CODEWITHSUNDEEP
linuxbashls
jj102
jj102

Reputation: 3

Inputing directories/files into a text file and then showing files older than certain date

I'm using "ls -alR" to input directories and files in those directories into another text file.

ls -alR > testalR.txt

text file is created like so:

./test-file_folders/test_folder_1:
total 400
drwx------ 5 "user" "group" "size" May 2 10:30 test_file_1
....     file info    ... more file info   ....test_file_2
...more files 


./test-file_folders/test_folder_2:
total 400
drwx------ 5 "user" "group" "size" Oct 2 11:35 test_file_1
....     file info    ... more file info   ....test_file_2
...more files

I am trying to show files that have not been accessed since October 2 2018. I've tried:

`sed -n '/Oct 2 00:00/,/Oct/ 2 23:59/p' /testalR.txt

..but it produces no results. Is there a better way to display this or even possible?

Sorry, should have added this to begin with. I know using find -atime variant would be the best option. But we are using a system and a process that is bogged down by the find command. I am trying to find alternatives so using "find" can be avoided and wouldn't have to access directories directly each time I wanted to run a search.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 30

Answers (2)

JRFerguson
JRFerguson

Reputation: 7516

Parsing the output of ls is a slippery slope.

Use find:

find . -type f -atime +3 -print

find . -type f -atime +3 -exec ls -uld {} +

Using -print simply returns a list of the filenames. Using -exec ls -ld {} + causes ls to be run for every file returned, giving you the details you may want.

The argument. to atime (or mtime or ctime) is in 24-hour steps. The argument can be positive or negative (or zero). Using -atime +3 finds a files that have been accessed at least FOUR days ago.

Using -exec ... {} + causes the command in "..." to be executed for every object returned, bundling as many objects (files) as possible at a time. This is much more efficient than forking a process for every file returned, as with:

... -exec ls -uld {} \;

One way to limit your results to a specific date, is to create two reference points (files) like this:

touch -amt 201809302359 f1
touch -amt 201810012359 f2
find . -type f \( -anewer f1 -a ! -anewer f2 \) -exec ls -uld -exec {} +

Upvotes: 1

Incrivel Monstro Verde
Incrivel Monstro Verde

Reputation: 948

try with find:

find /folder -atime +30

where +30 = days

others params: man find

Upvotes: 0

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