Originally posted by: omnitivo

Hi there,

I a problem deleting a file :-). This is the output of "ls -all"
#ls -all
total 3450304
-rw-r--r-- 1 root system 1656426496 Jun 30 10:40 --exclude
drwxr-xr-x 14 sys sys 4096 Jun 30 10:38 .
drwxr-xr-x 29 root system 1536 Apr 26 13:59 ..
drwxr-xr-x 10 root sys 256 Apr 30 08:32 bin
drwx------ 2 root sys 4096 Apr 01 2003 depot
drwxr-xr-x 3 root sys 256 Mar 25 2003 include

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I tryed as root:
#rm "--exclude"
rm: Not a recognized flag: -
Usage: rm -firRe -- File...

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#rm *exclude
rm: Not a recognized flag: -
Usage: rm -firRe -- File...

---

My system:
AIX 5300-10-01-0921
any suggestions?
#AIX-Forum

Originally posted by: omnitivo

The problem is resolved. Here is the answer:

By preceding the filename (-junkfile) with the pathname (./), you are able to hide the '-' character that starts the filename.

rm ./"--exclude"
#AIX-Forum

Originally posted by: esv

You can use -- (double dash) to signal the end of options and the command will interpret the next - as part of the command arguments,, i.e/
touch -- --exclude

will create a file named --exclude.

or: grep -- --exclude someotherfile ; will search for --exclude in someotherfile

hence:

rm -- --exclude; would have deleted your file.
regards,
esv.
#AIX-Forum