Updated: July 2009
Deletes the specified file. An exception is not thrown if the specified file does not exist.
Namespace:
System.IO
Assembly:
mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
Visual Basic (Declaration)
Public Shared Sub Delete ( _
path As String _
)
Dim path As String
File.Delete(path)
public static void Delete(
string path
)
public:
static void Delete(
String^ path
)
public static function Delete(
path : String
)
| Exception | Condition |
|---|
| ArgumentException |
path is a zero-length string, contains only white space, or contains one or more invalid characters as defined by InvalidPathChars. |
| ArgumentNullException |
path is nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic). |
| DirectoryNotFoundException | The specified path is invalid, (for example, it is on an unmapped drive). |
| IOException | The specified file is in use. |
| NotSupportedException |
path is in an invalid format. |
| PathTooLongException | The specified path, file name, or both exceed the system-defined maximum length. For example, on Windows-based platforms, paths must be less than 248 characters, and file names must be less than 260 characters. |
| UnauthorizedAccessException | The caller does not have the required permission. -or-
path is a directory. -or-
path specified a read-only file. |
The path parameter is permitted to specify relative or absolute path information. Relative path information is interpreted as relative to the current working directory. To obtain the current working directory, see GetCurrentDirectory.
For a list of common I/O tasks, see Common I/O Tasks.
Windows NT 4.0 Platform Note:
Delete does not delete a file that is open for normal I/O or a file that is memory mapped.
Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows CE Platform Note: On Windows Mobile 6.0, you may experience I/O failures when trying to delete an .mp3 or a .wma file, or a file without an extension. This occurs because voicecmd.exe on Windows Mobile 6.0 opens handles to these file types for indexing purposes.
The following example copies groups of files to the C:\archives\2008 backup folder and then deletes them from the source folder.
Dim sourceDir As String = "c:\current"
Dim backupDir As String = "c:\archives\2008"
Try
Dim picList As String() = Directory.GetFiles(sourceDir, "*.jpg")
Dim txtList As String() = Directory.GetFiles(sourceDir, "*.txt")
' Copy picture files.
For Each f As String In picList
'Remove path from the file name.
Dim fName As String = f.Substring(sourceDir.Length + 1)
' Use the Path.Combine method to safely append the file name to the path.
' Will overwrite if the destination file already exists.
File.Copy(Path.Combine(sourceDir, fName), Path.Combine(backupDir, fName), True)
Next
' Copy text files.
For Each f As String In txtList
'Remove path from the file name.
Dim fName As String = f.Substring(sourceDir.Length + 1)
Try
' Will not overwrite if the destination file already exists.
File.Copy(Path.Combine(sourceDir, fName), Path.Combine(backupDir, fName))
' Catch exception if the file was already copied.
Catch copyError As IOException
Console.WriteLine(copyError.Message)
End Try
Next
For Each f As String In txtList
File.Delete(f)
Next
For Each f As String In picList
File.Delete(f)
Next
Catch dirNotFound As DirectoryNotFoundException
Console.WriteLine(dirNotFound.Message)
End Try
string sourceDir = @"c:\current";
string backupDir = @"c:\archives\2008";
try
{
string[] picList = Directory.GetFiles(sourceDir, "*.jpg");
string[] txtList = Directory.GetFiles(sourceDir, "*.txt");
// Copy picture files.
foreach (string f in picList)
{
// Remove path from the file name.
string fName = f.Substring(sourceDir.Length + 1);
// Use the Path.Combine method to safely append the file name to the path.
// Will overwrite if the destination file already exists.
File.Copy(Path.Combine(sourceDir, fName), Path.Combine(backupDir, fName), true);
}
// Copy text files.
foreach (string f in txtList)
{
// Remove path from the file name.
string fName = f.Substring(sourceDir.Length + 1);
try
{
// Will not overwrite if the destination file already exists.
File.Copy(Path.Combine(sourceDir, fName), Path.Combine(backupDir, fName));
}
// Catch exception if the file was already copied.
catch (IOException copyError)
{
Console.WriteLine(copyError.Message);
}
}
// Delete source files that were copied.
foreach (string f in txtList)
{
File.Delete(f);
}
foreach (string f in picList)
{
File.Delete(f);
}
}
catch (DirectoryNotFoundException dirNotFound)
{
Console.WriteLine(dirNotFound.Message);
}
Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Xbox 360, Zune
The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.
.NET Framework
Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0
.NET Compact Framework
Supported in: 3.5, 2.0, 1.0
XNA Framework
Supported in: 3.0, 2.0, 1.0
Reference
Other Resources
Date | History | Reason |
|---|
July 2009
| Replaced the code example. |
Customer feedback.
|