delete

Delete handle objects or files.

📝Syntax

delete(h)
delete filename
delete(filename)
delete(filename1, ..., filenameN)
delete(filenames)

📥Input Arguments

Parameter	Description
h	a handle object: scalar or matrix.
filename	a character vector or a string scalar: name of the file to remove. The wildcard * is supported.
filenames	a string array or a cell array of character vectors: names of the files to remove. Each element can contain the wildcard *.

📄Description

delete(h) invalidates the handle objects referenced by h and releases their native resources.

When deleted, all aliases to the same objects become invalid.

For classdef handle objects, delete calls the class destructor method when it exists and notifies ObjectBeingDestroyed before the object becomes invalid.

For handle arrays, each valid element is invalidated.

To remove only a variable, use the clear function. Other aliases remain valid until delete is called.

delete(filename) permanently removes the file filename from disk. Folders are not removed (see rmdir).

delete(filenames) removes several files given as a string array or a cell array of character vectors. Several filenames can also be given as separate arguments.

Each filename can contain the wildcard *. When no file matches a filename, a warning (identifier Nelson:FileNotFound) is displayed and the remaining files are still removed.

💡Examples

Delete several files with a vector of filenames.

d = tempname();
mkdir(d);
filewrite(fullfile(d, 'a.txt'), 'a');
filewrite(fullfile(d, 'b.txt'), 'b');
filewrite(fullfile(d, 'c.dat'), 'c');
delete({fullfile(d, 'a.txt'), fullfile(d, 'b.txt')});
delete(string(fullfile(d, "*.dat")));
dir(d)
rmdir(d);

Delete a classdef handle array.

clear classes
d = [tempdir(), 'nelson_help_delete/'];
mkdir(d);
filewrite([d, '/NelsonHelpDeleteCounter.m'], ["classdef NelsonHelpDeleteCounter < handle"; "  properties"; "    Count = 0"; "  end"; "end"]);
addpath(d);
a = NelsonHelpDeleteCounter();
b = NelsonHelpDeleteCounter();
h = [a, b];
delete(h);
isvalid(a)
isvalid(b)

🔗See Also

clear classdef addlistener rmfile rmdir

🕔Version History

Version	Description
1.0.0	initial version
2.0.0	classdef handle destructor and handle array behavior documented
2.0.0	files can be removed with a string array or a cell array of filenames

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