Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!virtech!jje
From: jje@virtech.uucp (Jeremy J. Epstein)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: How to delete a file with ^? chars in the name?
Summary: shell expands "?" so sample program won't work
Message-ID: <1990Jan10.143111.3446@virtech.uucp>
Date: 10 Jan 90 14:31:11 GMT
References: <7711@unix.SRI.COM> <130045@sun.Eng.Sun.COM>
Organization: Virtual Technologies Inc.
Lines: 52

In article <130045@sun.Eng.Sun.COM>, lm@snafu.Sun.COM (Larry McVoy) writes:
> In article <7711@unix.SRI.COM> ubi@ginger.sri.com (Ron Ueberschaer x4399) writes:
> >I have a file which is named ^?^?^?H01.b (delete character?) and can't
> >find a way to delete it.  An ls -s on the directory produces:
> >
> >   ..	... (other files)
> >    1	???H01.b
> >
> 
> $ cat > xxx.c
> #include <stdio.h>
> main()
> {
> 	char buf[255];
> 
> 	while (gets(buf))
> 		if (unlink(buf))
> 			perror(buf);
> }
> ^D
> $ cc xxx.c
> $ a.out
> ????H01.b
> ^D

Unfortunately this won't work since the shell is responsible
for expanding the ? and * wildcard characters, not the kernel
(just for fun, consider implementing a shell which used different
wildcard characters...it's only confusing to the user).

Try this:

main()
{
	unlink("\177\177\177H01.b");
}

It also might be worth using "od" to examine the directory...if
the high order bit is on in any of the bytes in the file name, then
the shell won't show them (since most shells strip the high order
bit).  If that's the case, then you would need to use:

main()
{
	unlink("\377\377\377H01.b");
}

-- 
Jeremy Epstein
TRW Systems Division
703-876-4202
jje@virtech.uu.net