I want to delete regular files whose names end in .mp4. I tried using .mp4$ with find -name, but it did not match anything. What pattern should I use, and why?
Why doesn’t my find pattern match filenames ending in .mp4?
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paperweight-iv
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-name uses shell-style glob patterns, not regular expressions. Use find . -type f -name '*.mp4' -delete. The * matches any sequence of characters before the suffix, and the quoted pattern is passed to find instead of being expanded by your shell.
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The dollar sign is the clue that you are thinking in regular expressions. It marks the end of a match in many regex flavors, but -name does not interpret it that way. For just this task, '*.mp4' is simpler than switching find to a regex option.
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Before using -delete, I’d preview the matches: find . -type f -name '*.mp4' -print. Check that the list is exactly what you intend to remove, then run the same command with -delete. Also, the original '*.mp4*' pattern is broader than “ends with .mp4.”
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paperweight-iv:
So the * already means the filename has to end in .mp4?
zesty_unit:
Right. In a glob pattern, *.mp4 matches names with any prefix followed by .mp4 at the end. By contrast, *.mp4* would also match names with extra characters after that suffix.