Delete a directory not empty

Question

rmdir("./uploads/temp/".$user."/");

I have many files in a directory I wish to remove in my PHP script, however these is no way for me to unlink() the file first. Is there a way I co do

unlink(* FROM (dir=)) // don't downvote the long shot
// delete all files from the dir first
// then delete that dir

Reference a directory has to be empty in order to delete it, see php.net/manual/en/function.rmdir.php

HAHA that is what I saw in the code too. I was wondering someone would pull me on that. — TheBlackBenzKid, Feb 20 '12 at 16:02

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 20 '12 at 12:46

3

You can use the DirectoryIterator and unlink together.

answered Feb 20 '12 at 12:46

Shakti Singh

84,385
21
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153

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 20 '12 at 12:47

use this

function delete_directory($dirname) {
   if (is_dir($dirname))
      $dir_handle = opendir($dirname);
   if (!$dir_handle)
      return false;
   while($file = readdir($dir_handle)) {
      if ($file != "." && $file != "..") {
         if (!is_dir($dirname."/".$file))
            unlink($dirname."/".$file);
         else
            delete_directory($dirname.'/'.$file);    
      }
   }
   closedir($dir_handle);
   rmdir($dirname);
   return true;
}

This code can easily be improved upon, as it's a quick hack, but it takes a directory as an argument and then uses functional recursion to delete all files and folders within, and then finally removes the directory. Nice and quick, too.

slash is using in function so no need to add slash... just pass directory name in function, this will do quick.... — Adeel Mughal, Feb 20 '12 at 12:52

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 20 '12 at 12:46

2

There is no other way except to delete all files first using one way or another and then remove directory.

public static function deleteDir($dirPath) {
if (! is_dir($dirPath)) {
    throw new InvalidArgumentException('$dirPath must be a directory');
}
if (substr($dirPath, strlen($dirPath) - 1, 1) != '/') {
    $dirPath .= '/';
}
$files = glob($dirPath . '*', GLOB_MARK);
foreach ($files as $file) {
    if (is_dir($file)) {
        self::deleteDir($file);
    } else {
        unlink($file);
    }
}
rmdir($dirPath);
}

answered Feb 20 '12 at 12:46

Shawn Taylor

3,974
4
17
23

could dir path have sub folders and sub files inside.. could dirPath end with a trailing slash? – TheBlackBenzKid Feb 20 '12 at 12:50
can you explain this line? if (substr($dirPath, strlen($dirPath) - 1, 1) != '/') { $dirPath .= '/'; } – TheBlackBenzKid Feb 20 '12 at 12:56

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 20 '12 at 12:46

1

Try using glob to loop over the files in the directory to delete

foreach (glob('/path/to/directory/*') as $file){
    unlink('/path/to/directory/' . $file);
}

answered Feb 20 '12 at 12:46

fin1te

4,289
1
19
16

this will not work in case of not empty directories inside the targeted directory – Guilherme Viebig Feb 20 '12 at 12:55
That's only one level deep! Therefore it won't work if there's two or more levels :( – Westie Feb 20 '12 at 12:55
this function consumes a lot of memory also. Check http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.glob.php#102931 – Guilherme Viebig Feb 20 '12 at 13:10

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Feb 20 '12 at 12:53

Check this http://lixlpixel.org/recursive_function/php/recursive_directory_delete/

function recursive_remove_directory($directory, $empty=FALSE)
    {
        if(substr($directory,-1) == '/')
        {
            $directory = substr($directory,0,-1);
        }
        if(!file_exists($directory) || !is_dir($directory))
        {
            return FALSE;
        }elseif(is_readable($directory))
        {
            $handle = opendir($directory);
            while (FALSE !== ($item = readdir($handle)))
            {
                if($item != '.' && $item != '..')
                {
                    $path = $directory.'/'.$item;
                    if(is_dir($path)) 
                    {
                        recursive_remove_directory($path);
                    }else{
                        unlink($path);
                    }
                }
            }
            closedir($handle);
            if($empty == FALSE)
            {
                if(!rmdir($directory))
                {
                    return FALSE;
                }
            }
        }
        return TRUE;
    }

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Feb 20 '12 at 12:51

You can delete it recursively:

public function delete_folder ($path) { 
    $handle = opendir($path); 
    while ($file = readdir($handle)) { 
        if ($file != '..' && $file != '.') { 
            if (is_file($path . DS . $file))
                unlink($path . DS . $file); 
            else 
                delete_folder($path . DS . $file);
        } 
    } 
    closedir($handle); 
    rmdir($tmp_path); 
} 

delete_folder('path/to/folder');

Delete a directory not empty

6 Answers6