Delete file with slash in it with PHP

Question

I made an app, and when it was tested, the tester made a file named: "Joe'sTestPage". Which amounted into: "Joes\'TestPage.htm". M problem is that the file is undeletable because of the slash in the name. I have tried using my ftp in my cpanel, but that cant delete it either.

Does anyone know of a solution?

Are you sure it has a \ in the filename? I think it much more likely that whatever is reporting the name is escaping the ' by adding a \. — Colin Fine, Dec 17 '10 at 14:45
If you wanted to be a good samaritan, you could report this to cPanel; their software evidently had trouble deleting this file as well. — Craige, Dec 17 '10 at 14:50

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 17 '10 at 14:41

5

You should be able to delete it from within PHP. If necessary, double escape the backslash:

unlink("Joes\\'TestPage.htm");

answered Dec 17 '10 at 14:41

Pekka

442,112
142
972
1,088

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 17 '10 at 14:43

1

Make sure you're escaping the backslash when you delete

Alternatively...

I assume you do not have SSH access to the server. If you did, you could let your shell auto-complete the filename. If you cannot resolve the issue, email your host/datacenter (It sounds like you're in a shared hosting environment) and have them remove the file.

answered Dec 17 '10 at 14:43

Craige

2,882
2
20
28

if it's free and crappy then I highly doubt it's a dedicated server, which means it's a shared one :) – Jimbo Jonny Jun 14 '12 at 12:21

Delete file with slash in it with PHP

2 Answers2