NSFileManager delete contents of directory

Question

How do you delete all the contents of a directory without deleting the directory itself? I want to basically empty a folder yet leave it (and the permissions) intact.

Answer 1

E.g. by using a directory enumerator:

NSFileManager *fileManager = [[NSFileManager alloc] init];
NSDirectoryEnumerator *enumerator = [fileManager enumeratorAtPath:path];    
NSString *file;

while (file = [enumerator nextObject]) {
    NSError *error = nil;
    BOOL result = [fileManager removeItemAtPath:[path stringByAppendingPathComponent:file] error:&error];

    if (!result && error) {
        NSLog(@"Error: %@", error);
    }
}

Swift

let fileManager = NSFileManager.defaultManager()
let enumerator = fileManager.enumeratorAtURL(cacheURL, includingPropertiesForKeys: nil, options: nil, errorHandler: nil)

while let file = enumerator?.nextObject() as? String {
    fileManager.removeItemAtURL(cacheURL.URLByAppendingPathComponent(file), error: nil)
}

Answer 2

in swift 2.0:

if let enumerator = NSFileManager.defaultManager().enumeratorAtPath(dataPath) {
  while let fileName = enumerator.nextObject() as? String {
    do {
        try NSFileManager.defaultManager().removeItemAtPath("\(dataPath)\(fileName)")
    }
    catch let e as NSError {
      print(e)
    }
    catch {
      print("error")
    }
  }
}

Answer 3

Try this:

NSFileManager *manager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
NSString *dirToEmpty = ... //directory to empty
NSError *error = nil;
NSArray *files = [manager contentsOfDirectoryAtPath:dirToEmpty 
                                              error:&error];

if(error) {
  //deal with error and bail.
}

for(NSString *file in files) {
    [manager removeItemAtPath:[dirToEmpty stringByAppendingPathComponent:file]
                        error:&error];
    if(error) {
       //an error occurred...
    }
}    

Answer 4

You can extend the NSFileManager like this:

extension NSFileManager {
  func clearFolderAtPath(path: String) -> Void {
      for file in subpathsOfDirectoryAtPath(path, error: nil) as? [String] ?? []  {
          self.removeItemAtPath(path.stringByAppendingPathComponent(file), error: nil)
      }
  }
}

Then, you can clear the folder like this: NSFileManager.defaultManager().clearFolderAtPath("the folder's path")

Answer 5

Swift 2.1.1:

public func deleteContentsOfFolder()
{
    // folderURL
    if let folderURL = self.URL()
    {
        // enumerator
        if let enumerator = NSFileManager.defaultManager().enumeratorAtURL(folderURL, includingPropertiesForKeys: nil, options: [], errorHandler: nil)
        {
            // item
            while let item = enumerator.nextObject()
            {
                // itemURL
                if let itemURL = item as? NSURL
                {
                    do
                    {
                        try NSFileManager.defaultManager().removeItemAtURL(itemURL)
                    }
                    catch let error as NSError
                    {
                        print("JBSFile Exception: Could not delete item within folder.  \(error)")
                    }
                    catch
                    {
                        print("JBSFile Exception: Could not delete item within folder.")
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Answer 6

Why not deleting the whole directory and recreate afterwards? Just get the file attributes and permissions before deleting it, and then recreate it with the same attributes.