The Shell class of the gb.util component provides you with three static methods to create, delete or move directories (recursively!) with content.

Static Sub Shell.MkDir (sDirPath As String )

This method creates a directory - with sDirPath as the directory path - and all its parent (parent) directories. All paths must always be specified as absolute directory paths.

Static Sub Shell.RmDir ( sDirPath As String [ , bForce As Boolean ] )

Removes the specified directory by recursively removing its entire contents and then the directory itself!

• sDirPath: Path of the directory to be removed,
• bForce: Optional parameter.

If Force is not set (default), then attempting to remove the following directories will result in an error:

• user's home directory.
• root directory and any directory under the root directory (/home, /usr, /etc, …).

Static Sub Shell.Move( sSource As String, sDestination As String )

• sSource: source path,
• sDestination: destination path.

Moves a file or directory - with content - even if the source and destination are on different devices.

In the project presented, all three methods are used in a variety of ways.

• First, a directory User.Home &/ “B1_First/B2_Second/B3_Last” is created if it does not already exist. Then 10 text files with random file names are created in the directory B3_Last, the contents of each file consisting of two lines of text.
• Then the directory User.Home &/ “Destination” is created if it does not already exist.
• Then the directory User.Home &/ “B1_First/B2_Second/B3_Last” with content (!) is moved into the directory User.Home &/ “Destination”.
• Finally, you can delete all created directories (recursively) and their contents.

Figure 6.4.4.1: Directory B3_Last with 10 text files has been created.

Figure 6.4.4.2: The directory B3_Last was moved with content

Figure 6.4.4.3: All created directories have been successfully deleted

The source code is given in full and then commented:

[1] ' Gambas class file
[2]
[3] Public Sub Form_Open()
[4]   FMain.Resizable = False
[5] End
[6]
[7] Public Sub btnShellMkDir_Click()
[8]
[9]   Dim sPath As String
[10]
[11]   sPath = User.Home &/ "B1_First/B2_Second/B3_Last"
[12]
[13]   If Not Exist(sPath) Then ' Query NOT required
[14]      Shell.MkDir(sPath)
[15]   Endif
[16]
[17]   CreateTextFiles(sPath, 10)
[18]   DirChooser1.ShowFile = True
[19]   DirChooser1.ShowDetailed = True
[20]   DirChooser1.Reload()
[21]   DirChooser1.SelectedPath = sPath
[22]
[23] End
[24]
[25] Public Sub btnShellMove_Click()
[26]
[27]   Dim sMessage As String
[28]
[29]   If Not Exist(User.Home &/ "Destination") Then
[30]      Shell.MkDir(User.Home &/ "Destination")
[31]   Endif
[32]   Try Shell.Move(User.Home &/ "B1_First/B2_Second/B3_Last", User.Home &/ "Destination")
[33] ' Try Shell.Move(User.Home &/ "B1_First/B2_Second", User.Home &/ "Destination")
[34]   If Error Then
[35]      sMessage = ("Error moving the specified directory!")
[36]      sMessage &= gb.NewLine & Error.Text & "."
[37]      sMessage &= gb.NewLine & "Error-Code = " & Error.Code
[38]      Message.Error(sMessage)
[39]      Shell.RmDir(User.Home &/ "Destination")
[40]      Return
[41]   Endif
[42]   DirChooser1.ShowFile = True
[43]   DirChooser1.ShowDetailed = True
[44]   DirChooser1.Reload()
[45]   DirChooser1.SelectedPath = User.Home &/ "Destination/B3_Last"
[46] ' DirChooser1.SelectedPath = User.Home &/ "Destination/B2_Second/B3_Last"
[47]
[48] End
[49]
[50] Public Sub btnShellRmDir_Click()
[51]
[52]   If Exist(User.Home &/ "B1_First") Then
[53]      Try Shell.RmDir(User.Home &/ "B1_First")
[54]      If Error Then
[55]         Message.Error("Deleting the specified directory resulted in an error!")
[56]      Endif
[57]   Endif
[58]
[59]   If Exist(User.Home &/ "Destination") Then
[60]      Try Shell.RmDir(User.Home &/ "Destination")
[61]      If Error Then
[62]         Message.Error("Deleting the specified directory resulted in an error!")
[63]      Endif
[64]   Endif
[65]
[66]   DirChooser1.Reload()
[67]   DirChooser1.ShowFile = False
[68]   DirChooser1.ShowDetailed = False
[69]
[70] End
[71]
[72] Private Sub CreateTextFiles(sPathDir As String, iNumber As String)
[73]
[74]   Dim sFileName As String
[75]   Dim i As Integer
[76]
[77]    For i = 1 To iNumber
[78]     sFileName = Hex$(Rand(0, 2 ^ 32 - 1)) ' Random file name
[79]     If Not Exist(sPathDir &/ sFileName & ".txt") Then
[80]        File.Save(sPathDir &/ sFileName & ".txt", "Text line 1.\nText line 2.")
[81]     Endif
[82]   Next
[83]
[84] End

Comment:

• Line 11 specifies the path for the directory tree to be created. The base directory is B1_First.
• In line 14 the directory tree is created - which can be seen in figure 6.4.4.1. A query whether the directory tree already exists would not be necessary because it is done internally by the method. However, this was only realised later.
• Subsequently, 10 text files are created in the target directory, which are displayed in a switched-on extended detail view in the DirChooser.
• In lines 29 to 31, it is first checked whether the specified directory exists. If it does not exist, then the target directory “Destination” is created.
• In line 32, the directory B3_Last with the 10 files is moved to the destination directory, as can be seen in figure 6.4.4.2.
• In lines 50 to 70, all directory trees created at runtime are deleted.
• The move generates an error if, for example, the files or directories involved do not exist:

Figure 6.4.4.4: Error during moving