Delete all Files in a Folder
Posted by admin - Mar 31, 2008 Articles, Dani Vainstein, Files, Folders, QTips 0 0 Views : 256 Receive Updates For This Category
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Jul 16, 2011
Del is a command used to delete files from the computer.
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DEL or ERASE is a command used to delete files from the computer.
Windows 2000 and Windows XP syntax
Deletes one or more files.
DEL [/P] [/F] [/S] [/Q] [/A[[:]attributes]] names
ERASE [/P] [/F] [/S] [/Q] [/A[[:]attributes]] names
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names
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Specifies a list of one or more files or directories. Wildcards may be used to delete multiple files. If a directory is specified, all files within the directory will be deleted.
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/P
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Prompts for confirmation before deleting each file.
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/F
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Force deleting of read-only files.
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/S
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Delete specified files from all subdirectories.
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/Q
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Quiet mode, do not ask if ok to delete on global wildcard.
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/A
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Selects files to delete based on attributes
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attributes
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R Read-only files
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IMPORTANT WARNING: This command is easy to use, but it is the most dangerous one you will encounter in DOS (apart form FORMAT). If you aren’t careful, you may delete a file which you, the system, or someone else needs. And, unless you have saved a backup of that file, the erased file is gone for good. For this reason it is good practice to use only complete file specifications with the ERASE/DEL command (and to keep backups of your most valuable files). As a safety precaution, never use the wild-card characters ‘*’ and ‘?’ in ERASE/DEL commands.
When Using wild-cards ( regular expressions ) the default
DOS command does not let you auto-erase all files, but confirm one by one. it can bypassed using the switch /Q
Dim outMsg
If RunDosCommand( "DEL /Q c:\logs\temp\*.*", outMsg ) Then
Reporter.ReportEvent micPass, "RunDosCommand", "Ended successfully."
Else
Reporter.ReportEvent micFail, "RunDosCommand", outMsg
End If
the example d indicates that you would like to delete all files in the c:\logs\temp directory, otherwise an error message will be displayed in the Reporter.
This command will not delete files with “Read Only” attribute. to delete also “Read Only” files add the switch /F
RunDosCommand Function
Public Function RunDosCommand( ByVal cmd, ByRef stdout )
Dim sb, wShell, exec
Dim input
RunDosCommand = False
Set wShell = CreateObject( "WScript.Shell" )
' ** Executing the command
Set exec = wShell.Exec( "%comspec% /C " & cmd )
' ** Checking for errors...
If Not exec.StdErr.AtEndOfStream Then
stdout = "STDERR: " & exec.StdErr.ReadAll
Set exec = Nothing : Set wShell = Nothing
Exit Function
End If
' ** The stringBuilder is faster than concatenation ( & )
Set sb = DotNetFactory.CreateInstance( "System.Text.StringBuilder" )
Do While Not exec.StdOut.AtEndOfStream
input = Trim( exec.StdOut.ReadLine )
' ** Appending only not empty lines
If Len( input ) > 0 Then
sb.AppendLine input
End If
Loop
' ** retieve the output
stdout = sb.ToString
RunDosCommand = True
Set sb = Nothing : Set exec = Nothing : Set wShell = Nothing
End Function
