Find and Delete Directory Folders

[SgtTurbo]

I have a folder structure where surveillance video is temporarily saved, then purged after 30 days (currently manually). Each "Video Case" is assigned a "Case Number" by my DB and the Folders in the structure are named with this same "Case Number." All documents and videos relating to the "Video Case" is saved in the same folder.

I'd like to automate this process with a cmdButton on my frmMenu. I've found VBA code where others have done the same with files of a particular extension such as *.jpg or *.doc; and others that have showed how to delete folders including contents but I'm struggling with how to find the folders name in order to delete it.

I'm sure I need to do a Loop of some kind, within which I can test whether the folder name returned meets my parameters (GetDateCreated) but I don't know how to do the looping.

It's not much, but here is my start:

Private Sub cmdDeleteVideo_Click()
 
'deletes folder directory and all contents
Dim FileSys, strDir As String
Set FileSys = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
strDir = "C:\Users\Michael Hill\Desktop\V\Preserved\Video123"
 
    If FileSys.FolderExists(strDir) Then
        If FileDateTime(strDir) < Now() - 30 Then
            FileSys.DeleteFolder strDir
        End If
    End If
 
End Sub

This code will only delete the folder directory "Video123" from the parent path, which is a test location.

[ADezii]

Here is some Code that I threw together that will search for a Folder within a Base Path, and if found, Delete it.

Dim strBasePath As String
Dim strFolder As String
Dim strFolderToFind As String
 
strBasePath = "C:\Test\"
strFolderToFind = "Video123"
 
strFolder = Dir(strBasePath, vbDirectory)
 
Do While strFolder <> ""    ' Start the loop.
  'Ignore the current directory and the encompassing directory.
    If strFolder <> "." And strFolder <> ".." Then
     'Use bitwise comparison to make sure strFolderToFind is a directory.
       If (GetAttr(strBasePath & strFolder) And vbDirectory) = vbDirectory Then
         If strFolder = strFolderToFind Then
           RmDir strBasePath & strFolder
         End If
       End If
    End If
    strFolder = Dir    ' Get next entry.
Loop

[SgtTurbo]

Thank you for your reply.

To clarify, my base directory is "C:\Users\Michael Hill\Desktop\V\Preserved" (for testing purposes). There are many sub-folders within this directory, each of which contain surveillance video clips (.avi format/file extension, as well as other video types) not to mention any other documents pertaining to the video (word document form requesting the video, scanned documents in .pdf format....)

The example provided only listed one example ("Video123") but in reality there would be several: Video123, Video124, Video126... each of which represents the name of a sub-folder of the parent directory.

The code I had would already delete a specific folder of a known path. What I'm looking to do is search the base directory and delete each folder that is older than a specified period. I already know how to check the age of the folder being deleted. I have figured out how to work a Loop in other processing that remain within Access; I just don't understand yet how to apply that to searching for sub-folders within a specified base Windows directory... once I figure that part of this equation out, I think I'd be able to apply the logic to test whether the folder name returned meets the criteria to be deleted and then delete it or to continue on.

So, specifically what I need help with (or pointed in the right direction) is how to search the folder specified for sub-folders/sub-directories and then how to continue to the next folder. I'd like this to delete all folders that meet the criterias specified within a single execution, rather than a single deletion for each....which is where I believe the Loop (or something similar) is needed.

I'm using Windows 7 with MS Office Access 2007.

The code provided by ADezii is a start (Thank You) and I'll work with it some more tomorrow to see if I can get it to work.

[ADezii]

The following example will DELETE all Sub-Folders under your Base Path of 'C:\Users\Michael Hill\Desktop\V\Preserved\' which are at least 30 days old and have Video12 prefixed in their Name (Video123, Video124,...Video129). This should definitely point you in the right direction. Pay close attention to Code Lines: 5, 6, 15-21:

Dim strBasePath As String
Dim strFolder As String
Dim strFolderToFind As String
 
strBasePath = "C:\Users\Michael Hill\Desktop\V\Preserved\"
strFolderToFind = "Video12*"
 
strFolder = Dir(strBasePath, vbDirectory)
 
Do While strFolder <> ""    ' Start the loop.
  'Ignore the current directory and the encompassing directory.
    If strFolder <> "." And strFolder <> ".." Then
     'Use bitwise comparison to make sure strFolderToFind is a directory.
       If (GetAttr(strBasePath & strFolder) And vbDirectory) = vbDirectory Then  'a Folder
         If strFolder Like strFolderToFind Then         '1st Criteria met
           If FileDateTime(strBasePath & strFolder) < Now() - 30 Then    '2nd criteria met
             'Debug.Print strBasePath & strFolder
             Kill strBasePath & strFolder & "\*"    'Must Delete Files first
             RmDir strBasePath & strFolder
           End If
         End If
       End If
    End If
    strFolder = Dir    ' Get next entry.
Loop
 

P.S. - Be advised that the Folder Deletion(s) will be automatic with no warning. Should any Folder be Empty, and Error will be generated when executing the KILL Statement. Either:

1. Check for the existence of any Files prior to executing Kill.
2. Preface the Code Block with:
   

   On Error Resume Next

3. It probably should be converted to a Function with the Base Path and Criteria passed to it as Arguments.
4. What I like about the Code Logic is that there are no External References like File Scripting Runtime, it is all intrinsic.

[SgtTurbo]

THANK YOU SO, SO MUCH!!!

Your original code was pointing me in the right direction, I just didn't understand it as well until your second response. This is likely primarily caused by my example not meeting my exact real situation. I modified the code slightly to get the results I was looking for; I changed what I was searching for to everything, then evaluated what was returned as I have a few specific requirements.

Private Sub cmdDeleteVideo_Click()
 
Dim FileSys, strBasePath, strFolder As String
Set FileSys = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject"): strBasePath = "C:\Users\Michael Hill\Desktop\V\Preserved\": strFolder = dir(strBasePath, vbDirectory)
 
Do While strFolder <> ""
    If strFolder <> "." And strFolder <> ".." Then
        If (GetAttr(strBasePath & strFolder) And vbDirectory) = vbDirectory Then
            If FileSys.folderexists(strBasePath & strFolder) Then
                If FileDateTime(strBasePath & strFolder) < Now() -30 Then
                    If strFolder Like "*" Then
                        If strFolder Like "*[!0-9]*" Then
                        Else
                            FileSys.deletefolder strBasePath & strFolder
                        End If
                        If strFolder Like "* - Copy" Then
                            FileSys.deletefolder strBasePath & strFolder
                        ElseIf strFolder Like "*p" Then
                            FileSys.deletefolder strBasePath & strFolder
                        End If
                     End If
                End If
            End If
        End If
    End If
        strFolder = dir
Loop
 
End Sub

I used the FileSys.DeleteFolder instead of KILL, I found this to delete the folder and all contents even if it is found to be empty and without error generation.

I do still need to add an error handler.


Your help is very much appreciated.