FAQ 5.41 How do I delete a directory tree?

This is an excerpt from the latest version perlfaq5.pod, which
comes with the standard Perl distribution. These postings aim to
reduce the number of repeated questions as well as allow the community
to review and update the answers. The latest version of the complete
perlfaq is at http://faq.perl.org .

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5.41: How do I delete a directory tree?

(contributed by brian d foy)

If you have an empty directory, you can use Perl's built-in "rmdir". If
the directory is not empty (so, no files or subdirectories), you either
have to empty it yourself (a lot of work) or use a module to help you.

The "File::Path" module, which comes with Perl, has a "rmtree" which can
take care of all of the hard work for you:

use File::Path qw(rmtree);

rmtree( \@directories, 0, 0 );

The first argument to "rmtree" is either a string representing a
directory path or an array reference. The second argument controls
progress messages, and the third argument controls the handling of files
you don't have permissions to delete. See the "File::Path" module for
the details.



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In article <6gu6j6-sc4.ln1@blue.stonehenge.com>, PerlFAQ Server
<brian@stonehenge.com> wrote:

> This is an excerpt from the latest version perlfaq5.pod, which
> comes with the standard Perl distribution. These postings aim to
> reduce the number of repeated questions as well as allow the community
> to review and update the answers. The latest version of the complete
> perlfaq is at http://faq.perl.org .
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 5.41: How do I delete a directory tree?
>
> (contributed by brian d foy)
>
> If you have an empty directory, you can use Perl's built-in "rmdir". If
> the directory is not empty (so, no files or subdirectories), you either
> have to empty it yourself (a lot of work) or use a module to help you.

I can't really figure out what "(so, no files or subdirectories)" means
here. It seems contradictory to me.

--
Jim Gibson

In article <170720091701081307%jimsgibson@gmail.com>, Jim Gibson
<jimsgibson@gmail.com> wrote:


> > If you have an empty directory, you can use Perl's built-in "rmdir". If
> > the directory is not empty (so, no files or subdirectories), you either
> > have to empty it yourself (a lot of work) or use a module to help you.
>
> I can't really figure out what "(so, no files or subdirectories)" means
> here. It seems contradictory to me.

It's contradictory because it's a mistake. I've fixed it. Thanks,