Bash script to remove hidden files

Question

Hello, I produced this script to clean folders from hidden files
#!/bin/bash
files=$(find . \( -iname '*~' -o -iname '.*' \) -type f)
#count the hidden files
n=$(echo "$files" | wc -l)
if [ $n -eq 0 ]
then
echo "No hidden file found"
exit 0
fi
#prompt to the user the found files
echo "Hidden files found:"
echo "$files"
printf "Remove? [y/N] "
read input
input=$( echo $input | tr '[A-Z]' '[a-z]' )
#take action if confirmed
if [ "$input" == "y" ] || [ "$input" == "yes" ]
then
find . \( -iname '*~' -o -iname '.*' \) -type f -exec rm '{}' \;
echo "Hidden files removed"
else
echo "Nothing was done"
fi
exit 0
As you can see I've not been able to deleting reading from $files, but I have to call a second time the find command. So first improvement is to get rid of it (keeping managing spaces in file names correctly, of course).
Other suggestions are welcomed!

Answer 1

falconindy wrote:Or really... just use one of the several well-formed examples in this thread.
Yeah there's one solution using arrays formulated by Trilby, and improved by aesiris. Kind of reminds me of the episode Sheldon Cooper says, "Notify the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary: the word 'plenty' has been redefined to mean 'two'."
As for your earlier post:
falconindy wrote:
No, this simply doesn't work because the entirety of the find result will be quoted as a single filename. You really should just do this all in find...
find . -name '.*' ! -type -d -exec rm -i {} +
The + thing is a good example of saving resources, however the op doesn't want to prompt the user for authorization for every single file (rm -i). Maybe two invocations of find? By the time the user has finished reading the file list, other files may have been created and they will be removed without authorization.
falconindy wrote:Manipulating IFS is entirely wrong for the purposes of reading a list out of a simple string variable (which is wrong on its own -- this is why arrays exist).
I believe that calling a functioning, standards-compliant solution "entirely wrong" means to call it "not as clean as you would desire". So, back to the drawing board:
files=$(find . -type f)
echo "$files"|xargs -d$'\n' rm
Although my earlier post proved one can work with IFS, you were right after all, it is not necessary. Hope you don't spot any further problems or my code will end up being a single word!