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authorJim Meyering <jim@meyering.net>2006-02-20 13:01:51 +0000
committerJim Meyering <jim@meyering.net>2006-02-20 13:01:51 +0000
commit0aed496787034b62fcce6bc720ad165ecc374d54 (patch)
treecf150cd2e10277f662e84d94f7903ca783805c73 /doc
parent5db7689366c1c318c53ca49664d2c948add4df2a (diff)
downloadcoreutils-0aed496787034b62fcce6bc720ad165ecc374d54.tar.xz
(rm invocation): Document new -I option, and new --interactive behavior.
Diffstat (limited to 'doc')
-rw-r--r--doc/coreutils.texi43
1 files changed, 37 insertions, 6 deletions
diff --git a/doc/coreutils.texi b/doc/coreutils.texi
index 5abb2c177..a8777d578 100644
--- a/doc/coreutils.texi
+++ b/doc/coreutils.texi
@@ -7327,10 +7327,16 @@ rm [@var{option}]@dots{} [@var{file}]@dots{}
@end example
@cindex prompting, and @command{rm}
-If a file is unwritable, standard input is a terminal, and the @option{-f}
-or @option{--force} option is not given, or the @option{-i} or
-@option{--interactive} option @emph{is} given, @command{rm} prompts the user
-for whether to remove the file.
+If the @option{-I} or @option{--interactive=once} option is given,
+and there are more than three files or the @option{-r}, @option{-R},
+or @option{--recursive} are given, then @command{rm} prompts the user
+for whether to proceed with the entire operation. If the response is
+not affirmitive, the entire command is aborted.
+
+Otherwise, if a file is unwritable, standard input is a terminal, and
+the @option{-f} or @option{--force} option is not given, or the
+@option{-i} or @option{--interactive=always} option @emph{is} given,
+@command{rm} prompts the user for whether to remove the file.
If the response is not affirmative, the file is skipped.
@emph{Warning}: If you use @command{rm} to remove a file, it is usually
@@ -7349,12 +7355,37 @@ Ignore nonexistent files and never prompt the user.
Ignore any previous @option{--interactive} (@option{-i}) option.
@item -i
-@itemx --interactive
@opindex -i
-@opindex --interactive
Prompt whether to remove each file.
If the response is not affirmative, the file is skipped.
Ignore any previous @option{--force} (@option{-f}) option.
+Equivalent to @option{--interactive=always}.
+
+@item -I
+@opindex -I
+Prompt once whether to proceed with the command, if more than three
+files are named or if a recursive removal is requested. Ignore any
+previous @option{--force} (@option{-f}) option. Equivalent to
+@option{--interactive=once}.
+
+@itemx --interactive [=@var{when}]
+@opindex --interactive
+Specify when to issue an interactive prompt. @var{when} may be
+omitted, or one of:
+@itemize @bullet
+@item never
+@vindex never @r{interactive option}
+- Do not prompt at all.
+@item once
+@vindex once @r{interactive option}
+- Prompt once if more than three files are named or if a recursive
+removal is requested. Equivalent to @option{-I}.
+@item always
+@vindex always @r{interactive option}
+- Prompt for every file being removed. Equivalent to @option{-i}.
+@end itemize
+Specifying @option{--interactive} and no @var{when} is equivalent to
+@option{--interactive=always}.
@itemx --preserve-root
@opindex --preserve-root