Deletes a file, fileset or directory.

Deletes either a single file, all files in a specified directory and its sub-directories, or a set of files specified by one or more filesets.

If the NAnt.Core.Tasks.DeleteTask.File or NAnt.Core.Tasks.DeleteTask.Directory attribute is set then the fileset contents will be ignored. To delete the files in the fileset omit the NAnt.Core.Tasks.DeleteTask.File and NAnt.Core.Tasks.DeleteTask.Directory attributes in the <delete> element.

If the specified file or directory does not exist, no error is reported.

Read-only files cannot be deleted. Use the NAnt.Core.Tasks.AttribTask first to remove the read-only attribute.

Parameters

Attribute	Type	Description	Required
dir	directory	The directory to delete.	False
file	file	The file to delete.	False
includeemptydirs	bool	Remove any empty directories included in the `NAnt.Core.Types.FileSet`. The default is `true`.	False
verbose	bool	Controls whether to show the name of each deleted file or directory. The default is `false`.	False
failonerror	bool	Determines if task failure stops the build, or is just reported. The default is `true`.	False
if	bool	If `true` then the task will be executed; otherwise, skipped. The default is `true`.	False
unless	bool	Opposite of `NAnt.Core.Task.IfDefined`. If `false` then the task will be executed; otherwise, skipped. The default is `false`.	False
verbose	bool	Determines whether the task should report detailed build log messages. The default is `false`.	False

Nested elements

<fileset>

All the files in the file set will be deleted.

</fileset>

Examples

Delete a single file.

<delete file="myfile.txt" />

Delete a directory and the contents within. If the directory does not exist, no error is reported.

<delete dir="${build.dir}" />

Delete a set of files.

    <delete>
    <fileset>
        <include name="${basename}-??.exe" />
        <include name="${basename}-??.pdb" />
    </fileset>
</delete>

Requirements

Assembly: NAnt.Core.dll
Namespace: NAnt.Core.Tasks