Unix Tip: -------- REMOVE THE DASHES

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UNIX GURU UNIVERSE
UNIX HOT TIP

Unix Tip 3162 - October 3, 2009

http://www.ugu.com/sui/ugu/show?tip.today

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-------- REMOVE THE DASHES

Have you ever accidentally created a file beginning with '-'? It happens often by mistake and from the first look it seems like you can't delete the file (rm thinks the initial - is an option, and doesn't recognize the file).

The simple, quick way around this is the -- option to rm. Say you had the file ---hey in the current directory:

$ ls ---hey

/bin/ls: unrecognized option `---hey'
Try `/bin/ls --help' for more information.

$ ls|grep hey
---hey

$ rm ---hey
rm: unrecognized option `---hey'

Try `rm --help' for more information.
$ rm -- ---hey

( ls also has an -- option: )

$ ls -- ---hey
/bin/ls: ---hey: No such file or directory
$

This tip generously supported by: root@analog.org

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