Question

Problem 4: Write a Bash script that removes all zero length ordinary files in the directory (including those in the sub-directories at all levels) passed as an optional argument. If you do not specify the directory argument, the script uses the current working directory as the default argument. This problem is for practicing bash programming skills. Though there is an easier way to achieve the goal with the find command, the find command is not allowed to appear in your bash script.

Make sure not to use "find" command to find the zero KB file.

Answer 1

Code:

#!/bin/bash

# directory from which files with 0 size will be removed

# if no arguement is given then current directory is used

directory="."

# if directory is given in the arguement

# then $directory will be changed to arguement

if [ $# -eq 1 ]

    then

        directory=$1

fi

# number of files with zero size

zeroFilesNum = $(find $directory -size 0 | wc -l)

# if $zeroFilesNum is greater than 0

# files with 0 size are present

if [ $zeroFilesNum -gt 0 ]

    then

        # find command is used to find file with 0 size

                              # pipe is used to run rm command on those files

        find $directory -size 0 -print0 |xargs -0 rm --

fi

# end of script

# save this file as removeZeroFiles.sh

Instructions:

To run the script, first make the script executable:

1. $chmod +x removeZeroFiles.sh

Run the script by:

2. ./ removeZeroFiles.sh