Proper syntax for deleting a bunch of non-empty dirs?

[PoulpSquad]

Hello all,


I am trying to delete a bunch of directories by running a script, but I'm always getting the error "directory is not empty".


I've tried selecting and deleting them all in Directory Opus, but I get the same error.


So far, I've been trying this in my script:


delete dh1:Software/Games/A-Train all
delete dh1:Software/Games/A10TankKiller all

delete dh1:Software/Games/AfterBurner88 all
...


or


delete all dh1:Software/Games/A-Train#?
delete all dh1:Software/Games/A10TankKiller#?
delete all dh1:Software/Games/AfterBurner88#?
...


Some help about the proper syntax would be very welcome!


Thank you for your time reading this.



(AmigaOS 3.9)

[DisasterIncarna]

i just added those directory names with some random files to my ramdisk and tried your commands, they deleted the directory contents and the directory no problem so not sure why its not working for you? do you maybe have some files with their deletion flag removed? that would cause a fail to delete but it would output that reason to see on shell if that was so.

If the stuff you want deleted all starts with "A" you could try: DELETE A#? ALL

[PoulpSquad]

Hi DisasterIncarna, thank you for your reply!

do you maybe have some files with their deletion flag removed?

I just checked flags in Directory Opus and tried again, with the same results.

If the stuff you want deleted all starts with "A" you could try: DELETE A#? ALL

Alas, I need to delete about 230 directories out of 1200, ranging from # to Z.

I could overkill it by preparing a new empty HDF and move everything there except for the stuff I need removed, but I'd rather understand how to use delete...

Edit:

Setting a text file as executable with a series of commands doesn't work as intended:

example
delete dh1:Software/Games/A-Train all
delete dh1:Software/Games/A10TankKiller all
delete dh1:Software/Games/AfterBurner88 all

execute example
delete dh1:Software/Games/A-Train all Not deleted: directory not empty
delete failed returncode 20

Whereas typing the exact same command in a shell will work fine.

[DisasterIncarna]

a pain in the backside, but does deleting the files first then the folder work?

delete dh1:Software/Games/A-Train/#? all
delete dh1:Software/Games/A-Train

delete dh1:Software/Games/A10TankKiller/#? all
delete dh1:Software/Games/A10TankKiller

delete dh1:Software/Games/AfterBurner88/#? all
delete dh1:Software/Games/AfterBurner88

Shouldnt be required but can at least try to narrow down whats going wrong. as for your script, use: Protect Scriptname +s

[PoulpSquad]

Yes, it does work, I was trying that just now.

delete dh1:Software/Games/A-Train/#? all

deletes all files inside the dir A-Train.

I'd need a second pass to get rid of the directory proper, as you clearly show in your example.

Edit:

Scratch that, works on some dirs, gets stuck on others. I'm at a loss understanding what's going on.
I'll just make a new hdf and copy the stuff I want to keep over, until I get a better understanding of what I'm doing wrong.

[meynaf]

If DOpus and CLI commands all fail, why not trying with normal WB ?

[PoulpSquad]

Indeed, I've been trying both wb cli and opus, with the same results in both.

I'm moving the files I want to keep, excepting the stubborn few that I can't delete to a new volume. This should defrag everything, which is a nice bonus.

[meynaf]

WB deletes contents of dirs prior to removing them, so if it fails, it's because some files are not deletable for whatever reason. It should also display an error message.
If files have no issue with protection flags, it may be that the file system is damaged in some way. In that case, moving to a new volume is the solution.

[Daedalus]

This could be a delayed write / asynchronous action by the filesystem. I see this happening sometimes on partitions that use PFS3 - it doesn't immediately commit the delete (or move to recycling dir) operations to disk, so if you try to delete the directory too soon after deleting the contents (which is what Workbench etc. will do automatically), it finds the directory isn't empty. It doesn't happen for me when using FFS.

This would explain why your script fails while typing the commands manually works - the extra delay allows the delete operation to complete first. As a workaround, you could try adding a short delay between the file delete and dir delete operations using the Wait command.

[mrv2k]

You may need to add the FORCE option on some folders as it overrides the D protection bit on files. e.g.

delete dh1:Software/Games/AfterBurner88 FORCE ALL

[PoulpSquad]

Thanks @all for the suggestions, pro tips and ideas!

@meynaf:

If files have no issue with protection flags, it may be that the file system is damaged in some way. In that case, moving to a new volume is the solution.

Filesystem is PFS3AIO and appears to be in ok conditions, after checking it with pfsdoctor.
Flags are rwd, applied before running the script.

@Daedalus:

This would explain why your script fails while typing the commands manually works - the extra delay allows the delete operation to complete first.

This makes sense and would explain why the script fails. Maybe there is an utility to flush the cache content to the disk, I'll take a look on Aminet.

@mrv2k:

You may need to add the FORCE option on some folders as it overrides the D protection bit on files. e.g.

Alas, same result as without FORCE .

[Thomas Richter]

Originally Posted by PoulpSquad

Alas, same result as without FORCE .

We had seen similar effects during the development of 3.1.4 and 3.2. PFS has simply defects. If I recall, it was related to the undelete option, but I do not recall.

[PoulpSquad]

@Thomas Richter:

I am sorry for the delay, I somehow missed the notification and didn't check this thread any further

We had seen similar effects during the development of 3.1.4 and 3.2. PFS has simply defects.

Interesting. I just migrated my stuff to a new HDF without any further issues.

It appears my problem only happens when deleting stuff, which seems to confirm your observation.