The RM Utility

The RM utility moves one or more files to a hidden directory named DELETED. DELETED is a subdirectory of the directory that contains the file being deleted. Thus RM may create many DELETED directories on your drives or floppy disks. RM creates a DELETED subdirectory of a given directory if one does not already exist. Run RM using the following command line:

RM [[options]] [[files]]

The files field specifies the files to be deleted. You can name more than one file, and you can use operating-system wildcards (* and ?). You can specify a path with the filename. RM prompts for permission before removing a read-only file unless /F is specified.

RM has the following options; the option names are not case sensitive:

/F

Deletes read-only files without prompting for permission.

/HELP

Calls the QuickHelp utility. If RM cannot find the help file or QuickHelp, it displays a brief summary of RM command-line syntax.

/I

Inquires for permission before deleting any file.

/K

Keeps read-only files without deleting or prompting.

/R directory

Recurses into subdirectories of directory and moves all files into corresponding DELETED directories.

/?

Displays a brief summary of RM command-line syntax.

Example

RM /R \PROJECT

This command line tells RM to delete all files in the directory tree whose root is the directory named PROJECT. The PROJECT directory lies in the root directory on the current drive. RM moves all files in this tree to hidden directories named DELETED, each of which is created as a subdirectory of a directory that contains the file to be deleted.