23.11 Deleting Files with Odd Names

A perennial problem is deleting files that have strange characters (or other oddities) in their names. The next few articles contain some hints for:

• Deleting files with random control characters in their names (article 23.12).

• Deleting files with a "null" name (article 23.13).

• Deleting files whose names that start with a dash (article 23.14).

• Deleting files with "unprintable" filenames (article 23.15).

• Deleting files by using the inode number (article 23.16).

• Deleting directories, and problems that can arise (article 23.17).

We'll also give hints for:

• Deleting unused (or rarely used) files (articles 23.19 and 23.20).

• Deleting all the files in a directory, except for one or two (article 23.21).