File::Path - create or remove directory trees
use File::Path;
mkpath(['/foo/bar/baz', 'blurfl/quux'], 1, 0711);
rmtree(['foo/bar/baz', 'blurfl/quux'], 1, 1);
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:
the name of the path to create, or a reference to a list of paths to create,
a boolean value, which if TRUE will cause mkpath
to print the name of each directory as it is created
(defaults to FALSE), and
the numeric mode to use when creating the directories (defaults to 0777), to be modified by the current umask.
It returns a list of all directories (including intermediates, determined using the Unix '/' separator) created.
If a system error prevents a directory from being created, then the
mkpath function throws a fatal error with Carp::croak. This error
can be trapped with an eval block:
eval { mkpath($dir) }; if ($@) { print "Couldn't create $dir: $@"; }
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:
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.
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)
a boolean value, which if FALSE (the default for non-root users) will
cause rmtree to adjust the mode of directories (if required) prior
to attempting to remove the contents. Note that on interruption or
failure of rmtree, directories may be left with more permissive
modes for the owner.
It returns the number of files successfully deleted. Symlinks are simply deleted and not followed.
On Windows, if mkpath gives you the warning: No such file or
directory, this may mean that you've exceeded your filesystem's
maximum path length.
Tim Bunce <Tim.Bunce@ig.co.uk> and Charles Bailey <bailey@newman.upenn.edu>