Same name and namespace in other branches
  1. 4.6.x includes/file.inc \file_delete()
  2. 4.7.x includes/file.inc \file_delete()
  3. 5.x includes/file.inc \file_delete()
  4. 6.x includes/file.inc \file_delete()
  5. 8.9.x core/includes/file.inc \file_delete()

Deletes a file and its database record.

If the $force parameter is not TRUE, file_usage_list() will be called to determine if the file is being used by any modules. If the file is being used the delete will be canceled.

Parameters

$file: A file object.

$force: Boolean indicating that the file should be deleted even if the file is reported as in use by the file_usage table.

Return value

mixed TRUE for success, FALSE in the event of an error, or an array if the file is being used by any modules.

See also

file_unmanaged_delete()

file_usage_list()

file_usage_delete()

hook_file_delete()

Related topics

10 calls to file_delete()
EntityCrudHookTestCase::testFileHooks in modules/simpletest/tests/entity_crud_hook_test.test
Tests hook invocations for CRUD operations on files.
FileDeleteTest::testInUse in modules/simpletest/tests/file.test
Tries deleting a file that is in use.
FileDeleteTest::testUnused in modules/simpletest/tests/file.test
Tries deleting a normal file (as opposed to a directory, symlink, etc).
FileDownloadTest::checkUrl in modules/simpletest/tests/file.test
Download a file from the URL generated by file_create_url().
file_field_delete_file in modules/file/file.field.inc
Decrements the usage count for a file and attempts to delete it.

... See full list

File

includes/file.inc, line 1317
API for handling file uploads and server file management.

Code

function file_delete(stdClass $file, $force = FALSE) {
  if (!file_valid_uri($file->uri)) {
    if (($realpath = drupal_realpath($file->uri)) !== FALSE) {
      watchdog('file', 'File %file (%realpath) could not be deleted because it is not a valid URI. This may be caused by improper use of file_delete() or a missing stream wrapper.', array(
        '%file' => $file->uri,
        '%realpath' => $realpath,
      ));
    }
    else {
      watchdog('file', 'File %file could not be deleted because it is not a valid URI. This may be caused by improper use of file_delete() or a missing stream wrapper.', array(
        '%file' => $file->uri,
      ));
    }
    drupal_set_message(t('The specified file %file could not be deleted, because it is not a valid URI. More information is available in the system log.', array(
      '%file' => $file->uri,
    )), 'error');
    return FALSE;
  }

  // If any module still has a usage entry in the file_usage table, the file
  // will not be deleted, but file_delete() will return a populated array
  // that tests as TRUE.
  if (!$force && ($references = file_usage_list($file))) {
    return $references;
  }

  // Let other modules clean up any references to the deleted file.
  module_invoke_all('file_delete', $file);
  module_invoke_all('entity_delete', $file, 'file');

  // Make sure the file is deleted before removing its row from the
  // database, so UIs can still find the file in the database.
  if (file_unmanaged_delete($file->uri)) {
    db_delete('file_managed')
      ->condition('fid', $file->fid)
      ->execute();
    db_delete('file_usage')
      ->condition('fid', $file->fid)
      ->execute();
    entity_get_controller('file')
      ->resetCache();
    return TRUE;
  }
  return FALSE;
}