rmdir

[panchpan]

Hello.
Do we have a UX command which deletes directory and its sub-dirs without emptying them?

Thanks

[James R. Ferguson · Accepted solution]

Hi:

> Do we have a UX command which deletes directory and its sub-dirs without emptying them?

I'm not sure I understand your objective. If a *directory* is *not* empty; that is, the directory has files and/or other subdirectories beneath it, 'rmdir' will not remove the directory. You can, however, use 'rm -rf /path_to_directory' to *force* the deletion of the directory and all subordinate objects (files and directories). Perhaps that is what you want done.

Regards!

...JRF...

[Denver Osborn]

Can you provide a bit more detail on what you need to do?

I don't see that it's possible to delete a directory and it's sub-dirs w/out out actually "deleting" them.

Do you need to relocate files to another dir then remove the existing directory structure?

-denver

[Sandman!]

If you remove a directory all the entries in that directory will be deleted. So no there is NO command that will delete a dir alongwith its sub-dirs without emptying them. The "rm -rf" command will remove a dir alongwith its contents i.e. files and any sub-dirs.

~cheers

[Zinky]

find /dirname -depth -type f -exec rm {}\;

[Zinky]

The above command should maitain the directory structure --- which is I think what out friend Panchalp (from Thailand?) wants.

[panchpan]

MANY THANKS !!!

[Sandman!]

Could you shed more light on what you are trying to accomplish. Your requirement is confusing.