powershell - deleting tab delimited file and matching subfolder

user_6237327 0
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In a folder structure I have .stb files where name is unknown, and subfolders matching the name of the .stb file.

A folder can look like this:

C:\path\file1.stb
C:\path\file1\...
C:\path\file2.stb
C:\path\file2\..

The .stb file is tab delimited and look something like this:

Call ID Latitude    Longitude   Date and Time   Noe
wasd    12.1241234  12.1243 2021-12-15 07:45:13.123 Noe
wasd    12.1241234  12.1243 2021-12-15 07:45:13.123 Noe
wasd    12.1241234  12.1243 2022-01-15 07:45:13.123 Noe

If a .stb contain a line where date is older than "$limit" the file and matching subfolder (and its content) should be deleted.

What I tested is:

$limit = (Get-Date).AddDays(-41).Date
$test = (Import-Csv -Path  (Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Users\steff\Documents\ -Filter '*.stb').FullName  -Delimiter "`t" | Where-Object {  ([datetime]$_.'Date and Time') -lt $limit }  )

But this only gives the output of file, and im not sure how to proceed to know what the actual filename is, in order to delte the .stb file and the matching subfolder. I am limited to Powershell here. Anyone know how to proceed?

delete-file powershell
2 Answers

In this case, I would do a loop in which you can test if a .stb file indeed has such an older item and if so, you can construct the path for a subfolder with a similar name, test if that exists and if yes, delete that too.

Try

$limit = (Get-Date).AddDays(-41).Date
Get-ChildItem -Path 'C:\Users\steff\Documents' -Filter '*.stb' -File | ForEach-Object {
    # test if the file contains an item with old date
    $oldInfo = (Import-Csv -Path $_.FullName -Delimiter "`t") | Where-Object { ([datetime]$_.'Date and Time') -lt $limit }
    if ($oldInfo) {
        # create the path for a subfolder with the same basename as the file
        $subFolder = Join-Path -Path $_.DirectoryName -ChildPath $_.BaseName
        if (Test-Path -Path $subFolder -PathType Container) {
            # a matching subfolder exists, delete it
            Remove-Item -Path $subFolder -Recurse -WhatIf
        }
        # now delete the .stb file itself
        Remove-Item -Path $_.FullName -WhatIf
    }
}

The code above has -WhatIf safety switches on both Remove-Item cmdlets. This is a safety measure, so you can first see in the console what would be deleted. Only if you are satisfied with that info, remove or comment out the -WhatIf switches and run the code again.

user_98986430

Try it like this:

$limit = (Get-Date).AddDays(-41).Date
$test = Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Users\steff\Documents\ -Filter '*.stb' | Import-Csv -Delimiter "`t" | Where-Object {  ([datetime]$_.'Date and Time') -lt $limit }  )

To complete your task, you can finish your code like this

$limit = (Get-Date).AddDays(-41).Date
# This code works in Windows PowerShell and PowerShell 7.2
Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Users\steff\Documents\ -Filter '*.stb' -Recurse | Foreach-Object {
    # Test the array of objects
    $OldFile = Import-csv -Delimiter "`t" -Path $_.FullName | Where-Object {  ([datetime]$_.'Date and Time') -lt $limit } 
    if ($OldFile){
        # The file had old data, delete it
        Remove-Item $_.FullName -Force
        # Test the folder containing the file. If it is empty, delete it
        if (-not (Get-ChildItem -Path $_.Parent.FullName)){
            # Delete the folder
            Remove-Item $_.Parent.FullName -Force
        }
    }
}

Any file with old information will be deleted and the containing folder will be removed, if it contains no other files. Recurse switch is required to get the files in the subfolders.

user_5673370
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