how to delete a file in c++?

Question

3.40/5 (2 votes)

See more:

Hi everybody? I want to find a certain way to delete a file? some files cannot be deleted in a simple way with remove commands. like malwares or opened files. Is there any command that can do force delete?

Posted 3-Nov-13 21:16pm

Mojtaba Setoodeh

Updated 9-Aug-22 8:09am

Add a Solution

Comments

Hamed Moezzi Azimi 5-Nov-13 13:08pm

I think the answer is in this link:
http://mathbits.com/MathBits/CompSci/Files/Name.htm

6 solutions

Solution 2

you can use the remove function
#include <<cstdio>>>
int remove(char *filename)
file name is path of file with name of file

Posted 3-Nov-13 23:30pm

rashin ghodratzade

Solution 4

Hi,
If you are on Win32, the official way to do it is to mark it to be deleted on reboot, and ask the user to reboot. To mark the file to be deleted on reboot, use MoveFileEx with the MOVEFILE_DELAY_UNTIL_REBOOT flag (pass NULL as the destination).
good luck

Posted 4-Nov-13 15:51pm

fkassaie

Solution 3

1: first you needs to get all opening processes by using OpenProcess() function
2: check for process "notepad"
3: then kill that process and use remove(pathname) function to delete opening file

Posted 4-Nov-13 0:06am

Suk@nta

Updated 4-Nov-13 0:07am

v3

Solution 5

There is in
"http://www.cplusplus.com"
some different ways to manage the problem that you can select due to your exact problem because it may be initiated by different roots.

Posted 4-Nov-13 19:51pm

M.Ebrahimi.Ahouei

Solution 6

C#

"remove, _wremove
Delete a file.

int remove( const char *path );

int _wremove( const wchar_t *path );

Posted 5-Nov-13 1:28am

HAMZEI

Add a Solution

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

Fredrik Bornander · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-03T21:56:00

To remove a file in C++ use the remove function from cstdio.

C++

#include <cstdio>
int main() {

    const int result = remove("C:\\Temp\\somefile.txt");
    return 0;
}

If this fails, as indicated by the result, that means the file either didn't exist, the file was read-only or the file was owned by a user different than the one executing the command.

If the file is read-only you can try first changing this (this will also fail if the current user doens't have rights to do so), but there's is no C++ "native" way of changing file attributes so you'll have to use something local to the installation your on.
On Windows for example, try using the SetFileAttributes method found in windows.h (link against Kernel32).

If the current user does not have rights to delete the file, the you must make sure the application is run as either the user who owns the file or as an administrator who can delete it.

Also, note that some malware may use a secondary process to recreate files and processes as you kill/delete them, this is a lot harder to deal with and is not a C++ specific problem.

Hope this helps,
Fredrik