Re: unlink fails to delete files with perculiar names

If you had warnings enabled, you'd see that part of your filename is being taken as a perl variable for interpolation:

$targ = "D:/Users/Dave/Documents/Personal/CV/~$rriculum Vitae - 09 Jun
+e 2007.doc";;
Use of uninitialized value $rriculum in concatenation (.) or string at
+ (eval 17) line 1, <STDIN> line 10.
[download]

Just escape the $ with \:

$targ = "D:/Users/Dave/Documents/Personal/CV/~\$rriculum Vitae - 09 Ju
+ne 2007.doc";;
[download]

And the subsequent unlink will likely work.

With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'

Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.

"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".

In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

Comment on Re: unlink fails to delete files with perculiar names Select or Download Code

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Re^2: unlink fails to delete files with perculiar names by Eliya (Vicar) on Nov 22, 2011 at 10:45 UTC
The OP doesn't say how `$targ` was set. It's merely speculation that he assigned it using a double-quoted literal. It might just as well have come from a readdir or whatever. Also, why would unlink have returned 1, as the OP states? That should only have happened in the (unlikely) case there also was a file `'D:/Users/Dave/Documents/Personal/CV/~ Vitae - 09 June 2007.doc'` around at the time of the unlink call.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^3: unlink fails to delete files with perculiar names by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Nov 22, 2011 at 11:02 UTC
It's merely speculation that he assigned it using a double-quoted literal Agreed. That's why likely work. It might just as well have come from a readdir But don't you have to combine the values from readdir with the path in order to get a fully qualified path? Could he be doing something like `$targ = "$path/$fname";`? why would unlink have returned 1, as the OP states? Not sure, but that construct looks suspect to me: `my($no) = unlink $targ \|\| carp "Unable to delete file $targ\n";`. What ends up in `$no` if unlink returns 0; the return value from `carp()`? With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday' Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error. "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority". In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^4: unlink fails to delete files with perculiar names by Anonymous Monk on Nov 22, 2011 at 11:06 UTC
Yup `$ perl -MCarp -e " my $f = unlink (666) \|\| carp 1; die $f " 1 at -e line 1 1 at -e line 1.` [download]	[reply] [d/l]
Re^5: unlink fails to delete files with perculiar names by Eliya (Vicar) on Nov 22, 2011 at 12:11 UTC
Re^3: unlink fails to delete files with perculiar names by DaveARoberts (Acolyte) on Nov 22, 2011 at 16:38 UTC
in my full code I get the file name using File::Find. From a windows directory listing from the command line the file is invisible, also from an explorer window...and from the application (MS word in this case) that presumeably created this as a temporary file it is also invisible.	[reply]
Re^2: unlink fails to delete files with perculiar names by DaveARoberts (Acolyte) on Nov 22, 2011 at 16:34 UTC
I tried escaping the $ with a \ that did not work ....	[reply]
Re^3: unlink fails to delete files with perculiar names by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Nov 22, 2011 at 16:51 UTC
Then I suggest you try `del "D:\Users\Dave\Documents\Personal\CV\~$rriculum Vitae - 09 June 2007.doc"` on a command line and see what error message is produced by the shell. Update: Having seen one of your other replies, try doing: `attrib -h -s -r "D:\Users\Dave\Documents\Personal\CV\~$rriculum Vitae +- 09 June 2007.doc"` [download] And then the unlink or `del`. With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday' Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error. "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority". In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.	[reply] [d/l] [select]