HELP VED_PURGEFILES                         Aaron Sloman, September 1992

LIB * VED_PURGEFILES gives a convenient interface for getting rid
of old files that match a pattern, in particular deleting VED
backup files which match the pattern: *-


         CONTENTS - (Use <ENTER> g to access required sections)

 -- Overview
 -- The command gives you a chance to change your mind
 -- Examples of use
 -- Purging backup VED mail files
 -- RELATED UTILITIES

-- Overview -----------------------------------------------------------
There are two forms of the command, one with a pattern and one without,
the latter form being used to delete all VED backup files in the
current directory.

ENTER purgefiles <pattern>
    Gives you the opportunity to delete all files matching the <pattern>

ENTER purgefiles
    This is equivalent to

        ENTER purgefiles *-

    Giving you the opportunity to get rid of all VED backup files in the
    current directory

-- The command gives you a chance to change your mind -----------------

Each command produces a question on the command line of the form

    PURGING FILES: <pattern> OK?(n=NO,RETURN=yes,s=show them):

If you type "s" (NO RETURN NEEDED) then it will list the files that
would be deleted and then repeats the question on the command line.

If you press RETURN, or type "y" or "Y" then files matching the pattern
will be deleted.

If you type anything else, the process aborts.

-- Examples of use ----------------------------------------------------

If you wish to delete all VED backup files in a directory called mylib
do
    ENTER purgefiles mylib/*-

If you wish to delete all VED backup files in all your subdirectories,
do
    ENTER purgefiles */*-

If you wish to delete all VED backup files apart from the most recent,
do
    ENTER purgefiles *--

For details SHOWLIB * VED_PURGEFILES


-- Purging backup VED mail files --------------------------------------

If you use the ENTER getmail command for reading mail (as described in
HELP * VED_GETMAIL) then your mail will be in a subdirectory, whose
name you have chosen and assigned to the variable vedmaildirectory.
Suppose this is the subdirectory called Mail. Then you can delete
backup mail files using either the command

    ENTER purgefiles Mail/*-

or
    ENTER purgemail

See LIB * VED_PURGEMAIL for further details.


-- RELATED UTILITIES --------------------------------------------------

TEACH * PURGE
TEACH * SHELL
HELP  * DIRED
HELP * VED_DELETEFILE

--- $poplocal/local/help/ved_purgefiles
--- Copyright University of Birmingham 1992. All rights reserved. ------