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RemoveDirectoryOptions::RemoveReadOnly should remove both read-only files and directories #617

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RemoveDirectoryOptions::RemoveReadOnly should remove both read-only files and directories #617

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8b3d507
RemoveDirectoryOptions::RemoveReadOnly should remove both read-only f…
dimhotepus Feb 21, 2026
c39858a
Adjust formatting for CreateReadOnlyDirectory in tests
dimhotepus Feb 21, 2026
90f6268
Merge branch 'master' into user/dzmitry/removedirectoryrecursive-read…
dunhor Feb 24, 2026
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24 changes: 23 additions & 1 deletion include/wil/filesystem.h
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -378,7 +378,29 @@ inline HRESULT RemoveDirectoryRecursiveNoThrow(
}
else
{
RETURN_IF_WIN32_BOOL_FALSE(::RemoveDirectoryW(path.get()));
// Try a RemoveDirectory. Some errors may be recoverable.
if (!::RemoveDirectoryW(path.get()))
{
// Fail for anything other than ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED with option to RemoveReadOnly available
bool potentiallyFixableReadOnlyProblem =
WI_IsFlagSet(options, RemoveDirectoryOptions::RemoveReadOnly) && ::GetLastError() == ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED;
RETURN_LAST_ERROR_IF(!potentiallyFixableReadOnlyProblem);

// Fail if the directory does not have read-only set, likely just an ACL problem
DWORD directoryAttr = ::GetFileAttributesW(path.get());
RETURN_LAST_ERROR_IF(!WI_IsFlagSet(directoryAttr, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY));
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@dunhor dunhor Feb 24, 2026

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Presumably GetLastError won't contain failure because you just called GetFileAttributesW right before this (which probably succeeded). And even if it did fail, you probably want the original error from the call to RemoveDirectoryW


// Remove read-only flag, setting to NORMAL if completely empty
WI_ClearFlag(directoryAttr, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY);
if (directoryAttr == 0)
{
directoryAttr = FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL;
}
Comment on lines +395 to +398
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@dunhor dunhor Feb 24, 2026

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Is this necessary? Presumably the attributes have FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY set at a minimum.


// Set the new attributes and try to delete the directory again, returning any failure
::SetFileAttributesW(path.get(), directoryAttr);
RETURN_IF_WIN32_BOOL_FALSE(::RemoveDirectoryW(path.get()));
}
}
}
return S_OK;
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30 changes: 22 additions & 8 deletions tests/FileSystemTests.cpp
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Expand Up @@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ TEST_CASE("FileSystemTests::VerifyRemoveDirectoryRecursiveDoesNotTraverseWithout
subFolderHandle.reset();
}

TEST_CASE("FileSystemTests::VerifyRemoveDirectoryRecursiveCanDeleteReadOnlyFiles", "[filesystem]")
TEST_CASE("FileSystemTests::VerifyRemoveDirectoryRecursiveCanDeleteReadOnlyFilesAndDirectories", "[filesystem]")
{
auto CreateRelativePath = [](PCWSTR root, PCWSTR name) {
wil::unique_hlocal_string path;
Expand All @@ -140,6 +140,12 @@ TEST_CASE("FileSystemTests::VerifyRemoveDirectoryRecursiveCanDeleteReadOnlyFiles
REQUIRE(fileHandle);
};

auto CreateReadOnlyDirectory = [](PCWSTR path) {
REQUIRE(::CreateDirectoryW(path, nullptr));
DWORD directoryAttr = ::GetFileAttributesW(path);
REQUIRE(::SetFileAttributesW(path, directoryAttr | FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY));
};

wil::unique_cotaskmem_string tempPath;
REQUIRE_SUCCEEDED(wil::ExpandEnvironmentStringsW(LR"(%TEMP%)", tempPath));
const auto basePath = CreateRelativePath(tempPath.get(), L"FileSystemTests");
Expand All @@ -152,25 +158,33 @@ TEST_CASE("FileSystemTests::VerifyRemoveDirectoryRecursiveCanDeleteReadOnlyFiles
// Create a reparse point and a target folder that shouldn't get deleted
auto folderToDelete = CreateRelativePath(basePath.get(), L"folderToDelete");
REQUIRE(::CreateDirectoryW(folderToDelete.get(), nullptr));

auto topLevelReadOnly = CreateRelativePath(folderToDelete.get(), L"topLevelReadOnly.txt");
CreateReadOnlyFile(topLevelReadOnly.get());

auto topLevelReadOnlyDirectory = CreateRelativePath(folderToDelete.get(), L"topLevelReadOnly");
CreateReadOnlyDirectory(topLevelReadOnlyDirectory.get());

auto topLevelReadOnlyFile = CreateRelativePath(folderToDelete.get(), L"topLevelReadOnly.txt");
CreateReadOnlyFile(topLevelReadOnlyFile.get());

auto subLevel = CreateRelativePath(folderToDelete.get(), L"subLevel");
REQUIRE(::CreateDirectoryW(subLevel.get(), nullptr));

auto subLevelReadOnly = CreateRelativePath(subLevel.get(), L"subLevelReadOnly.txt");
CreateReadOnlyFile(subLevelReadOnly.get());
auto subLevelReadOnlyDirectory = CreateRelativePath(subLevel.get(), L"subLevelReadOnly");
CreateReadOnlyDirectory(subLevelReadOnlyDirectory.get());

auto subLevelReadOnlyFile = CreateRelativePath(subLevel.get(), L"subLevelReadOnly.txt");
CreateReadOnlyFile(subLevelReadOnlyFile.get());

// Delete will fail without the RemoveReadOnlyFlag
REQUIRE_FAILED(wil::RemoveDirectoryRecursiveNoThrow(folderToDelete.get()));
REQUIRE_SUCCEEDED(wil::RemoveDirectoryRecursiveNoThrow(folderToDelete.get(), wil::RemoveDirectoryOptions::RemoveReadOnly));

// Verify all files have been deleted
REQUIRE_FALSE(FileExists(subLevelReadOnly.get()));
REQUIRE_FALSE(FileExists(subLevelReadOnlyFile.get()));
REQUIRE_FALSE(DirectoryExists(subLevelReadOnlyDirectory.get()));
REQUIRE_FALSE(DirectoryExists(subLevel.get()));

REQUIRE_FALSE(FileExists(topLevelReadOnly.get()));
REQUIRE_FALSE(FileExists(topLevelReadOnlyFile.get()));
REQUIRE_FALSE(DirectoryExists(topLevelReadOnlyDirectory.get()));
REQUIRE_FALSE(DirectoryExists(folderToDelete.get()));
}

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