WP_Filesystem_Direct::delete( string $file, bool $recursive = false, string|false $type = false ): bool

Compatibility

Present in every tracked release (6.7.7 to 7.1.0), and compiles on PHP 7.4 through 8.6-dev.

Parameters

$filestring

Path to the file or directory.

$recursivebooloptional

If set to true, deletes files and folders recursively.
Default false.Default: false

$typestring|falseoptional

Type of resource. 'f' for file, 'd' for directory.
Default false.Default: false

Return value

bool

True on success, false on failure.

Performance profile

How much work a call to WP_Filesystem_Direct::delete() does, and what it touches: the algorithmic scaling, the Zend instruction count per call across PHP versions, the hooks it hands control to, and the core code that calls it. Measured from the compiled opcodes, not a stopwatch, so every number is identical on any machine running the same PHP version, and every function in core is ranked by cost.

Cost class

Heavy

Reads or writes the filesystem via unlink().

Scaling

Scales with input

The body loops, so the work grows with what you pass in.

Instructions

6–46

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 70.

Plugin surface

None

Nothing here hands control to plugin code.

Called by

3

3 places in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.

What it touches

• sqldatabase queryWP_Filesystem_Direct::delete()this function does it
• filesystemfilesystem accessunlink()called directly

What one call costs · 8 distinct outcomes

One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost WP_Filesystem_Direct::delete() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.

Uses · 5

• trailingslashit()Appends a trailing slash.
• WP_Filesystem_Direct::is_file()Checks if resource is a file.
• WP_Filesystem_Direct::is_dir()Checks if resource is a directory.
• WP_Filesystem_Direct::dirlist()Gets details for files in a directory or a specific file.
• WP_Filesystem_Direct::delete()Deletes a file or directory.

Used by · 3

• WP_Filesystem_Direct::delete()Deletes a file or directory.
• WP_Filesystem_Direct::move()Moves a file or directory.
• WP_Filesystem_Direct::rmdir()Deletes a directory.

Source code

View on Trac ↗View on GitHub ↗

392	public function delete( $file, $recursive = false, $type = false ) {393		if ( empty( $file ) ) {394			// Some filesystems report this as /, which can cause non-expected recursive deletion of all files in the filesystem.395			return false;396		}397 398		$file = str_replace( '\\', '/', $file ); // For Win32, occasional problems deleting files otherwise.399 400		if ( 'f' === $type || $this->is_file( $file ) ) {401			return @unlink( $file );402		}403 404		if ( ! $recursive && $this->is_dir( $file ) ) {405			return @rmdir( $file );406		}407 408		// At this point it's a folder, and we're in recursive mode.409		$file     = trailingslashit( $file );410		$filelist = $this->dirlist( $file, true );411 412		$retval = true;413 414		if ( is_array( $filelist ) ) {415			foreach ( $filelist as $filename => $fileinfo ) {416				if ( ! $this->delete( $file . $filename, $recursive, $fileinfo['type'] ) ) {417					$retval = false;418				}419			}420		}421 422		if ( file_exists( $file ) && ! @rmdir( $file ) ) {423			$retval = false;424		}425 426		return $retval;427	}

Changelog

Introduced in 2.5.0. Unchanged from 6.7.7 through 7.1.0.

1. 6.7.7
2. 6.8.8
3. 6.9.7
4. 7.0.4
5. 7.1.0

Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.

About this page

Parsed data

Generated from the wordpress-develop 7.0.4 tag, from src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-filesystem-direct.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it.

Corrections

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