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Delete File Action

Declaration

<AMFILEDELETE SOURCE="text" SUBFOLDERS="yes/no" ISNEWERTHAN="date" ISOLDERTHAN="date" EXCLUDE="test" ATTRFILTER="text">

See Also

Copy File, Move File, Rename File, Delete Folder, Rename Folder

Description

Deletes the file(s) specified. To specify more than one file use wildcards ( e.g. * or ? ). To specify multiple files or wildcard masks, separate them with a vertical bar. Example: c:\*.txt|c:\*.bak

Practical Usage

Usually used to delete single or multiple files.

Parameters

General Tab

File(s)
Text, Required
MARKUP:
a) SOURCE="c:\sourcefoldername\file.txt"
b) SOURCE="c:\sourcefoldername\*.txt"
c) SOURCE="C:\sourcefoldername\*.txt|C:\sourcefoldername\*.doc"
c) SOURCE="file.txt"

Specifies the file(s) to delete. This can be a fully qualified path and filename (preferred) or a single file (requires use of the Change Folder action). Wildcards ( e.g. *.* or ? ) may be used to delete files matching a certain mask. Multiple file and/or file masks may be specified by separating the entries with the | symbol.

Options Tab

Include subfolders
Yes/No, Optional default - NO
MARKUP: SUBFOLDERS="YES"

When set to YES, specifies that, if present, subfolders should be searched for files matching the mask specified in the "Source" [SOURCE] parameter

Exclude Mask
Text, Optional default - (blank)
MARKUP: EXCLUDE="*.txt"

Causes the action to not delete files matching the mask(s) specified. Filenames or wildcard ( e.g. * or ? ) masks may be used, multiple entries may be specified by separating them with the | symbol (e.g. *.txt|*.bak)

Only if newer than
date, Optional default - (none)
MARKUP: ISNEWERTHAN="%DateSerial(2001,10,12) + TimeSerial(00,00,00)%"

Causes the action to only delete file(s) if the source is newer than the date/time specified. If parameter is left blank or not included, the date of the files will be ignored (excluding "Only if newer" [ISNEWER] parameter).

Only if older than
date, Optional default - (none)
MARKUP: ISOLDERTHAN="%DateSerial(2001,10,12) + TimeSerial(00,00,00)%"

Causes the action to only delete file(s) if the source is older than the date/time specified. If parameter is left blank or not included, the date of the files will be ignored (excluding "Only if newer" [ISNEWER] parameter).

Attributes Tab

Attributes
Text, Optional (blank)
MARKUP:
ATTRFILTER="+R+A-S-H" (delete Read Only and Archive files, not system or hidden)
ATTRFILTER="-S" (do not delete "system" files)

This group of settings causes the action to filter which files are deleted based on the attribute settings of the source file(s). In visual mode, a group of controls are provided to assist in the selection of this parameter.

In markup mode, build a single text item must be specified that contains the attributes of the files you wish to rename.

Available Options:

R - Read only - Specifying "+R" causes files with this attribute turned on to be included, "-R" causes files with this attribute turned off to be included, not specifying the letter (default) causes this attribute to be ignored.

A - Archive - Specifying "+A" causes files with this attribute turned on to be included, "-A" causes files with this attribute turned off to be included, not specifying the letter (default) causes this attribute to be ignored.

S - System - Specifying "+S" causes files with this attribute turned on to be included, "-S" causes files with this attribute turned off to be included, not specifying the letter (default) causes this attribute to be ignored.

H - Hidden - Specifying "+R" causes files with this attribute turned on to be included, "-H" causes files with this attribute turned off to be included, not specifying the letter (default) causes this attribute to be ignored.

C - Compression - Specifying "+C" causes files with this attribute turned on to be included, "-C" causes files with this attribute turned off to be included, not specifying the letter (default) causes this attribute to be ignored.

Notes

Standard Error Handling Options
This action also includes the standard "Error Causes" and "On Error" failure handling options/tabs

More on Error Handling Options

Variables and Expressions
All text fields allow the use of expressions by surrounding the expression in percentage signs (example: %MYVARIABLE%, %Left('Text',2)%). To help construct these expressions, a popup expression builder is available in all these fields by pressing F2.
More on variables...
More on expressions...
More on the expression builder...

Example

<AMFILEDELETE SOURCE="c:\folder1\*.*">

<AMFILEDELETE SOURCE="c:\folder1\*.*" SUBFOLDERS="YES">

<AMFILEDELETE SOURCE="c:\folder1\*.*" ATTRFILTER="+r+a">

<AMFILEDELETE SOURCE="c:\folder1\*.*" SUBFOLDERS="YES" OVERWRITE="YES" ISNEWERTHAN="%DateSerial(2001,10,12) + TimeSerial(00,00,00)%">