[Python-bugs-list] [ python-Bugs-574773 ] removedirs() is not a recursive function

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Bugs item #574773, was opened at 2002-06-27 16:37
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Category: Documentation
>Group: Not a Bug
>Status: Closed
>Resolution: Invalid
Priority: 5
Submitted By: Dani (asqui)
Assigned to: Fred L. Drake, Jr. (fdrake)
Summary: removedirs() is not a recursive function

Initial Comment:
The _Python Library Reference_, section 6.1.4: os: Files 
and Directories_ lists the following definition of 
os.removedirs():

removedirs(path) 
 Recursive directory removal function. Works like rmdir() 
except that, if the leaf directory is successfully removed, 
directories corresponding to rightmost path segments 
will be pruned way until either the whole path is 
consumed or an error is raised (which is ignored, 
because it generally means that a parent directory is not 
empty). Throws an error exception if the leaf directory 
could not be successfully removed. New in version 
1.5.2. 

>From what I can see there is nothing recursive about 
os.removedirs(), just simple iteration.

This is misleading because it suggests something like 
removedirs('foo/bar/') will remove 'foo/bar/' and all its 
subdirectories, providing they are empty. When in fact 
what it does is remove directory foo/bar/ if it is empty, 
then remove foo/ if it is empty.

(I'm fairly new to python so I could be mistaken, but I 
checked with peers on IRC who instructed me to submit 
a bug report.)

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>Comment By: Fred L. Drake, Jr. (fdrake)
Date: 2002-07-02 17:06

Message:
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The documentation is trying to state that removedirs() is
removing directories in a recursive manner, not that the
implementation is recursive (which is completely irrelevant
to the documentation).

I've attempted to clarify the docs (Doc/lib/libos.tex 1.91),
but removedirs() is just a really weird function.

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