Find files between two times/hours using find

Question

I will write some context for my problem.

I have to deal with a process that runs everyday that creates files in three secuential steps: A, B and C. Files from steps A and C are stored in one folder (X) while files from step B are stored in a different one (Y). Both folders are backed up to a different machine (I do not have control over this) once the process finishes. The content of the folder X is as follows:

t_11254an_luvo251n_B.bak    # A 'last modified at Feb  8 20:00'
t_11254aw_n7uo455w_B.bak    # C 'last modified at Feb  8 20:24'
t_11254av_j5ux8n2s_B.bak    # C 'last modified at Feb  8 20:25'
t_11254as_lvuo4e1j_B.bak    # A 'last modified at Feb  9 19:12'
t_11254at_m0uo4525_B.bak    # A 'last modified at Feb  9 19:12'
t_11254ak_m2uo4e1j_B.bak    # A 'last modified at Feb  9 19:12'
t_11254am_m1uo4e1j_B.bak    # A 'last modified at Feb  9 19:12'
t_11254am_m4uo4e4e_B.bak    # A 'last modified at Feb  9 19:13'
t_11254am_nauo4nhj_B.bak    # C 'last modified at Feb  9 21:54'
t_11254ai_n9uo4njs_B.bak    # C 'last modified at Feb  9 21:54'
t_11254ah_n7uo4nvw_B.bak    # C 'last modified at Feb  9 21:54'
t_11254aj_n8uo4njs_B.bak    # C 'last modified at Feb  9 21:54'
t_11254ak_ncuo71pv_B.bak    # A 'last modified at Feb 10 19:01'
t_11254ak_nduo7148_B.bak    # A 'last modified at Feb 10 19:01'
t_11254ay_nguo72t2_B.bak    # A 'last modified at Feb 10 19:03'
t_11254am_niuo71t5_B.bak    # A 'last modified at Feb 10 19:03'
t_11254av_onuo7991_B.bak    # C 'last modified at Feb 10 21:08'
t_11254at_omuo79tt_B.bak    # C 'last modified at Feb 10 21:08'
t_11254at_okuo7991_B.bak    # C 'last modified at Feb 10 21:08'

All files from step C have only one thing in common: they are always created after 20:15. Nor the name nor the size make them different from the files created on step A.

I run a script before the process starts to delete all files from folder X but I would like to keep the files created on step C (from all days) to speed up recoveries. The end result I am looking for is this:

t_11254aw_n7uo455w_B.bak    # C 'last modified at Feb  8 20:24'
t_11254av_j5ux8n2s_B.bak    # C 'last modified at Feb  8 20:25'
t_11254am_nauo4nhj_B.bak    # C 'last modified at Feb  9 21:54'
t_11254ai_n9uo4njs_B.bak    # C 'last modified at Feb  9 21:54'
t_11254ah_n7uo4nvw_B.bak    # C 'last modified at Feb  9 21:54'
t_11254aj_n8uo4njs_B.bak    # C 'last modified at Feb  9 21:54'
t_11254av_onuo7991_B.bak    # C 'last modified at Feb 10 21:08'
t_11254at_omuo79tt_B.bak    # C 'last modified at Feb 10 21:08'
t_11254at_okuo7991_B.bak    # C 'last modified at Feb 10 21:08'

The questions, then, are:

• Is it possible to find files between two hours, without specifying a date, using find?

• If not, is there a simple, one-liner way to do it in bash?

Thank you.

Answer 1

Thanks to Jetchisel's answer I have been able to find the solution:

   #!/bin/bash

   for file in /folder/X/*.bak; do
     MODIFIED_DATE=$(stat --format="%y" $file | awk '{print $2}')

     if [[ $MODIFIED_DATE < '20:15' ]]; then
       printf 'rm -rf %s\n' "$file"
     fi
   done

stat --format="%y" shows the last modified date in this format 2020-02-02 19:11:34.000000000 +0100. Using awk I pick the time, which is the information I need, and with that I am able to tell if the file was created before 20:15 and thus delete it. It is not a clean one-liner but at least works :).

Answer 2

One way with bash, files in between 20:00 and 22:00

#!/usr/bin/env bash

for f in /folder/x/*.bak; do
  var=$(date -r "$f" '+%H:%M')
  if [[ $var > '20:00' && $var < '22:00' ]]; then                                                                                                                                          
    echo "$f"
  fi
done

• The above code should match your files.
• Just change to [[ $var < '20:15' ]] If that's just what you're after.
• That date syntax works on both GNU and BSD date(1)

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EDIT: Updated answer