Recursive delete files using perl script

tipu123 has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I would like to delete all the file in a directory using only "rmdir" in perl script. I'm trying to clean up a directory first and then trying to write file. I know i can just use rmtree (" directory path"); but i'm unable to use that for FTP server (use Net::FTP;). and rmdir looks for empty directory. i have tried "remove_tree" and "rm -rf". i do have read/write access to the server, but i'm unable to delete files. Perl script:

finddepth (\&remove_dir, "$path");
rmdir ( "$path" ) or die ("Could not remove $path");

sub remove_dir
{
  # for a path, this will be 0
  if ( ! (stat("$File::Find::name"))[7] ) 
  { $ftp->rmdir("$File::Find::name"); }
  else
  { $ftp->unlink("$File::Find::name"); }
}
[download]

Comment on Recursive delete files using perl script Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Recursive delete files using perl script by x-lours (Sexton) on Jun 30, 2014 at 14:14 UTC
you could find everything in http://perldoc.perl.org/Net/FTP.html you have to use the `ls ( [ DIR ] )` to know if the directory is empty and then loop for the files of your directory to `delete ( FILENAME )` all the files before using `rmdir ( DIR )` or you can try to use the RECURSE option of rmdir : rmdir ( DIR , RECURSE ) Remove the directory with the name DIR . If RECURSE is true then rmdir will attempt to delete everything inside the directory.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: Recursive delete files using perl script by kennethk (Abbot) on Jun 30, 2014 at 15:17 UTC
x-lours: Thank you for contributing positively to the conversation. Given how you formatted your documentation link, I thought you might want to give Markup in the Monastery and What shortcuts can I use for linking to other information? a perusal. In particular, I would have chosen to format that link as `[doc://Net::FTP]`, which renders as Net::FTP. #11929 First ask yourself `How would I do this without a computer?' Then have the computer do it the same way.	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Recursive delete files using perl script by Corion (Patriarch) on Jun 30, 2014 at 13:23 UTC
stat does not work over FTP. I don't know how to learn about the status of a remote file/directory using `ftp`.	[reply] [d/l]