subprocess.call() to remove files

Question

I want to remove all the files and directories except for some of them by using

`subprocess.call(['rm','-r','!(new_models|creat_model.py|my_mos.tit)'])`

but it gives back information

rm: cannot remove `!(new_models|creat_model.py|my_mos.tit)': No such file or directory

how can I fix this? Thanks

Answer 1

If you use that rm command on the command line the !(…|…|…) pattern is expanded by the shell into all file names except those in the pattern before calling rm. Your code calls rm directly so rm gets the shell pattern as a file name and tries to delete a file with that name.

You have to add shell=True to the argument list of subprocess.call() or actually code this in Python instead of calling external commands. Downside: That would be more than one line. Upside: it can be done independently from external shells and system dependent external programs.

Answer 2

An alternative to shell=True could be the usage of glob and manual filtering:

import glob
files = [i for i in glob.glob("*") if i not in ('new_models', 'creat_model.py', 'my_mos.tit')]
subprocess.call(['rm','-r'] + files)

Edit 4 years later:

Without glob (of which I don't remember why I suggested it):

import os
files = [i for i in os.listdir() if i not in ('new_models', 'creat_model.py', 'my_mos.tit')]
subprocess.call(['rm','-r'] + files)

Answer 3

Code to remove all png

args = ('rm', '-rf', '/path/to/files/temp/*.png')

subprocess.call('%s %s %s' % args, shell=True)