-bash: !: event not found [closed]

I want to remove all folder and files except a folder named docs.

echo !(docs)

but I got -bash: !: event not found?

I'm using mac default terminal.

1 Answer

You have two issues:

!(doc) is an extended glob and extglob is turned off. If your bash supports extglob, you can turn it on with:
```
shopt -s extglob
```
History expansion is turned on. To turn if off, run
```
set -H
```
History expansion causes surprising things to happen when ! are used. If you do not use history expansion, you can avoid surprises by turning it off.

Let's consider a directory with these files:

$ ls
docs file1 file2

Now, let's turn extglob off and history on and run your command:

$ shopt -u extglob; set -H
$ echo !(docs)
bash: !: event not found

This is exactly the error message that you reported. Thus, this appears to be your situation.

Now, let's keep extglob off and turn history expansion off:

$ shopt -u extglob; set +H
$ echo !(docs)
bash: syntax error near unexpected token `('

This error is different from the one you reported. This is not your situation.

Lastly, let's run your command with extglob on. For completeness, we will try history expansion in both settings:

$ shopt -s extglob; set +H
$ echo !(docs)
file1 file2
$ shopt -s extglob; set -H
$ echo !(docs)
file1 file2

Both of these work. Thus, as long as your shell supports extglob and has it turned on, your command should work.