C++ remove()

#include <iostream>
#include <cstdio>
using namespace std;

int main() {
  char filename[] = "program.cpp";

  // remove the file "program.cpp"
  int result = remove(filename);

  cout << result;

  return 0;
}

// Output: -1

remove() Syntax

The syntax of the remove() function is:

remove(const char* filename);

remove() Parameters

The remove() function takes the following parameter:

• filename - pointer to the C-string containing the name of the file along with the path to delete

Note: Variables of the C++ string class cannot be used as parameters for remove().

remove() Return Value

The remove() function returns:

• zero if the file is successfully deleted
• non-zero if error occurs in deletion process

remove() Prototype

The prototype of remove() as defined in the cstdio header file is:

int remove(const char* filename);

Delete Opened Files with remove()

In case the file to be deleted is opened by a process, the behaviour of remove() function is implementation-defined:

• POSIX systems - If the name was the last link to a file, but any processes still have the file open, the file will remain in existence until the last running process closes the file.
• Windows - The file won't be allowed to be deleted if it remains open by any process.

Example: C++ remove()

#include <iostream>
#include <cstdio>

using namespace std;

int main() {
  char filename[] = "C:\\Users\\file.txt";
	
  // deletes the file if it exists
  int result = remove(filename);

  // check if file has been deleted successfully
  if (result != 0) {
    // print error message
    cerr << "File deletion failed";
  }
  else {
    cout << "File deleted successfully";
  }
	
  return 0;
}

Output

File deletion failed