org.apache.commons.io

Class FileDeleteStrategy

public class FileDeleteStrategy extends Object

Strategy for deleting files.

There is more than one way to delete a file. You may want to limit access to certain directories, to only delete directories if they are empty, or maybe to force deletion.

This class captures the strategy to use and is designed for user subclassing.

Since: Commons IO 1.3

Version: $Id: FileDeleteStrategy.java 453903 2006-10-07 13:47:06Z scolebourne $

Author: Stephen Colebourne

Nested Class Summary
static classFileDeleteStrategy.ForceFileDeleteStrategy
Force file deletion strategy.
Field Summary
static FileDeleteStrategyFORCE
The singleton instance for forced file deletion, which always deletes, even if the file represents a non-empty directory.
Stringname
The name of the strategy.
static FileDeleteStrategyNORMAL
The singleton instance for normal file deletion, which does not permit the deletion of directories that are not empty.
Constructor Summary
protected FileDeleteStrategy(String name)
Restricted constructor.
Method Summary
voiddelete(File fileToDelete)
Deletes the file object, which may be a file or a directory.
booleandeleteQuietly(File fileToDelete)
Deletes the file object, which may be a file or a directory.
protected booleandoDelete(File fileToDelete)
Actually deletes the file object, which may be a file or a directory.
StringtoString()
Gets a string describing the delete strategy.

Field Detail

FORCE

public static final FileDeleteStrategy FORCE
The singleton instance for forced file deletion, which always deletes, even if the file represents a non-empty directory.

name

private final String name
The name of the strategy.

NORMAL

public static final FileDeleteStrategy NORMAL
The singleton instance for normal file deletion, which does not permit the deletion of directories that are not empty.

Constructor Detail

FileDeleteStrategy

protected FileDeleteStrategy(String name)
Restricted constructor.

Parameters: name the name by which the strategy is known

Method Detail

delete

public void delete(File fileToDelete)
Deletes the file object, which may be a file or a directory. If the file does not exist, the method just returns.

Subclass writers should override doDelete, not this method.

Parameters: fileToDelete the file to delete, not null

Throws: NullPointerException if the file is null IOException if an error occurs during file deletion

deleteQuietly

public boolean deleteQuietly(File fileToDelete)
Deletes the file object, which may be a file or a directory. All IOExceptions are caught and false returned instead. If the file does not exist or is null, true is returned.

Subclass writers should override doDelete, not this method.

Parameters: fileToDelete the file to delete, null returns true

Returns: true if the file was deleted, or there was no such file

doDelete

protected boolean doDelete(File fileToDelete)
Actually deletes the file object, which may be a file or a directory.

This method is designed for subclasses to override. The implementation may return either false or an IOException when deletion fails. The delete and deleteQuietly methods will handle either response appropriately. A check has been made to ensure that the file will exist.

This implementation uses File#delete().

Parameters: fileToDelete the file to delete, exists, not null

Returns: true if the file was deleteds

Throws: NullPointerException if the file is null IOException if an error occurs during file deletion

toString

public String toString()
Gets a string describing the delete strategy.

Returns: a string describing the delete strategy

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