std::experimental::filesystem::remove,std::experimental::filesystem::remove_all (3) - Linux Manuals

std::experimental::filesystem::remove,std::experimental::filesystem::remove_all: std::experimental::filesystem::remove,std::experimental::filesystem::remove_all

NAME

std::experimental::filesystem::remove,std::experimental::filesystem::remove_all - std::experimental::filesystem::remove,std::experimental::filesystem::remove_all

Synopsis

Defined in header <experimental/filesystem>
bool remove(const path& p); (1) (filesystem TS)
bool remove(const path& p, error_code& ec);
std::uintmax_t remove_all(const path& p); (2) (filesystem TS)
std::uintmax_t remove_all(const path& p, error_code& ec);

1) The file or empty directory identified by the path p is deleted as if by the POSIX remove. Symlinks are not followed (symlink is removed, not its target)
2) Deletes the contents of p (if it is a directory) and the contents of all its subdirectories, recursively, then deletes p itself as if by repeatedly applying the POSIX remove. Symlinks are not followed (symlink is removed, not its target)

Parameters

p - path to delete
ec - out-parameter for error reporting in the non-throwing overload

Return value

1) true if the file was deleted, false if it did not exist. The overload that takes error_code& argument returns false on errors.
2) Returns the number of files and directories that were deleted (which may be zero if p did not exist to begin with). The overload that takes error_code& argument returns static_cast<std::uintmax_t>(-1) on error.

Exceptions

The overload that does not take a error_code& parameter throws filesystem_error on underlying OS API errors, constructed with p as the first argument and the OS error code as the error code argument. std::bad_alloc may be thrown if memory allocation fails. The overload taking a error_code& parameter sets it to the OS API error code if an OS API call fails, and executes ec.clear() if no errors occur. This overload has
noexcept specification:
noexcept

Notes

On POSIX systems, this function typically calls unlink and rmdir as needed, on Windows RemoveDirectoryW and DeleteFileW.

Example

// Run this code

  #include <iostream>
  #include <cstdint>
  #include <experimental/filesystem>
  namespace fs = std::experimental::filesystem;
  int main()
  {
      fs::path dir = fs::temp_directory_path();
      fs::create_directories(dir / "abcdef/example");
      std::uintmax_t n = fs::remove_all(dir / "abcdef");
      std::cout << "Deleted " << n << " files or directories\n";
  }

Possible output:

  Deleted 2 files or directories