What's wrong with this 'find' command?












14















I am executing the following command (to find all files with .ts extension and deleting them):



find . -type f -name "*.ts" –delete


An error shows up:



find: paths must precede expression: `–delete'


What have I done wrong?










share|improve this question





























    14















    I am executing the following command (to find all files with .ts extension and deleting them):



    find . -type f -name "*.ts" –delete


    An error shows up:



    find: paths must precede expression: `–delete'


    What have I done wrong?










    share|improve this question



























      14












      14








      14


      3






      I am executing the following command (to find all files with .ts extension and deleting them):



      find . -type f -name "*.ts" –delete


      An error shows up:



      find: paths must precede expression: `–delete'


      What have I done wrong?










      share|improve this question
















      I am executing the following command (to find all files with .ts extension and deleting them):



      find . -type f -name "*.ts" –delete


      An error shows up:



      find: paths must precede expression: `–delete'


      What have I done wrong?







      command-line delete find






      share|improve this question















      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited Jan 3 at 9:04









      Zanna

      50.4k13133241




      50.4k13133241










      asked Jan 1 at 18:40









      DoradDorad

      1736




      1736






















          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

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          35














          You have typographic sign instead of minus (-).



          Change your command to



          find . -type f -name "*.ts" -delete


          For complete syntax see man find:




          ACTIONS

                 -delete



                  Delete files; true if removal succeeded. If the removal failed, an error message is issued.

                  If -delete fails, find's exit status will be nonzero (when it eventually exits).

                  Use of -delete automatically turns on the -depth option.






          Be careful with copying and pasting commands from blogs and rich text processors. They may transform some typographic symbols to their plain text equivalents and vice versa.



          Consider to use simple text editors for the notes next time - use plain text, Markdown or reStructuredText.



          And as @AuxTaco mentioned - some blogs may rely on your copying to attack your computer.






          share|improve this answer





















          • 9





            And some blogs may rely on your copying to attack your computer.

            – AuxTaco
            Jan 2 at 8:10











          • In this particular case we do not know the source of this command. If original author wrongly had -- then engine converted it to . So we do not know the whole story :)

            – N0rbert
            Jan 2 at 11:04






          • 2





            I can tell the story: I copy-pasted it from terminal to a MS Word document consisted of command set to deploy our server. MS Word is auto-fixing the dash in some cases. Then a year or some after i copied that command and the question opened... Thanks.

            – Dorad
            Jan 2 at 14:48






          • 1





            It's probably better to use Notepad++ in this situation, rather than Word.

            – Davidw
            Jan 2 at 22:41






          • 1





            Never use a word processor to edit code. That's (a big reason) why there are still text editors. The last thing you need is substituted characters, or word wrap.

            – Joe
            Jan 3 at 12:34











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          1 Answer
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          1 Answer
          1






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          active

          oldest

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          35














          You have typographic sign instead of minus (-).



          Change your command to



          find . -type f -name "*.ts" -delete


          For complete syntax see man find:




          ACTIONS

                 -delete



                  Delete files; true if removal succeeded. If the removal failed, an error message is issued.

                  If -delete fails, find's exit status will be nonzero (when it eventually exits).

                  Use of -delete automatically turns on the -depth option.






          Be careful with copying and pasting commands from blogs and rich text processors. They may transform some typographic symbols to their plain text equivalents and vice versa.



          Consider to use simple text editors for the notes next time - use plain text, Markdown or reStructuredText.



          And as @AuxTaco mentioned - some blogs may rely on your copying to attack your computer.






          share|improve this answer





















          • 9





            And some blogs may rely on your copying to attack your computer.

            – AuxTaco
            Jan 2 at 8:10











          • In this particular case we do not know the source of this command. If original author wrongly had -- then engine converted it to . So we do not know the whole story :)

            – N0rbert
            Jan 2 at 11:04






          • 2





            I can tell the story: I copy-pasted it from terminal to a MS Word document consisted of command set to deploy our server. MS Word is auto-fixing the dash in some cases. Then a year or some after i copied that command and the question opened... Thanks.

            – Dorad
            Jan 2 at 14:48






          • 1





            It's probably better to use Notepad++ in this situation, rather than Word.

            – Davidw
            Jan 2 at 22:41






          • 1





            Never use a word processor to edit code. That's (a big reason) why there are still text editors. The last thing you need is substituted characters, or word wrap.

            – Joe
            Jan 3 at 12:34
















          35














          You have typographic sign instead of minus (-).



          Change your command to



          find . -type f -name "*.ts" -delete


          For complete syntax see man find:




          ACTIONS

                 -delete



                  Delete files; true if removal succeeded. If the removal failed, an error message is issued.

                  If -delete fails, find's exit status will be nonzero (when it eventually exits).

                  Use of -delete automatically turns on the -depth option.






          Be careful with copying and pasting commands from blogs and rich text processors. They may transform some typographic symbols to their plain text equivalents and vice versa.



          Consider to use simple text editors for the notes next time - use plain text, Markdown or reStructuredText.



          And as @AuxTaco mentioned - some blogs may rely on your copying to attack your computer.






          share|improve this answer





















          • 9





            And some blogs may rely on your copying to attack your computer.

            – AuxTaco
            Jan 2 at 8:10











          • In this particular case we do not know the source of this command. If original author wrongly had -- then engine converted it to . So we do not know the whole story :)

            – N0rbert
            Jan 2 at 11:04






          • 2





            I can tell the story: I copy-pasted it from terminal to a MS Word document consisted of command set to deploy our server. MS Word is auto-fixing the dash in some cases. Then a year or some after i copied that command and the question opened... Thanks.

            – Dorad
            Jan 2 at 14:48






          • 1





            It's probably better to use Notepad++ in this situation, rather than Word.

            – Davidw
            Jan 2 at 22:41






          • 1





            Never use a word processor to edit code. That's (a big reason) why there are still text editors. The last thing you need is substituted characters, or word wrap.

            – Joe
            Jan 3 at 12:34














          35












          35








          35







          You have typographic sign instead of minus (-).



          Change your command to



          find . -type f -name "*.ts" -delete


          For complete syntax see man find:




          ACTIONS

                 -delete



                  Delete files; true if removal succeeded. If the removal failed, an error message is issued.

                  If -delete fails, find's exit status will be nonzero (when it eventually exits).

                  Use of -delete automatically turns on the -depth option.






          Be careful with copying and pasting commands from blogs and rich text processors. They may transform some typographic symbols to their plain text equivalents and vice versa.



          Consider to use simple text editors for the notes next time - use plain text, Markdown or reStructuredText.



          And as @AuxTaco mentioned - some blogs may rely on your copying to attack your computer.






          share|improve this answer















          You have typographic sign instead of minus (-).



          Change your command to



          find . -type f -name "*.ts" -delete


          For complete syntax see man find:




          ACTIONS

                 -delete



                  Delete files; true if removal succeeded. If the removal failed, an error message is issued.

                  If -delete fails, find's exit status will be nonzero (when it eventually exits).

                  Use of -delete automatically turns on the -depth option.






          Be careful with copying and pasting commands from blogs and rich text processors. They may transform some typographic symbols to their plain text equivalents and vice versa.



          Consider to use simple text editors for the notes next time - use plain text, Markdown or reStructuredText.



          And as @AuxTaco mentioned - some blogs may rely on your copying to attack your computer.







          share|improve this answer














          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer








          edited Jan 3 at 7:00

























          answered Jan 1 at 18:43









          N0rbertN0rbert

          21.7k547101




          21.7k547101








          • 9





            And some blogs may rely on your copying to attack your computer.

            – AuxTaco
            Jan 2 at 8:10











          • In this particular case we do not know the source of this command. If original author wrongly had -- then engine converted it to . So we do not know the whole story :)

            – N0rbert
            Jan 2 at 11:04






          • 2





            I can tell the story: I copy-pasted it from terminal to a MS Word document consisted of command set to deploy our server. MS Word is auto-fixing the dash in some cases. Then a year or some after i copied that command and the question opened... Thanks.

            – Dorad
            Jan 2 at 14:48






          • 1





            It's probably better to use Notepad++ in this situation, rather than Word.

            – Davidw
            Jan 2 at 22:41






          • 1





            Never use a word processor to edit code. That's (a big reason) why there are still text editors. The last thing you need is substituted characters, or word wrap.

            – Joe
            Jan 3 at 12:34














          • 9





            And some blogs may rely on your copying to attack your computer.

            – AuxTaco
            Jan 2 at 8:10











          • In this particular case we do not know the source of this command. If original author wrongly had -- then engine converted it to . So we do not know the whole story :)

            – N0rbert
            Jan 2 at 11:04






          • 2





            I can tell the story: I copy-pasted it from terminal to a MS Word document consisted of command set to deploy our server. MS Word is auto-fixing the dash in some cases. Then a year or some after i copied that command and the question opened... Thanks.

            – Dorad
            Jan 2 at 14:48






          • 1





            It's probably better to use Notepad++ in this situation, rather than Word.

            – Davidw
            Jan 2 at 22:41






          • 1





            Never use a word processor to edit code. That's (a big reason) why there are still text editors. The last thing you need is substituted characters, or word wrap.

            – Joe
            Jan 3 at 12:34








          9




          9





          And some blogs may rely on your copying to attack your computer.

          – AuxTaco
          Jan 2 at 8:10





          And some blogs may rely on your copying to attack your computer.

          – AuxTaco
          Jan 2 at 8:10













          In this particular case we do not know the source of this command. If original author wrongly had -- then engine converted it to . So we do not know the whole story :)

          – N0rbert
          Jan 2 at 11:04





          In this particular case we do not know the source of this command. If original author wrongly had -- then engine converted it to . So we do not know the whole story :)

          – N0rbert
          Jan 2 at 11:04




          2




          2





          I can tell the story: I copy-pasted it from terminal to a MS Word document consisted of command set to deploy our server. MS Word is auto-fixing the dash in some cases. Then a year or some after i copied that command and the question opened... Thanks.

          – Dorad
          Jan 2 at 14:48





          I can tell the story: I copy-pasted it from terminal to a MS Word document consisted of command set to deploy our server. MS Word is auto-fixing the dash in some cases. Then a year or some after i copied that command and the question opened... Thanks.

          – Dorad
          Jan 2 at 14:48




          1




          1





          It's probably better to use Notepad++ in this situation, rather than Word.

          – Davidw
          Jan 2 at 22:41





          It's probably better to use Notepad++ in this situation, rather than Word.

          – Davidw
          Jan 2 at 22:41




          1




          1





          Never use a word processor to edit code. That's (a big reason) why there are still text editors. The last thing you need is substituted characters, or word wrap.

          – Joe
          Jan 3 at 12:34





          Never use a word processor to edit code. That's (a big reason) why there are still text editors. The last thing you need is substituted characters, or word wrap.

          – Joe
          Jan 3 at 12:34


















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