How to delete a folder in C++?

Question

How can I delete a folder using C++?

If no cross-platform way exists, then how to do it for the most-popular OSes - Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, Android? Would a POSIX

Answer 1

For linux (I have fixed bugs in code above):

void remove_dir(char *path)
{
        struct dirent *entry = NULL;
        DIR *dir = NULL;
        dir = opendir(path);
        while(entry = readdir(dir))
        {   
                DIR *sub_dir = NULL;
                FILE *file = NULL;
                char* abs_path new char[256];
                 if ((*(entry->d_name) != '.') || ((strlen(entry->d_name) > 1) && (entry->d_name[1] != '.')))
                {   
                        sprintf(abs_path, "%s/%s", path, entry->d_name);
                        if(sub_dir = opendir(abs_path))
                        {   
                                closedir(sub_dir);
                                remove_dir(abs_path);
                        }   
                        else 
                        {   
                                if(file = fopen(abs_path, "r"))
                                {   
                                        fclose(file);
                                        remove(abs_path);
                                }   
                        }   
                }
                delete[] abs_path;   
        }   
        remove(path);
}

For windows:

void remove_dir(const wchar_t* folder)
{
    std::wstring search_path = std::wstring(folder) + _T("/*.*");
    std::wstring s_p = std::wstring(folder) + _T("/");
    WIN32_FIND_DATA fd;
    HANDLE hFind = ::FindFirstFile(search_path.c_str(), &fd);
    if (hFind != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
        do {
            if (fd.dwFileAttributes & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY) {
                if (wcscmp(fd.cFileName, _T(".")) != 0 && wcscmp(fd.cFileName, _T("..")) != 0)
                {
                    remove_dir((wchar_t*)(s_p + fd.cFileName).c_str());
                }
            }
            else {
                DeleteFile((s_p + fd.cFileName).c_str());
            }
        } while (::FindNextFile(hFind, &fd));
        ::FindClose(hFind);
        _wrmdir(folder);
    }
}

Answer 2

If you are using windows, then take a look at this link. Otherwise, you may look for your OS specific version api. I don't think C++ comes with a cross-platform way to do it. At the end, it's NOT C++'s work, it's the OS's work.

Answer 3

Delete folder (sub_folders and files) in Windows (VisualC++) not using Shell APIs, this is the best working sample:

#include <string>
#include <iostream>

#include <windows.h>
#include <conio.h>


int DeleteDirectory(const std::string &refcstrRootDirectory,
                    bool              bDeleteSubdirectories = true)
{
  bool            bSubdirectory = false;       // Flag, indicating whether
                                               // subdirectories have been found
  HANDLE          hFile;                       // Handle to directory
  std::string     strFilePath;                 // Filepath
  std::string     strPattern;                  // Pattern
  WIN32_FIND_DATA FileInformation;             // File information


  strPattern = refcstrRootDirectory + "\\*.*";
  hFile = ::FindFirstFile(strPattern.c_str(), &FileInformation);
  if(hFile != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
  {
    do
    {
      if(FileInformation.cFileName[0] != '.')
      {
        strFilePath.erase();
        strFilePath = refcstrRootDirectory + "\\" + FileInformation.cFileName;

        if(FileInformation.dwFileAttributes & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY)
        {
          if(bDeleteSubdirectories)
          {
            // Delete subdirectory
            int iRC = DeleteDirectory(strFilePath, bDeleteSubdirectories);
            if(iRC)
              return iRC;
          }
          else
            bSubdirectory = true;
        }
        else
        {
          // Set file attributes
          if(::SetFileAttributes(strFilePath.c_str(),
                                 FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL) == FALSE)
            return ::GetLastError();

          // Delete file
          if(::DeleteFile(strFilePath.c_str()) == FALSE)
            return ::GetLastError();
        }
      }
    } while(::FindNextFile(hFile, &FileInformation) == TRUE);

    // Close handle
    ::FindClose(hFile);

    DWORD dwError = ::GetLastError();
    if(dwError != ERROR_NO_MORE_FILES)
      return dwError;
    else
    {
      if(!bSubdirectory)
      {
        // Set directory attributes
        if(::SetFileAttributes(refcstrRootDirectory.c_str(),
                               FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL) == FALSE)
          return ::GetLastError();

        // Delete directory
        if(::RemoveDirectory(refcstrRootDirectory.c_str()) == FALSE)
          return ::GetLastError();
      }
    }
  }

  return 0;
}


int main()
{
  int         iRC                  = 0;
  std::string strDirectoryToDelete = "c:\\mydir";


  // Delete 'c:\mydir' without deleting the subdirectories
  iRC = DeleteDirectory(strDirectoryToDelete, false);
  if(iRC)
  {
    std::cout << "Error " << iRC << std::endl;
    return -1;
  }

  // Delete 'c:\mydir' and its subdirectories
  iRC = DeleteDirectory(strDirectoryToDelete);
  if(iRC)
  {
    std::cout << "Error " << iRC << std::endl;
    return -1;
  }

  // Wait for keystroke
  _getch();

  return 0;
}

Source: http://www.codeguru.com/forum/showthread.php?t=239271

Answer 4

If you are using the Poco library, here is a portable way to delete a directory.

#include "Poco/File.h"
...
...
Poco::File fooDir("/path/to/your/dir");
fooDir.remove(true);

The remove function when called with "true" means recursively delete all files and sub directories in a directory.

Answer 5

You can also try this if you are on linux:

system("rm -r path");

Answer 6

This works for deleting all the directories and files within a directory.

#include <iostream>
#include <cstring>
#include <cstdlib>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
    cout << "Enter the DirectoryName to Delete : ";
    string directoryName;
    cin >> directoryName;
    string a = "rmdir /s /q " + directoryName;
    system(a.c_str());
    return 0;
}