Using File System Object not working properly

if the image is being displayed in a browser, then IIS might lock it for some time after someone has viewed it.

Does it have to be named that? The brackets might be messing it up.

This is a bit strange, but MSDN shows a slightly different way to delete...maybe this is a typo, maybe not.  I don't have XP here, so I can't test this, but they show it as the Delete method of the file object, not the file system object.  So you use GetFile to get a reference to the file itself, then call the delete method on that file object:

Sub ManipFiles
   Dim fso, f1, f2, s
   Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
   Set f1 = fso.CreateTextFile("c:\testfile.txt", True)
   Response.Write "Writing file <br>"
   ' Write a line.
   f1.Write ("This is a test.")
   ' Close the file to writing.
   f1.Close
   Response.Write "Moving file to c:\tmp <br>"
   ' Get a handle to the file in root of C:\.
   Set f2 = fso.GetFile("c:\testfile.txt")
   ' Move the file to \tmp directory.
   f2.Move ("c:\tmp\testfile.txt")
   Response.Write "Copying file to c:\temp <br>"
   ' Copy the file to \temp.
   f2.Copy ("c:\temp\testfile.txt")
   Response.Write "Deleting files <br>"
   ' Get handles to files' current location.
   Set f2 = fso.GetFile("c:\tmp\testfile.txt")
   Set f3 = fso.GetFile("c:\temp\testfile.txt")
   ' Delete the files.
   f2.Delete
   f3.Delete
   Response.Write "All done!"
End Sub

Regards,
Mike Sharp

"Do you clear the file system object properly?"

Yes I do.

"if the image is being displayed in a browser, then IIS might lock it for some time after someone has viewed it."

Good Suggestion.  however, i came in on monday morning, and tried, it and it still locks up on the delete.  if this was the case (the file was locked), how would i go about forcing IIS to unlock the file?  Or at least trap for the error anyway, i can't just have the page hang if someone tries to delete an image that was looked at recently.  

Another thing that might happen is the file might be locked after uploading it.  I'm doing an upload using the dundas upload component (which is working elsewhere for me), and making sure to release all resources using "set objFSO = nothing" etc at the end of the process, so I'm not sure how to determine if it's a locked file or not.

"Does it have to be named that? The brackets might be messing it up."

It doesn't HAVE to be named that, but it's very convenient to do so.  The Dundas upload object generates a unique ID for saving files, so nothing is overwritten when files of the same name are uploaded.  The unique ID starts with the { and ends with }, and i have coded to account for that.  I have this same system working on another site, and i am able to rename, delete, copy etc with the files, so i don't think that could be it.

"This is a bit strange, but MSDN shows a slightly different way to delete..."

Yes, I have seen this as well, the delete can be performed on the object itself, or by the FSO.

Is there a reason you would use one or the other?  Seems cleaner to me to use the FSO.  In any case, the page crashes anyway, if i try to do it the other way, as soon as it hit's the line:

set objFile = objFSO.GetFile (Server.MapPath(strFilePath))

which would be neccesary to delete the file using the alternate method.


Further information on the problem:  I think there must be something not being closed properly, as my IIS is now not working.  I tried accessing the page again, and i got an IIS error saying there were too many users connected.   I tried stopping and starting the site (as i need to each time it hangs), and that didn't work, so i tried the web services, and got  a message like "web services could not be stopped in a timely manner".  Then i tried to stop and start the site again, and got an error "the requested control is not valid for this service".  I tried actually restarting the IIS program, and my is flagged with an error now and will not respond at all.

So, i guess it's time for a reboot, and a complete check to make sure all objects and connections are closed.

I would still like to know why my page just hangs when trying to access the file though.

hmm..  just found something else:

why to use the FSO instead of the File:

DeleteFile
FSO.DeleteFile filename[,forceReadOnlyDelete]
 
Description
Deletes filename, which can contain wildcards (only the filename, not folder names).An error occurs if the filename is not found. [forceReadOnlyDelete] will force the file to be deleted if it's readonly.

http://www.sloppycode.net/fso/?m=56

<%
'***************** DeleteFile
Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
fso.DeleteFile "C:\afilename.*",true
' This deletes all files called "afilename", regardless of extension, and even if they are readonly files.
Set fso = Nothing
%>

Maybe this will help solve my problem, i'll try after the reboot.

icompass,
It sounds like you're having these issues because insuffient NTFS permissions on the folder containing the file to be deleted.
Note: I'm taking about NTFS security permissions not the permissions from the IIS management console.

To view the NTFS permissions, open Windows Explorer, right-click on the folder, select propertis, then click the security tab (if you don't see the security tab on XP, go control panel->folder options->View Tab scroll down the list and uncheck use simple file sharing).

From the secuirty tab you should see all the permission.
Add the following permission for now (just for testing):
click the add button, type in everyone, then click ok. Check the allow Full Control check box. Then click apply (don't close the properties sheet yet)
click on advanced button, then select Replace permissions on child objects, click ok on the advanced screen, then ok on the properties sheet.

Try to run your page, if it works post back, and I'll tell what users you need to give full control permission to on the live site (cuz you don't want to give everyone full control on a live server).

Hope this helps

Yes, I have already tried this as well.  it's the IUSR_[computer name] account that needs read and write permissions.  This was working for a while, but stopped.  So i gave full control to everyone, and that worked for a while too, and then stopped.  I made sure to propagate to all the child objects, and even gave full permissions to the entire innetpub root folder.

Still, *intermittently* i get this problem.  

check if the file you're deleting has the read-only attributte set. If so you need to pass the force parameter to the DeleteFile method like this:

objFSO.DeleteFile strFilePath, Ture

Thanks, i had noted that already.

sorry, didn't notice that........