Deleting non-empty folders and specific file types.

Question

1. What is the best way to remove a folder, deleting all subfolders and files?
2. What is the best way to remove files with a specific extension; e.g., if I want to remove only files with '.txt' extension?

Cocoa or carbon.

Answer 1

To remove a directory tree (or file), use -[NSFileManager removeItemAtPath:error:]. This deletes the files directly (and it will delete all of them); if you want to move the item to the Trash instead, use NSWorkspaceRecycleOperation .

As for removing only files with specific extensions: Get each pathname's pathExtension and use caseInsensitiveCompare: to compare it to the ones you're looking for, then remove the file if it's on your hit list.

If you want to combine the two (i.e., remove only files within a directory tree that have a given extension), you'll need to get a directory enumerator from the NSFileManager and walk the directory tree yourself, removing files one by one.

Answer 2

Yep, be sure to use therecycle bin unless of course they are files the user shouldn't see/know about.

Answer 3

I have a problem in file deletion. Each time I use

[fileMgr removeItemAtPath: fileNamePath error:nil];

to delete, say for example word.app, it doesn't delete the bundle but rather only the contents. So after attempting to delete the file, I am left with the word icon with a void symbol above it (round icon with a slash often used in traffic signs) which is empty.What I need is to also remove Word.app.

Need help please.

Thanks, Benson