Delete specified file from document directory - ios

Question

I want to delete an image from my app document directory. Code I have written to delete image is:
-(void)removeImage:(NSString *)fileName
{
fileManager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
documentsPath = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
filePath = [documentsPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:[NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#", fileName]];
[fileManager removeItemAtPath:filePath error:NULL];
UIAlertView *removeSuccessFulAlert=[[UIAlertView alloc]initWithTitle:#"Congratulation:" message:#"Successfully removed" delegate:self cancelButtonTitle:#"Close" otherButtonTitles:nil];
[removeSuccessFulAlert show];
}
Its working partially. This code deleting file from directory, but when I'm checking for the contents in directory, it still showing the image name there. I want to completely remove that file from directory. What should I change in the code to do the same? Thanks

Answer 1

I checked your code. It's working for me. Check any error you are getting using the modified code below
- (void)removeImage:(NSString *)filename
{
NSFileManager *fileManager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
NSString *documentsPath = [NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *filePath = [documentsPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:filename];
NSError *error;
BOOL success = [fileManager removeItemAtPath:filePath error:&error];
if (success) {
UIAlertView *removedSuccessFullyAlert = [[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:#"Congratulations:" message:#"Successfully removed" delegate:self cancelButtonTitle:#"Close" otherButtonTitles:nil];
[removedSuccessFullyAlert show];
}
else
{
NSLog(#"Could not delete file -:%# ",[error localizedDescription]);
}
}

Answer 2

Swift 3.0:
func removeImage(itemName:String, fileExtension: String) {
let fileManager = FileManager.default
let nsDocumentDirectory = FileManager.SearchPathDirectory.documentDirectory
let nsUserDomainMask = FileManager.SearchPathDomainMask.userDomainMask
let paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(nsDocumentDirectory, nsUserDomainMask, true)
guard let dirPath = paths.first else {
return
}
let filePath = "\(dirPath)/\(itemName).\(fileExtension)"
do {
try fileManager.removeItem(atPath: filePath)
} catch let error as NSError {
print(error.debugDescription)
}}
Thanks to #Anil Varghese, I wrote very similiar code in swift 2.0:
static func removeImage(itemName:String, fileExtension: String) {
let fileManager = NSFileManager.defaultManager()
let nsDocumentDirectory = NSSearchPathDirectory.DocumentDirectory
let nsUserDomainMask = NSSearchPathDomainMask.UserDomainMask
let paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(nsDocumentDirectory, nsUserDomainMask, true)
guard let dirPath = paths.first else {
return
}
let filePath = "\(dirPath)/\(itemName).\(fileExtension)"
do {
try fileManager.removeItemAtPath(filePath)
} catch let error as NSError {
print(error.debugDescription)
}
}

Answer 3

Swift 2.0:
func removeOldFileIfExist() {
let paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSSearchPathDirectory.DocumentDirectory, NSSearchPathDomainMask.UserDomainMask, true)
if paths.count > 0 {
let dirPath = paths[0]
let fileName = "someFileName"
let filePath = NSString(format:"%#/%#.png", dirPath, fileName) as String
if NSFileManager.defaultManager().fileExistsAtPath(filePath) {
do {
try NSFileManager.defaultManager().removeItemAtPath(filePath)
print("old image has been removed")
} catch {
print("an error during a removing")
}
}
}
}

Answer 4

In Swift both 3&4
func removeImageLocalPath(localPathName:String) {
let filemanager = FileManager.default
let documentsPath = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(.documentDirectory,.userDomainMask,true)[0] as NSString
let destinationPath = documentsPath.appendingPathComponent(localPathName)
do {
try filemanager.removeItem(atPath: destinationPath)
print("Local path removed successfully")
} catch let error as NSError {
print("------Error",error.debugDescription)
}
}
or
This method can delete all local file
func deletingLocalCacheAttachments(){
let fileManager = FileManager.default
let documentsURL = fileManager.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask)[0]
do {
let fileURLs = try fileManager.contentsOfDirectory(at: documentsURL, includingPropertiesForKeys: nil)
if fileURLs.count > 0{
for fileURL in fileURLs {
try fileManager.removeItem(at: fileURL)
}
}
} catch {
print("Error while enumerating files \(documentsURL.path): \(error.localizedDescription)")
}
}

Answer 5

Instead of having the error set to NULL, have it set to
NSError *error;
[fileManager removeItemAtPath:filePath error:&error];
if (error){
NSLog(#"%#", error);
}
this will tell you if it's actually deleting the file

Answer 6

I want to delete my sqlite db from document directory.I delete the sqlite db successfully by below answer
NSString *strFileName = #"sqlite";
NSFileManager *fileManager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
NSArray *contents = [fileManager contentsOfDirectoryAtPath:documentsDirectory error:NULL];
NSEnumerator *enumerator = [contents objectEnumerator];
NSString *filename;
while ((filename = [enumerator nextObject])) {
NSLog(#"The file name is - %#",[filename pathExtension]);
if ([[filename pathExtension] isEqualToString:strFileName]) {
[fileManager removeItemAtPath:[documentsDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:filename] error:NULL];
NSLog(#"The sqlite is deleted successfully");
}
}

Answer 7

NSError *error;
[[NSFileManager defaultManager] removeItemAtPath:new_file_path_str error:&error];
if (error){
NSLog(#"%#", error);
}

Answer 8

FreeGor version converted to Swift 3.0
func removeOldFileIfExist() {
let paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(FileManager.SearchPathDirectory.documentDirectory, FileManager.SearchPathDomainMask.userDomainMask, true)
if paths.count > 0 {
let dirPath = paths[0]
let fileName = "filename.jpg"
let filePath = NSString(format:"%#/%#", dirPath, fileName) as String
if FileManager.default.fileExists(atPath: filePath) {
do {
try FileManager.default.removeItem(atPath: filePath)
print("User photo has been removed")
} catch {
print("an error during a removing")
}
}
}
}

Answer 9

You can double protect your file removal with NSFileManager.defaultManager().isDeletableFileAtPath(PathName) As of now you MUST use do{}catch{} as the old error methods no longer work.
isDeletableFileAtPath() is not a "throws" (i.e.
"public func removeItemAtPath(path: String) throws")
so it does not need the do...catch
let killFile = NSFileManager.defaultManager()
if (killFile.isDeletableFileAtPath(PathName)){
do {
try killFile.removeItemAtPath(arrayDictionaryFilePath)
}
catch let error as NSError {
error.description
}
}

Answer 10

If you are interesting in modern api way, avoiding NSSearchPath and filter files in documents directory, before deletion, you can do like:
let fileManager = FileManager.default
let keys: [URLResourceKey] = [.nameKey, .isDirectoryKey]
let options: FileManager.DirectoryEnumerationOptions = [.skipsHiddenFiles, .skipsPackageDescendants]
guard let documentsUrl = fileManager.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask).last,
let fileEnumerator = fileManager.enumerator(at: documentsUrl,
includingPropertiesForKeys: keys,
options: options) else { return }
let urls: [URL] = fileEnumerator.flatMap { $0 as? URL }
.filter { $0.pathExtension == "exe" }
for url in urls {
do {
try fileManager.removeItem(at: url)
} catch {
assertionFailure("\(error)")
}
}