I’m working on a bash script to delete files and directories that are older than 1 day, excluding specific files and directories from deletion. When I hardcode the paths to exclude in the find command, it works correctly. However, when I construct the exclusion command dynamically using a variable (PRUNE_CMD), the results are not correct.

Working script:

find "$TARGET_DIR" ( -path "/home//a" -prune -o -path "/home//b" -prune -o -path "/home//c" -prune -o -path "/home//d" -prune -o -print ) -type f -mtime +1

Below is my script
#!/bin/bash
# Configurable target directory
TARGET_DIR="/home/****"

# Directories and files to exclude
EXCLUDE_DIRS=(
    "/home/****/a"
    "/home/****/b"
    "/home/****/c"
    "/home/****/d"   
)
EXCLUDE_FILES=(
    "/home/****/**/a.txt"
    "/home/****/**/b.log"
)

#Construct the prune command for directories
PRUNE_CMD=""
for DIR in "${EXCLUDE_DIRS[@]}"; do
    PRUNE_CMD="$PRUNE_CMD -path $DIR -prune -o"
done

# Construct the prune command for files
for FILE in "${EXCLUDE_FILES[@]}"; do
    PRUNE_CMD="$PRUNE_CMD -path $FILE -prune -o"
done

# Add final condition to exclude nothing further
PRUNE_CMD="$PRUNE_CMD -false"`

# Find and print files older than 1 days, excluding the specified directories and files
echo "Files older than 1 days to be deleted (excluding specified):"
find "$TARGET_DIR" ( $PRUNE_CMD ) -type f -mtime +1 -print

# Find and print directories older than 1 days, excluding the specified directories and files
echo "Directories older than 1 days to be deleted (excluding specified):"
find "$TARGET_DIR" ( $PRUNE_CMD ) -type d -mtime +1 -print