Remove Old plots by Interval

remove_plots.sh

#!/bin/bash
## USAGE
## ./remove_plots.sh /PATH/TO/DIRECTORY/ 2021-07-01 30m
## first argument is path, must be end with trailing "/"
## second argument is target date, meaning plots that created after this date WILL NOT BE DELETED, if you specify 2021-07-01, only filename containing 2021-06-30 or before wil be deleted.
## third argument is the interval, adjust yourself according to your plotting speed or how soon you want to trigger next deletion.

SOURCE_DIR=$1
TARGET_DATE=${2:-"2021-07-01"}
INTERVAL=${3:-"30m"}
ARR=()

if [ -n "$1" ]; then
  for entry in "$SOURCE_DIR"*
  do
    FILE_NAME=$(basename "$entry")
    FILE_DATE=${FILE_NAME:9:10}
    [[ $FILE_DATE < $TARGET_DATE ]] && ARR+=($entry)
  done
  echo "${#ARR[@]} plots to be removed:"
  printf '%s\n' "${ARR[@]}"
  for v in "${ARR[@]}"
  do
    echo "Sleeping for $INTERVAL..." && sleep $INTERVAL
    echo "Removing $v" && rm $v
  done
else
  echo "first argument must be specified manually."
fi

thx for the script sorry for the nooby questions
In this chapter I need to create my values:
SOURCE_DIR=$1
TARGET_DATE=${2:-"2021-07-01"}
INTERVAL=${3:-"30m"}
? If yes the path just after $1 or can you make a sample?

Is it matter where I am storing the bash file or just copy it to the HDD?

thx for the script sorry for the nooby questions
In this chapter I need to create my values:
SOURCE_DIR=$1
TARGET_DATE=${2:-"2021-07-01"}
INTERVAL=${3:-"30m"}
? If yes the path just after $1 or can you make a sample?

Is it matter where I am storing the bash file or just copy it to the HDD?

u can run it like this:

/WHERE/YOU/PLACE/YOUR/SCRIPT/remove_plots.sh /WHERE/YOUR/PLOTS/FOLDERS/

:( not getting what do you mean

/WHERE/YOU/PLACE/YOUR/SCRIPT/remove_plots.sh /WHERE/YOUR/PLOTS/FOLDERS/
e.g.
C:/Desktop/remove_plots.sh /F:/?

it doesn't matter where u store the bash file as long as you have permission to run it, and the permission to remove the plots in your folder

Hi,

I was wondering if you could shed light on how a file is chosen once the source directory is scanned and found to have files with dates that are before the target date? E.g. the oldest file get selected, the newest file that still meets target criteria, etc. I tried to google how bash works in this instance but I'm new and wasn't able to find how dates in this instance would be handled.

Also, is there any way to have this cycle through multiple directories/drives? e.g. after processing disk 1 and waiting the specified interval it would go on to scan/process disk 2, then disk 3, etc...

Hi @benjfranklin100 , by default the sorting of the files in directory are alphabetically ordered, hence if u're using the default plot file name which will contain datetime, the oldest file in the directory will be get picked first.

This is just a simple bash (mainly used 1-off during the Chia plot format upgrade), u can clone it into multiple directories if u have multiple plotters