File::Path(3) Perl Programmers Reference Guide File::Path(3)NAMEFile::Path - create or remove a series of directories
SYNOPSIS
use File::Path
mkpath(['/foo/bar/baz', 'blurfl/quux'], 1, 0711);
rmtree(['foo/bar/baz', 'blurfl/quux'], 1, 1);
DESCRIPTION
The mkpath function provides a convenient way to create
directories, even if your mkdir kernel call won't create
more than one level of directory at a time. mkpath takes
three arguments:
o the name of the path to create, or a reference to a
list of paths to create,
o a boolean value, which if TRUE will cause mkpath to
print the name of each directory as it is created
(defaults to FALSE), and
o the numeric mode to use when creating the directories
(defaults to 0777)
It returns a list of all directories (including
intermediates, determined using the Unix '/' separator)
created.
Similarly, the rmtree function provides a convenient way
to delete a subtree from the directory structure, much
like the Unix command rm -r. rmtree takes three
arguments:
o the root of the subtree to delete, or a reference to a
list of roots. All of the files and directories below
each root, as well as the roots themselves, will be
deleted.
o a boolean value, which if TRUE will cause rmtree to
print a message each time it examines a file, giving
the name of the file, and indicating whether it's
using rmdir or unlink to remove it, or that it's
skipping it. (defaults to FALSE)
o a boolean value, which if TRUE will cause rmtree to
skip any files to which you do not have delete access
(if running under VMS) or write access (if running
under another OS). This will change in the future
when a criterion for 'delete permission' under OSs
other than VMS is settled. (defaults to FALSE)
It returns the number of files successfully deleted.
16/Sep/1999 perl 5.005, patch 03 1
File::Path(3) Perl Programmers Reference Guide File::Path(3)
Symlinks are treated as ordinary files.
NOTE: If the third parameter is not TRUE, rmtree is
unsecure in the face of failure or interruption. Files
and directories which were not deleted may be left with
permissions reset to allow world read and write access.
Note also that the occurrence of errors in rmtree can be
determined only by trapping diagnostic messages using
$SIG{__WARN__}; it is not apparent from the return value.
Therefore, you must be extremely careful about using
rmtree($foo,$bar,0 in situations where security is an
issue.
AUTHORS
Tim Bunce <Tim.Bunce@ig.co.uk> and Charles Bailey
<bailey@newman.upenn.edu>
REVISION
Current $VERSION is 1.0401.
16/Sep/1999 perl 5.005, patch 03 2
