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Add support of RemoveDirectoryOptions::RemoveReadOnlyDirectory which remove read-only directories #617

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Add support of RemoveDirectoryOptions::RemoveReadOnlyDirectory which remove read-only directories #617

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91325d3
RemoveDirectoryOptions::RemoveReadOnly should remove both read-only f…
dimhotepus Feb 21, 2026
a7cb913
Adjust formatting for CreateReadOnlyDirectory in tests
dimhotepus Feb 21, 2026
5ec79ed
Add RemoveReadOnlyFile & RemoveReadOnlyDirectory to be backward compa…
dimhotepus Mar 29, 2026
8dc3608
Use FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY for directory when it has no attributes
dimhotepus Mar 29, 2026
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30 changes: 27 additions & 3 deletions include/wil/filesystem.h
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -200,6 +200,8 @@ enum class RemoveDirectoryOptions
None = 0,
KeepRootDirectory = 0x1,
RemoveReadOnly = 0x2,
RemoveReadOnlyFile = RemoveReadOnly,
RemoveReadOnlyDirectory = 0x4,
};
DEFINE_ENUM_FLAG_OPERATORS(RemoveDirectoryOptions);

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -315,9 +317,9 @@ inline HRESULT RemoveDirectoryRecursiveNoThrow(
// Try a DeleteFile. Some errors may be recoverable.
if (!::DeleteFileW(pathToDelete.get()))
{
// Fail for anything other than ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED with option to RemoveReadOnly available
// Fail for anything other than ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED with option to RemoveReadOnlyFile available
bool potentiallyFixableReadOnlyProblem =
WI_IsFlagSet(options, RemoveDirectoryOptions::RemoveReadOnly) && ::GetLastError() == ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED;
WI_IsFlagSet(options, RemoveDirectoryOptions::RemoveReadOnlyFile) && ::GetLastError() == ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED;
RETURN_LAST_ERROR_IF(!potentiallyFixableReadOnlyProblem);

// Fail if the file does not have read-only set, likely just an ACL problem
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -378,7 +380,29 @@ 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 RemoveReadOnlyDirectory available
bool potentiallyFixableReadOnlyProblem =
WI_IsFlagSet(options, RemoveDirectoryOptions::RemoveReadOnlyDirectory) && ::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

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@dimhotepus dimhotepus Mar 29, 2026

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Followed the similar approach for file deletion:

wil/include/wil/filesystem.h

Line 325 in 2edb790

RETURN_LAST_ERROR_IF(!WI_IsFlagSet(fileAttr, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY));

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@dunhor dunhor Apr 14, 2026

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IMO that seems like a bug for that code path as well. potentiallyFixableReadOnlyProblem should logically be something more like:

                auto err = ::GetLastError();
                bool potentiallyFixableReadOnlyProblem =
                    (WI_IsFlagSet(options, RemoveDirectoryOptions::RemoveReadOnlyDirectory)) &&
                    (err == ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED) &&
                    WI_IsFlagSet(::GetFileAttributesW(path.get()), FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY);
                if (!potentiallyFixableReadOnlyProblem)
                {
                    RETURN_WIN32(err);
                }


// Remove read-only flag, setting to NORMAL if completely empty
WI_ClearFlag(directoryAttr, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY);
if (directoryAttr == 0)
{
directoryAttr = FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY;
}
Comment on lines +397 to +400
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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.

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@dimhotepus dimhotepus Mar 29, 2026

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Followed similar approach as when file is deleted:

wil/include/wil/filesystem.h

Line 328 in 2edb790

WI_ClearFlag(fileAttr, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY);

Set FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY instead, looks like SetFileAttributesW accepts it for directory.

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@dunhor dunhor Apr 14, 2026

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The difference here is that this is a directory - it must have FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY set. In contrast, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL is only valid when used alone. If a file has FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY set, it's valid for that to be the only flag set.

That said, this isn't harmful, just an unnecessary check.


// 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;
Expand Down
37 changes: 27 additions & 10 deletions tests/FileSystemTests.cpp
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
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 @@ -140,37 +140,54 @@ 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");
REQUIRE_SUCCEEDED(wil::CreateDirectoryDeepNoThrow(basePath.get()));

auto scopeGuard = wil::scope_exit([&] {
wil::RemoveDirectoryRecursiveNoThrow(basePath.get(), wil::RemoveDirectoryOptions::RemoveReadOnly);
wil::RemoveDirectoryRecursiveNoThrow(
basePath.get(), wil::RemoveDirectoryOptions::RemoveReadOnlyFile | wil::RemoveDirectoryOptions::RemoveReadOnlyDirectory);
});

// 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());

// Delete will fail without the RemoveReadOnlyFlag
auto subLevelReadOnlyFile = CreateRelativePath(subLevel.get(), L"subLevelReadOnly.txt");
CreateReadOnlyFile(subLevelReadOnlyFile.get());

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

// 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()));
}

Expand Down
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