Hello all,
SUper Noob here. I have a very basic question regarding iteration through a list of folders that I need to search. The object of this program is to look for files older then 10 days old in a given set of folders. As much as I dont mind doing if statements for each folder object I specified, I would like to be able to grow the list and not have excessive code. Anyway, any and all suggestions would be greatly appcriciated. Thank you and take care.
This is what I have now:
Sub
Main() Dim fso, Efile, EFolder1, Efolder2fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
EFolder1 = fso.getfolder("C:\temp2")
Efolder2 = fso.getfolder("C:\temp3")
For Each Efile In Efolder2 If DateDiff("d", Efile.datelastmodified, Now) > 10 ThenEfile.delete()
End If NextEfile =
Nothing For Each Efile In EFolder1 If DateDiff("d", Efile.datelastmodified, Now) > 10 ThenEfile.delete()
End If Nex End SubNOTE : I tried using the "collection class" to store the efolder objects, however was not able to loop through the collection.
Iterating through a list of folders
ProjectDev
ok lets see - we need to clean up your code!
Why are you creating an fso Why dont you use the System.IO.Directory.GetDirectories() or GetFiles() class
Dim theFolders() as String = System.IO.Directories.GetDirectories("Path")
Dim theFilesToDelete as new ArrayList()
for each currentFolder as String in theFolders
Dim theFilesInCurrentFolder() as String = System.IO.Directories.GetFiles(currentFolder)
for each currentFile as String in theFilesInCurrentFolder
'get the LastAccessTime of the file
Dim theFileInfo as new FileInfo(currentFile)
'If statement goes here to check the LastAccessTime of the File and see if its 10 days or more from today's date
theFilesToDelete.Add(currentFile)
end if
next
next
for each currentFile as String in theFilesToDelete
System.IO.File.Delete(currentFile)
next
does this help/make you understand better
IceAngel89
I think that your proposed method of passing the folder names is on target. I would extend it just a tad though... I would create a class to represent each folder (folder path, sub directories option, search pattern option). I would make that class serializable so that the list of folders can be easily saved to/read from disk. Then I would create a List(of T) collection to hold each folder item class object. This list can the be bound to by controls in the UI.
Following is a simple little example application. To try it, start a new Windows Application project. In the Solution Explorer, click the Show All Files button, expand Form1, and open the Form1.Designer.vb code file. You can then paste the section of code below marked Form1.Designer.vb over what is already there. This will layout the form for you. Don't worry about this code too much as it is just what the designer generates as you drag controls onto a form and set their properties.
After you've got the form layout, paste the rest of the code into the Form1.vb code file. This example will demonstrate some simple yet very useful concepts such as object databinding and serialization.
Form1.Designer.vb – This code just sets up the form
<Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices.DesignerGenerated()> _
Partial Class Form1
Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form
'Form overrides dispose to clean up the component list.
<System.Diagnostics.DebuggerNonUserCode()> _
Protected Overrides Sub Dispose(ByVal disposing As Boolean)
If disposing AndAlso components IsNot Nothing Then
components.Dispose()
End If
MyBase.Dispose(disposing)
End Sub
'Required by the Windows Form Designer
Private components As System.ComponentModel.IContainer
'NOTE: The following procedure is required by the Windows Form Designer
'It can be modified using the Windows Form Designer.
'Do not modify it using the code editor.
<System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThrough()> _
Private Sub InitializeComponent()
Me.components = New System.ComponentModel.Container
Me.FoldersListBox = New System.Windows.Forms.ListBox
Me.NewPathTextBox = New System.Windows.Forms.TextBox
Me.BrowseButton = New System.Windows.Forms.Button
Me.FolderBrowserDialog1 = New System.Windows.Forms.FolderBrowserDialog
Me.AddButton = New System.Windows.Forms.Button
Me.RemoveButton = New System.Windows.Forms.Button
Me.ExecuteButton = New System.Windows.Forms.Button
Me.SubFoldersCheckBox = New System.Windows.Forms.CheckBox
Me.Label1 = New System.Windows.Forms.Label
Me.PatternTextBox = New System.Windows.Forms.TextBox
Me.BindingSource1 = New System.Windows.Forms.BindingSource(Me.components)
CType(Me.BindingSource1, System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize).BeginInit()
Me.SuspendLayout()
'
'FoldersListBox
'
Me.FoldersListBox.FormattingEnabled = True
Me.FoldersListBox.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(12, 94)
Me.FoldersListBox.Name = "FoldersListBox"
Me.FoldersListBox.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(368, 173)
Me.FoldersListBox.TabIndex = 0
'
'NewPathTextBox
'
Me.NewPathTextBox.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(13, 16)
Me.NewPathTextBox.Name = "NewPathTextBox"
Me.NewPathTextBox.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(285, 20)
Me.NewPathTextBox.TabIndex = 1
'
'BrowseButton
'
Me.BrowseButton.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(305, 16)
Me.BrowseButton.Name = "BrowseButton"
Me.BrowseButton.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(75, 23)
Me.BrowseButton.TabIndex = 2
Me.BrowseButton.Text = "Browse"
Me.BrowseButton.UseVisualStyleBackColor = True
'
'AddButton
'
Me.AddButton.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(12, 66)
Me.AddButton.Name = "AddButton"
Me.AddButton.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(115, 23)
Me.AddButton.TabIndex = 3
Me.AddButton.Text = "Add Path"
Me.AddButton.UseVisualStyleBackColor = True
'
'RemoveButton
'
Me.RemoveButton.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(133, 66)
Me.RemoveButton.Name = "RemoveButton"
Me.RemoveButton.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(115, 23)
Me.RemoveButton.TabIndex = 4
Me.RemoveButton.Text = "Remove Path"
Me.RemoveButton.UseVisualStyleBackColor = True
'
'ExecuteButton
'
Me.ExecuteButton.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(12, 274)
Me.ExecuteButton.Name = "ExecuteButton"
Me.ExecuteButton.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(75, 23)
Me.ExecuteButton.TabIndex = 5
Me.ExecuteButton.Text = "Execute"
Me.ExecuteButton.UseVisualStyleBackColor = True
'
'SubFoldersCheckBox
'
Me.SubFoldersCheckBox.AutoSize = True
Me.SubFoldersCheckBox.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(13, 43)
Me.SubFoldersCheckBox.Name = "SubFoldersCheckBox"
Me.SubFoldersCheckBox.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(114, 17)
Me.SubFoldersCheckBox.TabIndex = 6
Me.SubFoldersCheckBox.Text = "Include Subfolders"
Me.SubFoldersCheckBox.UseVisualStyleBackColor = True
'
'Label1
'
Me.Label1.AutoSize = True
Me.Label1.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(133, 44)
Me.Label1.Name = "Label1"
Me.Label1.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(78, 13)
Me.Label1.TabIndex = 7
Me.Label1.Text = "Search Pattern"
'
'PatternTextBox
'
Me.PatternTextBox.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(217, 41)
Me.PatternTextBox.Name = "PatternTextBox"
Me.PatternTextBox.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(100, 20)
Me.PatternTextBox.TabIndex = 8
Me.PatternTextBox.Text = "*.*"
Me.PatternTextBox.TextAlign = System.Windows.Forms.HorizontalAlignment.Center
'
'Form1
'
Me.AutoScaleDimensions = New System.Drawing.SizeF(6.0!, 13.0!)
Me.AutoScaleMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoScaleMode.Font
Me.ClientSize = New System.Drawing.Size(399, 312)
Me.Controls.Add(Me.PatternTextBox)
Me.Controls.Add(Me.Label1)
Me.Controls.Add(Me.SubFoldersCheckBox)
Me.Controls.Add(Me.ExecuteButton)
Me.Controls.Add(Me.RemoveButton)
Me.Controls.Add(Me.AddButton)
Me.Controls.Add(Me.BrowseButton)
Me.Controls.Add(Me.NewPathTextBox)
Me.Controls.Add(Me.FoldersListBox)
Me.Name = "Form1"
Me.Text = "Form1"
CType(Me.BindingSource1, System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize).EndInit()
Me.ResumeLayout(False)
Me.PerformLayout()
End Sub
Friend WithEvents FoldersListBox As System.Windows.Forms.ListBox
Friend WithEvents NewPathTextBox As System.Windows.Forms.TextBox
Friend WithEvents BrowseButton As System.Windows.Forms.Button
Friend WithEvents FolderBrowserDialog1 As System.Windows.Forms.FolderBrowserDialog
Friend WithEvents AddButton As System.Windows.Forms.Button
Friend WithEvents RemoveButton As System.Windows.Forms.Button
Friend WithEvents ExecuteButton As System.Windows.Forms.Button
Friend WithEvents SubFoldersCheckBox As System.Windows.Forms.CheckBox
Friend WithEvents Label1 As System.Windows.Forms.Label
Friend WithEvents PatternTextBox As System.Windows.Forms.TextBox
Friend WithEvents BindingSource1 As System.Windows.Forms.BindingSource
End Class
Form1.vb – This is the code that does the actual work
Public Class Form1
'Create a collection to hold each folder entry item
Private myFolders As List(Of FolderEntry)
'Declare a variable to hold the save file location
Private mySaveFile As String
Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
'Build the save file location
mySaveFile = System.IO.Path.Combine(My.Application.Info.DirectoryPath, "folderlist.bin")
'If the save file exists, load it
If System.IO.File.Exists(Me.mySaveFile) Then
'Create a binary serilizer
Dim bf As New System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary.BinaryFormatter
'Create a file stream
Dim fs As New System.IO.FileStream(Me.mySaveFile, IO.FileMode.Open)
'Deserialize the binary file into a List(of FolderEntry) object
Me.myFolders = CType(bf.Deserialize(fs), List(Of FolderEntry))
'Close the file stream
fs.Close()
Else
'If there is no save file, create a new List(Of FolderEntry) object
Me.myFolders = New List(Of FolderEntry)
End If
'Setup the binding for the listbox
Me.BindingSource1.DataSource = Me.myFolders
Me.FoldersListBox.DisplayMember = "Path"
Me.FoldersListBox.DataSource = Me.BindingSource1
End Sub
Private Sub Form1_FormClosing(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.FormClosingEventArgs) Handles Me.FormClosing
'When the form closes, save the List(Of FolderEntry) object
Dim bf As New System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary.BinaryFormatter
Dim fs As New System.IO.FileStream(Me.mySaveFile, IO.FileMode.Create)
bf.Serialize(fs, Me.myFolders)
fs.Close()
End Sub
Private Sub BrowseButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles BrowseButton.Click
'Allow the user to browse to a folder
If Me.FolderBrowserDialog1.ShowDialog = Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then
Me.NewPathTextBox.Text = Me.FolderBrowserDialog1.SelectedPath
End If
End Sub
Private Sub AddButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles AddButton.Click
'Add a new folder entry to the list
Me.BindingSource1.Add(New FolderEntry(Me.NewPathTextBox.Text, Me.SubFoldersCheckBox.Checked, Me.PatternTextBox.Text))
End Sub
Private Sub RemoveButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles RemoveButton.Click
'Remove the selected folder entry from the list
If Me.FoldersListBox.SelectedIndex > -1 Then
Me.BindingSource1.Remove(Me.FoldersListBox.SelectedItem)
End If
End Sub
Private Sub ExecuteButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles ExecuteButton.Click
'Check each folder in the list
For Each fe As FolderEntry In Me.myFolders
Me.DeleteOldFiles(fe.Path, fe.IncludeSubFolders, fe.SearchPattern)
Next
MessageBox.Show("File check complete.", "Done", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information)
End Sub
'Create a sub to delete the old files
'Tell the routine the path to delete from, whether to check sub directories, and what file names and/or types to delete
Private Sub DeleteOldFiles(ByVal path As String, ByVal includeSubDir As Boolean, Optional ByVal fileFilter As String = "*.*")
'Check if the path supplied exists
If System.IO.Directory.Exists(path) Then
'Get the search option based on the parameter
Dim opt As System.IO.SearchOption
If includeSubDir Then
opt = IO.SearchOption.AllDirectories
Else
opt = IO.SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly
End If
'Get the list of files
Dim files() As String = System.IO.Directory.GetFiles(path, fileFilter, opt)
'Loop through each file name in the list
For Each f As String In files
'Get the creation time of the file
Dim created As Date = System.IO.File.GetCreationTime(f)
'If it was created more than 10 days ago...
If Now.Subtract(created).TotalDays > 10 Then
'Delete the file
System.IO.File.Delete(f)
End If
Next
Else
'If the path was invalid throw an exception that says so
Throw New ArgumentException("The path specified does not exist.")
End If
End Sub
End Class
'Create a simple class to hold each folder entry
'Mark it Serializable for easy saving
<Serializable()> _
Public Class FolderEntry
Private myPath As String
Private mySubFolders As Boolean
Private myPattern As String
Public Sub New()
MyBase.New()
End Sub
Public Sub New(ByVal path As String, ByVal subFolders As Boolean, Optional ByVal pattern As String = "*.*")
MyBase.New()
Me.myPath = path
Me.mySubFolders = subFolders
Me.myPattern = pattern
End Sub
Public Property Path() As String
Get
Return Me.myPath
End Get
Set(ByVal value As String)
Me.myPath = value
End Set
End Property
Public Property IncludeSubFolders() As Boolean
Get
Return Me.mySubFolders
End Get
Set(ByVal value As Boolean)
Me.mySubFolders = value
End Set
End Property
Public Property SearchPattern() As String
Get
Return Me.myPattern
End Get
Set(ByVal value As String)
Me.myPattern = value
End Set
End Property
End Class
That should give you something to work with/learn from.
Hope it helps! Good luck!!
brian_tsim
The path cannot be more than 1 directory unfortunately I believe. if you specify "C:\" it will get a list of folders in C:\ (the root directory of your harddrive).
You can however specify a search pattern The search pattern will give you back the folders which contain the specified search "expression"
so logically/in theory if you did this:
Dim theFolders() as String = System.IO.Directories.GetDirectories("C:\", "temp*")
it should return you back all folders which start with "temp", since we specified "temp" and an astrix to indicate that the folders must start with temp and have anything else after it
Also note, it should be "as String" and not "as new String" - which I will correct in my original reply :-)
Mike Wilson
Dim theFolders() as new String = System.IO.Directories.GetDirectories("Path")
can path = more than one directory.... e.g.
Dim theFolders() as new String = System.IO.Directories.GetDirectories("C:\temp2, C:\temp3")
Thanks again for your help!
-A noob
Part Time Australian
Here's some example code. You create a subroutine that does the actual deletion and call that sub for each folder that you want to check. This way the code does not change no matter how many folders need to be checked. You just keep calling the same routine and passing in the folder path. This example also takes parameters for the type of files to check based on name and/or extension (e.g. *.* for all files) and it takes a True/False that specifies whether to search each sub directory in the given path.
Here's the example:
'Create a sub to delete the old files
'Tell the routine the path to delete from, whether to check sub directories, and what file names and/or types to delete
Private Sub DeleteOldFiles(ByVal path As String, ByVal includeSubDir As Boolean, Optional ByVal fileFilter As String = "*.*")
'Check if the path supplied exists
If System.IO.Directory.Exists(path) Then
'Get the search option based on the parameter
Dim opt As System.IO.SearchOption
If includeSubDir Then
opt = IO.SearchOption.AllDirectories
Else
opt = IO.SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly
End If
'Get the list of files
Dim files() As String = System.IO.Directory.GetFiles(path, fileFilter, opt)
'Loop through each file name in the list
For Each f As String In files
'Get the creation time of the file
Dim created As Date = System.IO.File.GetCreationTime(f)
'If it was created more than 10 days ago...
If Now.Subtract(created).TotalDays > 10 Then
'Delete the file
System.IO.File.Delete(f)
End If
Next
Else
'If the path was invalid throw an exception that says so
Throw New ArgumentException("The path specified does not exist.")
End If
End Sub
Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
'Delete all old files in C:\temp1 and in all sub directories in C:\temp1
Me.DeleteOldFiles("c:\temp1", True)
'Delete all old files in C:\temp2 but not in any sub directories in C:\temp2
Me.DeleteOldFiles("c:\temp2", False)
'Delete only old text files in C:\temp3 and in all sub directories
Me.DeleteOldFiles("c:\temp3", True, "*.txt")
End Sub
The example code for Button1 just shows three calls to the DeleteOldFiles() method using various parameter options.
Now, if you wanted to, you could create a list of folder paths and loop through the list calling the DeleteOldFiles() method for each entry. In this way the user could specify which folders to check.
HTH!
UnKnown Nick