FileSystemDirectoryEntry.removeRecursively

The FileSystemDirectoryEntry interface's method removeRecursively() removes the directory as well as all of its content, hierarchically iterating over its entire subtree of descendant files and directories.

To remove a single file, or an empty directory, you can also use FileSystemEntry.remove().

Syntax

FileSystemDirectoryEntry.removeRecursively(successCallback[, errorCallback]);

Parameters

successCallback

A function to call once the directory removal process has completed. The callback has no parameters.

errorCallback Optional

A function to be called if an error occurs while attempting to remove the directory subtree. Receives a FileError describing the error which occurred as input.

Return value

undefined.

Errors

If an error occurs and an errorCallback was specified, it gets called with a single parameter: a FileError object describing the error. The FileError.code specifies what type of error occurred, as follows:

FileError.INVALID_MODIFICATION_ERR

An attempt was made to remove the root directory; this is not permitted.

FileError.NO_MODIFICATION_ALLOWED_ERR

The file system's state doesn't permit modification.

FileError.NOT_FOUND_ERR

The directory represented by the FileSystemDirectoryEntry no longer exists.

FileError.NOT_READABLE_ERR

The directory is not accessible; perhaps it's in use by another application or is locked at the operating system level.

FileError.SECURITY_ERR

The directory could not be removed for security reasons. Possible reasons include:

• The directory and/or its contents may not be safe to access from a Web application.
• Too many file system calls are being made.
• Other security concerns as raised by the user agent or the operating system.

Example

directory.removeRecursively(function() {
  /* The directory was removed successfully */
}, function() {
  /* an error occurred while removing the directory */
});

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
File and Directory Entries API The definition of 'getDirectory()' in that specification.	Editor's Draft	Now removed from spec!

This API has no official W3C or WHATWG specification.

Browser compatibility

[1] Although this method exists in Firefox 50, it currently immediately calls the errorCallback with an NS_ERROR_DOM_NOT_SUPPORTED error. It has been removed altogether as of Firefox 52.

See also

• File and Directory Entries API
• Introduction to the File System API
• FileSystemDirectoryEntry
• FileSystemEntry.remove()