RemoveDirectory2A function (fileapi.h)

Deletes an existing empty directory. This function will fail if any part of lpPathName is redirected via a reparse point or symbolic link.

To perform this operation as a transacted operation, use the RemoveDirectoryTransacted function.

Syntax

BOOL RemoveDirectory2A(
  LPCSTR          lpPathName,
  DIRECTORY_FLAGS DirectoryFlags
);

Parameters

lpPathName

The path of the directory to be removed. This path must specify an empty directory, and the calling process must have delete access to the directory.

By default, the name is limited to MAX_PATH characters. To extend this limit to 32,767 wide characters, prepend "\\?\" to the path. For more information, see Naming Files, Paths, and Namespaces.

DirectoryFlags

Flags that specify how the directory is to be deleted. This parameter can be a combination of the following values:

Return value

If the function succeeds, the return value is nonzero.

If the function fails, the return value is zero. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

The RemoveDirectory2 function marks a directory for deletion on close. Therefore, the directory is not removed until the last handle to the directory is closed.

To recursively delete the files in a directory, use the SHFileOperation function.

RemoveDirectory2 can be used to remove a directory junction. Since the target directory and its contents will remain accessible through its canonical path, the target directory itself is not affected by removing a junction which targets it. For this reason, when lpPathName refers to a directory junction, RemoveDirectory2 will remove the specified link regardless of whether the target directory is empty or not. For more information on junctions, see Hard Links and Junctions.

The use of POSIX delete causes the directory to be deleted while handles remain open. Subsequent calls to CreateDirectory or CreateDirectory2 to open the directory fail with ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND.

This function is supported by the following technologies:

Requirements

See also

CreateDirectory2

Creating and Deleting Directories

Directory Management Functions

RemoveDirectoryTransacted