[SOLVED] Linux cmd line: How to filter a string by NOT wanted patterns

Issue

On Debian Linux:

I'm wanting to do a search and then filter it by those lines that do NOT begin with "/mnt/c/" or "/mnt/x/", my current disks (I'm working on WSL).

So then I write: `locate $str | grep /[!cx]

I learned a bit about wildcards but I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Any help would be appreciated.

Solution

You need to use grep regexes rather than shell wildcards:

locate "$str" | grep -v '^/mnt/[cx]/'

Put quotes around $variable as a matter of routine — there are occasions not to do so, but they are rare.

The -v option to grep means "print the lines that don't match". The regex '^/mnt/[cx]/' means lines that start with /mnt/c/ or /mnt/x/, so in conjunction with -v that means "only print lines that don't start with /mnt/c/ or /mnt/x/.

I'm blithely assuming that the locate command provides the data you want to filter.

Answered By - Jonathan Leffler

Answer Checked By - Marie Seifert (WPSolving Admin)