Handy UDF

[homunculus]

Hi, as I can't post in the UDF section I'll just do it here. I've created a UDF which deletes old files with a certain naming convention, such as logfiles with a certain date format.

For example nnCron lite logs with the following format:

0525cron.log

or Spybot logs with the following format:

Checks.070521-0900.log

This UDF takes the following options:

• Working directory
• File name pattern
• Number of files to keep

To delete all except the latest 14 nnCron Lite logs, do this:

#include <OldFileDeleteFunction.au3>

OldFileDeleteFunction('C:\Program Files\cron\log','????cron.log',14)

To delete all except the latest 10 SpyBot S&D logs, do this:

#include <OldFileDeleteFunction.au3>

OldFileDeleteFunction('C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Spybot - Search & Destroy\Logs',Checks.??????-????.log',10)

And so on. Please let me know what you think.

Func OldFileDeleteFunction($Directory,$FileSpec,$KeepFiles)
    If FileChangeDir($Directory) = 0 Then Exit
    $OldFileFinder = FileFindFirstFile($FileSpec)
    If $OldFileFinder = -1 Then Exit

    $OldFileArray = ''

    While 1
        $OldFile = FileFindNextFile($OldFileFinder)
        If @error Then ExitLoop

        $OldFileArray &= @CRLF & $OldFile
    WEnd

    FileClose($OldFileFinder)

    $SortProcess = Run('sort.exe /r ', @SystemDir, @SW_HIDE, 1 + 2) ; $STDIN_CHILD + $STDOUT_CHILD, provided as numbers so we don't have to include the Constants file.
    StdinWrite($SortProcess, $OldFileArray)
    StdinWrite($SortProcess)

    $String = StdoutRead($SortProcess)

    $FileArray = StringSplit(StringStripCR($String), @LF)

    If $FileArray[0] > $KeepFiles Then
        For $e = $KeepFiles + 1 To $FileArray[0] - 1
            If FileExists($FileArray[$e]) Then FileDelete($FileArray[$e])
        Next
    EndIf
EndFunc

[homunculus]

@ homunculus:

Hi, and welcome.

I think it's indeed a useful UDF, thanks for sharing.

Let me make some comments:

- I think you meant RETURN, not EXIT

- You change the working dir. May be it worth to restore it at the end, or modify the function to not change it

- Win98SE (at least my version) do not have sort.exe

- You could use _FileListToArray to create the file array. It is not documented, but I always have received the array already sorted. Anyway, you have _ArraySort, no need for sort.exe.

- You may use the check "If $FileArray[0] > $KeepFiles Then..." near the end of UDF for clarity, but it is not strictly necessary: the For loop will take care about that (it is AutoIt, man!)

Have a good time

alc

Hi Alc,

Thanks for your comments, much appreciated.

- I used Exit because Exit really means Exit. However, Return is probably better.

- Modifying the function not to change the working dir is a good idea.

- I made (and use) the script for Windows XP

- I wasn't aware this function already exists and was actually a waste of time...

- Indeed, I didn't need the For-Next loop.

So, this UDF can be moved into the trashcan.