Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!lll-tis!ames!hc!whitfill
From: whitfill@hc.DSPO.GOV (Jim Whitfill)
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: Re: recursive deletion
Message-ID: <14197@hc.DSPO.GOV>
Date: 6 Mar 88 01:33:00 GMT
References: <40@tulane.tulane.edu>
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Lines: 28

in article <40@tulane.tulane.edu>, mb@tulane.tulane.edu (Mark Benard) says:
> 
> To fully delete a directory DISK:[SMITH] (aka DISK:[000000]SMITH.DIR)
> takes 3 commands
> 
> $ DELETE DISK:[SMITH...*]*.*.*      ! to get contents of subdirectories
> $ DELETE DISK:[SMITH]*.*.*          ! to get contents of main directory
> $ DELETE DISK:[000000]SMITH.DIR
> 
> which can be put in a command file as long as you do not branch on
> warnings which will be generated by the first command if there are no
> subdirectories.

You can't DELETE DISK:[SMITH...*]*.*;* if there is a subdirectory
in SMITH that contains files. DELETE will fail trying to delete
[SMITH]X.DIR since [SMITH.X] contains files. The only way to do this
is to use a recursive program that works its way to the bottom of the
tree and then deletes its way back up. Programs such as this have been
posted in this group.

                   =======================================
                               Jim A. Whitfill
                    Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)
                            Group MEE-10, MS J580
                             Los Alamos, NM 87545
                                (505) 667-9282

                 (ARPAnet ==> whitfill%meediv.xnet@lanl.gov)
                   =======================================