Recursively deleting of directories in C# throws an exception

Question

I am trying to delete a directory and all its contents like this:

    private static void CleanOrCreateDirectory(string directory)
    {
        if (Directory.Exists(directory)) Directory.Delete(directory, true);
        Directory.CreateDirectory(directory);
    }

which should be the standard way, suggested in various answers to related questions on SO. However, it doesn't work. I get:

System.IO.IOException : The directory is not empty.

Well, of course it is not empty, that is the whole point! What am I doing wrong?

Looks similar to this question: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/329355/cannot-delete-directory-with-directory-deletepath-true — Hauns TM, Jan 29 '14 at 11:26
@SergeyLitvinov, a local directory `Data`, that contains some files and folders generated by the tests. — Grzenio, Jan 29 '14 at 11:28
The problem can be that some process or even your process uses files from that directory, so it can delete them, so directory is also can'be deleted. The other problem can be that it has file with readonly attribute — Sergey Litvinov, Jan 29 '14 at 11:28

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 29 '14 at 11:27

0

There's a list of IOException causes when calling Directory.Delete here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/fxeahc5f.aspx

It lists all the distinct reasons why you get an IOException, one would assume the cause is listed there!

answered Jan 29 '14 at 11:27

SpaceBison

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score 0 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:21

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It turns out that the implementation of Directory.Delete(name, true) just doesn't do what it says on the tin. For a workaround, see the accepted answer from Cannot delete directory with Directory.Delete(path, true).

Thanks @HaunsTM

edited May 23 '17 at 12:21

Community

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answered Jan 29 '14 at 12:03

Grzenio

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Recursively deleting of directories in C# throws an exception

2 Answers2