[H-GEN] chestnut

Jason Parker-Burlingham jasonp at uq.net.au
Wed Mar 26 23:09:15 EST 2003


[ Humbug *General* list - semi-serious discussions about Humbug and     ]
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Greg Black <gjb at gbch.net> writes:

> [ Humbug *General* list - semi-serious discussions about Humbug and     ]
> [ Unix-related topics. Posts from non-subscribed addresses will vanish. ]
> 
> Sarah Hollings wrote:
> 
> > Anyone know of a simple one-[or-two]-liner (in bash or perl -e) for 
> > deleting the oldest file in a directory?
> 
> This one will work in /bin/sh or any Bourne-style shell:
> 
>     rm `ls -tr | tail -1`

The equivalent Perl isn't quite as succinct or clear, I'm afraid:

	unlink (sort {
		(stat $a)[10] <=> (stat $b)[10]
	} grep {
		-f
	} glob q/*/)[0]

I'm sure there's a better way using some module or other, but, eh.
(Also I think Greg's code needs a little grepping to discount
directories unless failure is okay.)
-- 
uck Wa!

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