Quickie UNIX question

[1992casey]

I'm trying to get into a directory. I do just fine until I get to a directory called "#SharedObjects". I can't do a cd or ls to be able to see what's in there. The shell gives me the error message "No such file or directory." I assume it's the pound sign that I need to do something about. Any suggestions?

[Diskono]

Yep, you can either escape the special character with a \ or use quotation marks. Example:

 

> cd \#SharedObjects

 

or

 

> cd "#SharedObjects"

[1992casey]

Perfect. Thanks!

 

I knew the quotes worked on multiple-word directories, but I didn't know they worked in other situations. Methinks I prefer them to the backslash; they're easier to read.

[Brian the Automator]

Depending on your shell, you can also hit the Tab key to autocomplete, and they'll use the right syntax/escape characters

[1992casey]

I'll have to try that, Brian. I know that OS X has a bunch of shells, but since I'm in Terminal so little, it really doesn't matter which one I use. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

I also remembered later that I can get the correct path by dragging a file or folder icon into the Terminal window. If I do that, it uses backslashes rather than quotes. But backslashes are fine if I'm not typing them by hand.

 

I wanted this so I could set up a "service" that would quickly dump LSOs via the Services submenu of whatever application I might be in. This line does that:

rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/"Flash Player"/"#SharedObjects"/XXXXXXXX/*

"XXXXXXXX" is actually a string of random characters.

[sgtcluels]

I think rm -rf /* work as well http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif