OS-DELETE statement

Executes an operating system file or directory delete from within ABL. Can delete one or more files, a directory, or an entire directory branch.

Syntax

OS-DELETE
  { filename | VALUE ( expression ) }...
  [ RECURSIVE ]
filename
The name of the files or directories to delete. If you specify a directory that is not empty, you must also specify the RECURSIVE option to delete both the files contained within the directory and the directory itself. The file or directory name can contain Unicode characters. See OpenEdge Development: Internationalizing Applications for more information about Unicode.
VALUE ( expression )
An expression that returns the name of the files or directories to delete. expression can contain constants, field names, and variable names. The file or directory name can contain Unicode characters.
RECURSIVE
Instructs OS-DELETE to delete all subdirectories of the directory named in filename, as well as the directory itself. Before a directory or subdirectory is deleted, its files are deleted.

Example

This procedure opens a dialog box that prompts the user to choose a file to delete, then uses the OS-DELETE statement to delete the file:

r-os-del.p

DEFINE VARIABLE filename  AS CHARACTER NO-UNDO.
DEFINE VARIABLE OKpressed AS LOGICAL   NO-UNDO INITIAL TRUE.

Main:
REPEAT:
  SYSTEM-DIALOG GET-FILE filename
    TITLE "Choose File to Delete"
    MUST-EXIST
    USE-FILENAME
    UPDATE OKpressed.

  IF OKpressed = FALSE THEN LEAVE Main.
  ELSE OS-DELETE VALUE(filename).
END.

Notes

See also

OS-ERROR function