conditional find output missing












2















Im trying to build a conditional statement to search for files of a certain size (in this case 1Gb. 



if [ "find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G" ]

then

  > /location/sub/int/large_file_audit.txt

fi


I run this and it creates a file but the file is empty, how can I get the results of the find to populate into the file? what am I doing wrong?






command-line bash find







share|improve this question









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Shadwar is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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    2















    Im trying to build a conditional statement to search for files of a certain size (in this case 1Gb. 



    if [ "find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G" ]
    
then
    
  > /location/sub/int/large_file_audit.txt
    
fi


    I run this and it creates a file but the file is empty, how can I get the results of the find to populate into the file? what am I doing wrong?






    command-line bash find







    share|improve this question









    New contributor




    Shadwar is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
    Check out our Code of Conduct.























      2












      2








      2








      Im trying to build a conditional statement to search for files of a certain size (in this case 1Gb. 



      if [ "find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G" ]
      
then
      
  > /location/sub/int/large_file_audit.txt
      
fi


      I run this and it creates a file but the file is empty, how can I get the results of the find to populate into the file? what am I doing wrong?






      command-line bash find







      share|improve this question









      New contributor




      Shadwar is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.












      Im trying to build a conditional statement to search for files of a certain size (in this case 1Gb. 



      if [ "find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G" ]
      
then
      
  > /location/sub/int/large_file_audit.txt
      
fi


      I run this and it creates a file but the file is empty, how can I get the results of the find to populate into the file? what am I doing wrong?






      command-line bash find




      command-line bash find






      share|improve this question









      New contributor




      Shadwar is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.











      share|improve this question









      New contributor




      Shadwar is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.









      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited 6 hours ago









      Ravexina

      32k1482112




      32k1482112






      New contributor




      Shadwar is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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      asked 7 hours ago









      ShadwarShadwar

      111




      111




      New contributor




      Shadwar is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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      New contributor





      Shadwar is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.






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      Check out our Code of Conduct.






















          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          3














          Your test if [ "find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G" ] doesn't work the way you intend because it tests the non-emptiness of the string "find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G" - which will always be true. In any case, the redirection > /location/sub/int/large_file_audit.txt will not magically pick up the standard output of the preceding command, so will always create an empty file.



          Perhaps the closest to your intent in Bash would be to put the results of find into an array, and then test whether it has any elements:



          mapfile -t files < <(find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G)
          

          
if (( ${#files[@] > 0 )); then 
          
  printf '%sn' "${files[@]}" > /location/sub/int/large_file_audit.txt
          
fi


          This won't gracefully handle filenames containing newlines - with newer versions of bash, you could make the find and mapfile null-delimited, but there's not much benefit if you're outputting them as a newline-delimited list anyhow.






          share|improve this answer































            2














            One liner workaround:



            find -size +10G | grep ".*" > file.log || (rm file.log; echo "Can't find anything")


            Or:



            find -size +10G | grep ".*" > file.log || rm file.log



            Note that find returns 1 (True) even it does not find any file, so I suggest using something like:



            #!/bin/bash
            
RESULTS=$(find /path -size +1G)
            
if [ -n "$RESULTS" ];
            
 then
            
   echo "$RESULTS" > /path/file.log
            
fi


            First run the find and put the results in a variable, then if the variable contained anything save that into a log file.






            share|improve this answer





















            • 2





              While the answer is all correct, you might want to touch on why original if [ "find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G" ] does not work as intended ( and what it actually does instead of what user expects ).

              – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
              5 hours ago






            • 1





              find returns 1 if I ask it to look somewhere that doesn't exist, but if the path exists but -size finds nothing, it does return 0. (and 1 is false).

              – Xen2050
              1 hour ago











            Your Answer








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            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes








            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes









            3














            Your test if [ "find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G" ] doesn't work the way you intend because it tests the non-emptiness of the string "find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G" - which will always be true. In any case, the redirection > /location/sub/int/large_file_audit.txt will not magically pick up the standard output of the preceding command, so will always create an empty file.



            Perhaps the closest to your intent in Bash would be to put the results of find into an array, and then test whether it has any elements:



            mapfile -t files < <(find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G)
            

            
if (( ${#files[@] > 0 )); then 
            
  printf '%sn' "${files[@]}" > /location/sub/int/large_file_audit.txt
            
fi


            This won't gracefully handle filenames containing newlines - with newer versions of bash, you could make the find and mapfile null-delimited, but there's not much benefit if you're outputting them as a newline-delimited list anyhow.






            share|improve this answer




























              3














              Your test if [ "find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G" ] doesn't work the way you intend because it tests the non-emptiness of the string "find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G" - which will always be true. In any case, the redirection > /location/sub/int/large_file_audit.txt will not magically pick up the standard output of the preceding command, so will always create an empty file.



              Perhaps the closest to your intent in Bash would be to put the results of find into an array, and then test whether it has any elements:



              mapfile -t files < <(find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G)
              

              
if (( ${#files[@] > 0 )); then 
              
  printf '%sn' "${files[@]}" > /location/sub/int/large_file_audit.txt
              
fi


              This won't gracefully handle filenames containing newlines - with newer versions of bash, you could make the find and mapfile null-delimited, but there's not much benefit if you're outputting them as a newline-delimited list anyhow.






              share|improve this answer


























                3












                3








                3







                Your test if [ "find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G" ] doesn't work the way you intend because it tests the non-emptiness of the string "find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G" - which will always be true. In any case, the redirection > /location/sub/int/large_file_audit.txt will not magically pick up the standard output of the preceding command, so will always create an empty file.



                Perhaps the closest to your intent in Bash would be to put the results of find into an array, and then test whether it has any elements:



                mapfile -t files < <(find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G)
                

                
if (( ${#files[@] > 0 )); then 
                
  printf '%sn' "${files[@]}" > /location/sub/int/large_file_audit.txt
                
fi


                This won't gracefully handle filenames containing newlines - with newer versions of bash, you could make the find and mapfile null-delimited, but there's not much benefit if you're outputting them as a newline-delimited list anyhow.






                share|improve this answer













                Your test if [ "find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G" ] doesn't work the way you intend because it tests the non-emptiness of the string "find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G" - which will always be true. In any case, the redirection > /location/sub/int/large_file_audit.txt will not magically pick up the standard output of the preceding command, so will always create an empty file.



                Perhaps the closest to your intent in Bash would be to put the results of find into an array, and then test whether it has any elements:



                mapfile -t files < <(find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G)
                

                
if (( ${#files[@] > 0 )); then 
                
  printf '%sn' "${files[@]}" > /location/sub/int/large_file_audit.txt
                
fi


                This won't gracefully handle filenames containing newlines - with newer versions of bash, you could make the find and mapfile null-delimited, but there's not much benefit if you're outputting them as a newline-delimited list anyhow.







                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered 4 hours ago









                steeldriversteeldriver

                66.5k11107179




                66.5k11107179

























                    2














                    One liner workaround:



                    find -size +10G | grep ".*" > file.log || (rm file.log; echo "Can't find anything")


                    Or:



                    find -size +10G | grep ".*" > file.log || rm file.log



                    Note that find returns 1 (True) even it does not find any file, so I suggest using something like:



                    #!/bin/bash
                    
RESULTS=$(find /path -size +1G)
                    
if [ -n "$RESULTS" ];
                    
 then
                    
   echo "$RESULTS" > /path/file.log
                    
fi


                    First run the find and put the results in a variable, then if the variable contained anything save that into a log file.






                    share|improve this answer





















                    • 2





                      While the answer is all correct, you might want to touch on why original if [ "find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G" ] does not work as intended ( and what it actually does instead of what user expects ).

                      – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
                      5 hours ago






                    • 1





                      find returns 1 if I ask it to look somewhere that doesn't exist, but if the path exists but -size finds nothing, it does return 0. (and 1 is false).

                      – Xen2050
                      1 hour ago
















                    2














                    One liner workaround:



                    find -size +10G | grep ".*" > file.log || (rm file.log; echo "Can't find anything")


                    Or:



                    find -size +10G | grep ".*" > file.log || rm file.log



                    Note that find returns 1 (True) even it does not find any file, so I suggest using something like:



                    #!/bin/bash
                    
RESULTS=$(find /path -size +1G)
                    
if [ -n "$RESULTS" ];
                    
 then
                    
   echo "$RESULTS" > /path/file.log
                    
fi


                    First run the find and put the results in a variable, then if the variable contained anything save that into a log file.






                    share|improve this answer





















                    • 2





                      While the answer is all correct, you might want to touch on why original if [ "find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G" ] does not work as intended ( and what it actually does instead of what user expects ).

                      – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
                      5 hours ago






                    • 1





                      find returns 1 if I ask it to look somewhere that doesn't exist, but if the path exists but -size finds nothing, it does return 0. (and 1 is false).

                      – Xen2050
                      1 hour ago














                    2












                    2








                    2







                    One liner workaround:



                    find -size +10G | grep ".*" > file.log || (rm file.log; echo "Can't find anything")


                    Or:



                    find -size +10G | grep ".*" > file.log || rm file.log



                    Note that find returns 1 (True) even it does not find any file, so I suggest using something like:



                    #!/bin/bash
                    
RESULTS=$(find /path -size +1G)
                    
if [ -n "$RESULTS" ];
                    
 then
                    
   echo "$RESULTS" > /path/file.log
                    
fi


                    First run the find and put the results in a variable, then if the variable contained anything save that into a log file.






                    share|improve this answer















                    One liner workaround:



                    find -size +10G | grep ".*" > file.log || (rm file.log; echo "Can't find anything")


                    Or:



                    find -size +10G | grep ".*" > file.log || rm file.log



                    Note that find returns 1 (True) even it does not find any file, so I suggest using something like:



                    #!/bin/bash
                    
RESULTS=$(find /path -size +1G)
                    
if [ -n "$RESULTS" ];
                    
 then
                    
   echo "$RESULTS" > /path/file.log
                    
fi


                    First run the find and put the results in a variable, then if the variable contained anything save that into a log file.







                    share|improve this answer














                    share|improve this answer



                    share|improve this answer








                    edited 11 mins ago









                    wjandrea

                    8,50742259




                    8,50742259










                    answered 6 hours ago









                    RavexinaRavexina

                    32k1482112




                    32k1482112








                    • 2





                      While the answer is all correct, you might want to touch on why original if [ "find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G" ] does not work as intended ( and what it actually does instead of what user expects ).

                      – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
                      5 hours ago






                    • 1





                      find returns 1 if I ask it to look somewhere that doesn't exist, but if the path exists but -size finds nothing, it does return 0. (and 1 is false).

                      – Xen2050
                      1 hour ago














                    • 2





                      While the answer is all correct, you might want to touch on why original if [ "find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G" ] does not work as intended ( and what it actually does instead of what user expects ).

                      – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
                      5 hours ago






                    • 1





                      find returns 1 if I ask it to look somewhere that doesn't exist, but if the path exists but -size finds nothing, it does return 0. (and 1 is false).

                      – Xen2050
                      1 hour ago








                    2




                    2





                    While the answer is all correct, you might want to touch on why original if [ "find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G" ] does not work as intended ( and what it actually does instead of what user expects ).

                    – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
                    5 hours ago





                    While the answer is all correct, you might want to touch on why original if [ "find /location/sub/int/ -size +1G" ] does not work as intended ( and what it actually does instead of what user expects ).

                    – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
                    5 hours ago




                    1




                    1





                    find returns 1 if I ask it to look somewhere that doesn't exist, but if the path exists but -size finds nothing, it does return 0. (and 1 is false).

                    – Xen2050
                    1 hour ago





                    find returns 1 if I ask it to look somewhere that doesn't exist, but if the path exists but -size finds nothing, it does return 0. (and 1 is false).

                    – Xen2050
                    1 hour ago










                    Shadwar is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.










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