Automatically Delete Files in File Manager

Overview

This article explains how to automatically delete files in the file manager using a file manipulation Smarty plugin.

In this example, we will implement the following batch process:

1. Get a list of files in a specific directory
2. Delete files that have not been updated in over a week
3. Output a log of the deleted files in CSV format and place it in the file manager

What you will learn

You will learn how to perform the following file operations:

• Get file information in a specific directory
• Delete files
• Add files
• Write values to a text file

Prerequisites

• Basic understanding of Smarty v2 syntax
• Familiarity with how to use batch processing

Prepare the target directory

Create the following directory structure in the file manager:

files/ltd
`-- file_plugins_tutorial
    |-- assets # Directory to place files for deletion
    `-- logs   # Directory to place deletion log files (CSV)

Implement the file deletion process

Create a new batch process

Create a new batch process.
First, we will implement the file deletion process.

Click [Operation] -> [Batch Process].

Click [Add].

The batch process editing screen will open. Set the following:

Field	Value
Title	file_plugins_tutorial
Identifier	file_plugins_tutorial
Type	Every day at 02:00
Process	Code below

file_plugins_tutorial

{* Set the timestamp for comparison *}
{assign var='timestamp_to_compare' value='-1 week'|strtotime}

{* Read each file in the directory *}
{read_dir name='files_user' path='/files/ltd/file_plugins_tutorial/assets' file_var='file_info' type='file' recursive=true}
    {* Get the file's update timestamp *}
    {assign var='timestamp_updated_at' value=$file_info.mtime}
    {* Compare the timestamps *}
    {if $timestamp_updated_at < $timestamp_to_compare}
        {* If the update timestamp is over a week ago, delete the file *}
        {remove_file status_var='status' path=$file_info.path}
    {/if}
{/read_dir}

Once the settings are done, click [Add] to add the batch process.

info

For more details on the parameters of the read_dir plugin, refer to the Smarty plugin documentation.

Test the file deletion process

Once the batch process is set up, test its functionality.
Click [Run now] on the batch process editing screen.

The batch process will run and delete files that have not been updated in over a week.

tip

If you want to test it immediately, change the '-1 week' part to '-1 hour' or 'now', and test it.
{assign var='timestamp_to_compare' value='-1 week'|strtotime}

Adding log file output processing

Next, we will add a description to save the log file when a file is deleted.

Updating the batch processing

Click on the title on the batch list page to open the batch processing that was added earlier.

Add the log file output processing to the processing. The overall processing will be as follows:

file_plugins_tutorial

{* Create the header row of the log file *}
{assign var=header_columns value=$empty_array}
{append var=header_columns index=path     value="Path"}
{append var=header_columns index=date     value="Deleted date"}

{* Add the header row to the log file (temporary area) *}
{write_file var=path value=$header_columns}
{write_file path=$path value="\n" is_append=1}

{* Set the timestamp to compare *}
{assign var='timestamp_to_compare' value='-1 week'|strtotime}
{* Set the current date and time *}
{date var='now' time='now' format='Y-m-d H:i:s'}

{* Read each file in the directory one by one *}
{read_dir name='files_user' path='/files/ltd/file_plugins_tutorial/assets' file_var='file_info' type='file' recursive=true}
    {* Get the update date and time (timestamp) of the file *}
    {assign var='timestamp_updated_at' value=$file_info.mtime}
    {* Compare the timestamps *}
    {if $timestamp_updated_at < $timestamp_to_compare}
        {* If the update date and time is more than a week ago, delete the file *}
        {remove_file status_var='status' path=$file_info.path}
        {* Add the information of the deleted file to the log file (temporary area) *}
        {assign var=row value=$empty_array}
        {append var=row index=path value=$file_info.path}
        {append var=row index=date value=$now}        
        {write_file path=$path value=$row is_append=1}
        {write_file path=$path value="\n" is_append=1}
        {assign var=make_log_file value=true}
    {/if}
{/read_dir}

{* Write the log file (temporary area) to the file manager *}
{if $make_log_file}
    {date var='file_name' time='now' format='Ymd_His'}
    {put_file tmp_path=$path path="/files/ltd/file_plugins_tutorial/logs/log_`$file_name`.csv"}
{/if}

View on GitHub

Once the settings are done, click on [Update] to apply the changes.

info

For more details on write_file, date, and put_file, please refer to the Smarty Plugin.

Testing the log file output processing

Click on [Run immediately] on the batch processing edit screen.

The batch processing will be executed, and files with a last update date more than a week ago will be deleted, leaving logs in the logs directory.

tip

If you want to check immediately, change the '-1 week' part to ' -1 hour' or 'now', etc. and check.
{assign var='timestamp_to_compare' value='-1 week'|strtotime}

With this, the configuration and verification are complete. Please use it for file capacity management.

Related Documents

• Smarty Plugin