[<<]Message[>>]    [<<]Author[>>]        Subject        [<<]Thread[>>]

Number   :  3200
Date     :  2002-12-06
Author   :  Kan Yabumoto
Subject  :  Speaking of file/directory deletion
Size(KB) :  3


james sadler wrote:

> Using the clone switch from an empty directory will delete
> an XP directory nicely.
> That is a really valuable feature for me.


/CLONE to remove a directory?

I never even thought of that as the designer of the tool.
While what james calls a "feature" was certainly not by
design, I am not totally surprised to hear that experienced
users find interesting applications of XXCOPY.

I'm just delighted to hear his usage.

While I don't argue against that practice, let me
show you the more "official" approach to the file and
directory removal problem.

XXCOPY provides four distinct flavors in removal operations.

/RS // remove source (files that matches the qualificaiton)
/RC // remove source after copy (equiv. to move)
/RD // remove dest. (files that would be overwritten)
/RX // remove extra files/direscotires in the dest.

Note that the reason why what james suggested works is
because /CLONE has the /Z operation which removes extra
files and directories in the destination that are not present
in the source. This is equvalent to /RX operation with
the first directory being an empty one.

The most versatile one for a directory removal is the use of
/RS switch with optional switches such as /S /H /R, etc.
(I look at the /RC operation more like a move operation).

The reason for my recommendation of this switch is it can
be easily combined with other switches to fine-tune the
operation. For example, you may add /DB#60 to limit the
deletion to the files that are older than two months,
/SZ:1M- files that are larger than 1MB, /SZ:0 zero-length
file, etc. The other two variations in the /Rxx series
do not have such a capability. As a matter of fact, the
/RX operation is the least flexible among the four variations
(and the /Z as in the /CLONE operation is just that).

Now, that brings us to the often forgotten shortcut, /RMDIR.

Just as the /CLONE switch is a versatile combination
that is easy to remember for directory duplication,
/RMDIR is a convenient starting point for directory removal.
It is a shortcut for /RSY/S/H/R/PD/ED0.

--------------------------------------------------------
It's designed as a replacement for the popular DELTREE
utility that came with Win9X (if you have DELTREE.EXE
in your Win9X, you may just copy the utility to your
WinXP environment). It should work just fine ----
unlike XCOPY whose tight version-checking makes it
unfit for porting it from one version of Windows to
another, DELTREE is completely portable.
--------------------------------------------------------

xxcopy C:\MYDIR\ /RMDIR

As usual, /RMDIR comes with the /PD switch (which is default
to /RS anyway) that gives you fine controls of which
subdirectories to skip, etc. (we made the Y/N prompt a
little fancier). The strength of /RMDIR is that you can put
additional file-selection switches (such as /SZ:xxx /DB#xxx).

It is also useful with two-directory operation where
you delete files from one directory based on what are
in the reference directory.

The following command line will remove files from the
first directory that are common to the two directories
(and only when they are exactly the same in the file size
and timestamp);

xxcopy C:\DIRA\ C:\DIRB\ /RMDIR /BS

Or, you may want to delete *ALL* files in the first
directory that are common in the two directories;

xxcopy C:\DIRA\ C:\DIRB\ /RMDIR /U

In a batch file and other context that you know what
you are doing, you may use

xxcopy \MY_DIR\ /RMDIR /YY // use /YY with care


Ciao,
Kan Yabumoto



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