Delete files from dir

Question

I'm writing some files to a folder.

But when I reuse that folder I want to delete every file in that directory. The problem is that I don't know if this directory actually exists or not.

final String fileDir = "myPath/someDir/;
// If this dir exists, delete every file inside
//Populate this dir ( I have this code)

Possible duplicate of [Create directory. If exists, delete directory and its content and create new one in Java](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12835285/create-directory-if-exists-delete-directory-and-its-content-and-create-new-one) — Héctor, Mar 09 '18 at 11:02
`File file = new File(fileDir);` You can pass the String to file — Jay Shankar Gupta, Mar 09 '18 at 11:05
Possible duplicate of [Is there a proper way to check for file/directory existence in Java?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7996524/is-there-a-proper-way-to-check-for-file-directory-existence-in-java) — Mehmet Sunkur, Mar 09 '18 at 11:07

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 09 '18 at 11:05

1

This the way to check if file exists

if(f.exists() && !f.isDirectory()) { 
    // delete
}

answered Mar 09 '18 at 11:05

xMilos

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score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 09 '18 at 11:25

In package java.nio.file you have very handy utils (from java7):

Files.deleteIfExists(path)

and if you want to delete recursively sth like:

Path path = Paths.get("/path/to/your/dir");
Files.walkFileTree(path, new SimpleFileVisitor<Path>() {

   @Override
   public FileVisitResult visitFile(Path file, BasicFileAttributes attributes) throws IOException {
       Files.delete(file);
       return FileVisitResult.CONTINUE;
   }

   @Override
   public FileVisitResult postVisitDirectory(Path directory, IOException exception) throws IOException {
       Files.delete(directory);
       return FileVisitResult.CONTINUE;
   }

});

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Mar 09 '18 at 11:32

0

Use org.apache.commons.io.FileUtils class

FileUtils.cleanDirectory(directory);

There is this method available in the same file. This will also recursively deletes all sub-folders and files under them.

final String fileDir = "myPath/someDir/";
File dir = new File(fileDir);
FileUtils.cleanDirectory(dir);

edited Mar 09 '18 at 11:32

nkr

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answered Mar 09 '18 at 11:04

Hassan Mudassir

191
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it expects a file not a string with the dir – Mar 09 '18 at 11:04
Create a file object out of it. new File("myPath/someDir"); – Hassan Mudassir Mar 09 '18 at 11:08
I got error saying the dir doesn't exist (and it doesn't). i just need an if `if(dir.exists()` ?? – Mar 09 '18 at 11:10
This is the basic thing that you need to change the path to actual directory path. :O – Hassan Mudassir Mar 09 '18 at 11:12

Delete files from dir

3 Answers3