Image not deleted even after file.delete() method!!!

Question

Hi All :
I have to send mail along with embedded image. Once the mail has been sent, image in the application server should be deleted immediately. Problem i am facing is, after mail sent the control goes method which contain

      File file = new File("../bar.jpeg")
      if(file.exists()){
     file.delete();
     System.out.println("Barcode Image Deleted");
      }

Its printing "Barcode Image Deleted". But image in the folder is not getting deleted and it still present in same location. I am using multipart to attach image in mail. Can anyone help me why its not getting deleted?

Answer 1

File.delete() returns a true/false condition. Try checking the return condition of delete to see if the system is actually reporting the file as deleted.

Answer 2

The File.delete method returns a boolean which indicates whether the deletion was successful.

It could be that the file deletion is not being successfully performed due to not having permissions to delete the file.

Answer 3

Firstly, File.delete() returns a boolean if it successfully deletes a file. Check that value and at least log it.

If it is not being deleted, then I would guess that either

1. the file is currently open for reading and the OS won't let you delete it until it is closed. Possible your mail software? My guess is that the mail software does not try to base64 encode the image (for inclusion in the message) until it is actually sending the message...and/or does not stop reading it until the mail is sent.
2. the java process does not have permissions to delete the file

Answer 4

Are you using javax.mail?
If so, you'll need to wait till the mail has finished being sent, which you find out about by registering a TransportListener.

This also means you won't be able to use the static Transport.send() methods, but will have to construct and clean up your own session and transport.

I'm trying to remember details from a while ago... I think the DataHandler or DataSource don't close the input stream when they've finished reading it, so you need to keep a reference to it and close it yourself before you can delete the underlying file.