Java File Delete delete(File file)

Description

Deletes the given file or directory.

License

Open Source License

Parameter

Parameter	Description
file	the file to delete

Exception

Parameter	Description
IOException	if the given file does not exist

Return

true if and only if the file or directory is successfully deleted; false otherwise

Declaration

public static boolean delete(File file) throws IOException 

Method Source Code

//package com.java2s;
/*/*from   ww  w .  j  av  a2 s.  co  m*/
 * org.daisy.util (C) 2005-2008 Daisy Consortium
 * 
 * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
 * the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free
 * Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option)
 * any later version.
 * 
 * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
 * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
 * FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more
 * details.
 * 
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
 * along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
 * 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
 */

import java.io.File;

import java.io.IOException;

public class Main {
    /**
     * Deletes the given file or directory. If the argument is a directory, then
     * the directory is deleted recursively.
     * 
     * @param file
     *            the file to delete
     * @return <code>true</code> if and only if the file or directory is
     *         successfully deleted; <code>false</code> otherwise
     * @throws IOException
     *             if the given file does not exist
     */
    public static boolean delete(File file) throws IOException {

        if (!file.exists())
            throw new IOException(file.getName() + " does not exist");

        if (isSymlink(file)) {
            return true;
        }

        boolean result = true;

        if (file.isDirectory()) {
            File[] children = file.listFiles();
            if (children != null) {
                for (File child : children) {
                    result &= delete(child);
                }
            }
        }
        result &= file.delete();
        return result;
    }

    /**
     * Checks whether a file is a symbolic link.
     * @param file the file to test
     * @return <code>true</code> if the file is a symbolic link, <code>false</code> otherwise
     * @throws IOException
     */
    public static boolean isSymlink(File file) throws IOException {
        File parent = file.getParentFile();
        File test = new File(parent.getCanonicalFile(), file.getName());
        return !test.getAbsolutePath().equals(test.getCanonicalPath());
    }
}

Related

1. delete(File f)
2. delete(File f)
3. delete(File f)
4. delete(File f)
5. delete(File f, boolean recursive)
6. delete(File file)
7. delete(File file)
8. delete(File file)
9. delete(File file)