending the shell you use, you might use: [[ ${answer} =~ (Y|y) ]]

ni_hao
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