Force Delete A file

[razzaj]

Is there a Way to delete files even if they are open without giving Sharing Violation Error

By the way 'Kill' Doesnt Work ... I tried it

[Edited by razzaj on 09-26-2000 at 09:34 AM]

I suspect this will not help you much, as it sounds like you are trying to replace a working file with another.

Presumably, you are trying to close a file inadvertantly left open by another process, in use but needs to be replaced, or are cleaning up after finising a testing run and trying to restart.

Since you cannot delete an open file, you will have to grab the file that is open and close it.

I would assume that if you had a network, and your network priveleges include "administrator", you could overrule (???) the current holder and close the file, deleting it on the next line.

If you cannot overrule the user then you can't delete the file. If its a matter of creating a temporary file for intermediate use, you can always use freefile (at least that's what is was called prior to windows) to get a guaranteed kosher, free name.



Good Luck
DerFarm

You cannot delete a file that is in use. But you can close the exe first:

Declare Function ProcessFirst Lib "kernel32" Alias "Process32First" (ByVal hSnapshot As Long, uProcess As PROCESSENTRY32) As Long
Declare Function ProcessNext Lib "kernel32" Alias "Process32Next" (ByVal hSnapshot As Long, uProcess As PROCESSENTRY32) As Long
Declare Function CreateToolhelpSnapshot Lib "kernel32" Alias "CreateToolhelp32Snapshot" (ByVal lFlags As Long, lProcessID As Long) As Long
Declare Function CloseHandle Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hObject As Long) As Long

Type PROCESSENTRY32
    dwSize As Long
    cntUsage As Long
    th32ProcessID As Long
    th32DefaultHeapID As Long
    th32ModuleID As Long
    cntThreads As Long
    th32ParentProcessID As Long
    pcPriClassBase As Long
    dwFlags As Long
    szexeFile As String * MAX_PATH
    End Type


Public Function KillApp(myName As String) As Boolean
    Const PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS = 0
    Dim uProcess As PROCESSENTRY32
    Dim rProcessFound As Long
    Dim hSnapshot As Long
    Dim szExename As String
    Dim exitCode As Long
    Dim myProcess As Long
    Dim AppKill As Boolean
    Dim appCount As Integer
    Dim i As Integer
    On Local Error GoTo Finish
    appCount = 0
    
    Const TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS As Long = 2&
    
    uProcess.dwSize = Len(uProcess)
    hSnapshot = CreateToolhelpSnapshot(TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS, 0&)
    rProcessFound = ProcessFirst(hSnapshot, uProcess)
    
    Do While rProcessFound
        i = InStr(1, uProcess.szexeFile, Chr(0))
        szExename = LCase$(Left$(uProcess.szexeFile, i - 1))
        If Right$(szExename, Len(myName)) = LCase$(myName) Then
            KillApp = True
            appCount = appCount + 1
            myProcess = OpenProcess(PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS, False, uProcess.th32ProcessID)
            AppKill = TerminateProcess(myProcess, exitCode)
            Call CloseHandle(myProcess)
        End If
        rProcessFound = ProcessNext(hSnapshot, uProcess)
    Loop

    Call CloseHandle(hSnapshot)
Finish:
End Function

Usage:

Call KillApp("C:\program.exe")

And then you can simply delete it:

Call Kill("C:\program.exe")

[razzaj]

Here is the problem, Sometimes on windowsNT or others the system goes nuts and refuses to let you delete a File might it be a simple Picture to a complex ASP File you get this error : "Sharing Violation ... etc..."

What I would like is either to force delete this file or maybe force close it then Delete it (it is not an executable ). Now that I think of it ... I am going to see how to know which process is using the file and kill it then delete the file ... but I have no idea how

Mathew has the right of it. If you have a rogue process, you are going to have to close it. On my machine, I sometimes have to go the length of a re-boot.

There is undoubtedly a way to do this without such drastic measures, but I don't have the time to mess with it.

As a first measure, could you call the friendly folks at MS for help?

Alternatively,
http://www.perryland.com/cgi-bin/Ult...rder=&Session=

seems to be a good place to start.

Good Luck
DerFarm