From 5b6f8b54d1d1f941a64007317c029f6c9165bf87 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Eli Zaretskii Date: Sat, 9 Jun 2018 11:58:27 +0300 Subject: [PATCH] Clarify the documentation of 'dired-recursive-deletes' * doc/emacs/dired.texi (Dired Deletion): Clarify text regarding recursive deletion of non-empty directories. (Bug#31529) --- doc/emacs/dired.texi | 28 +++++++++++++++------------- 1 file changed, 15 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-) diff --git a/doc/emacs/dired.texi b/doc/emacs/dired.texi index 82882ab1b19..fba9d31406e 100644 --- a/doc/emacs/dired.texi +++ b/doc/emacs/dired.texi @@ -238,19 +238,21 @@ the buffer, and no files actually deleted. @cindex recursive deletion @vindex dired-recursive-deletes You can delete empty directories just like other files, but normally -Dired cannot delete directories that are nonempty. If the variable -@code{dired-recursive-deletes} is non-@code{nil}, then Dired can -delete nonempty directories including all their contents. That can be -somewhat risky. If the value of the variable is @code{always}, Dired -will delete nonempty directories recursively, which is even more -risky. Even if you have set @code{dired-recursive-deletes} to -@code{nil}, you might want sometimes to delete recursively directories -without being asked for confirmation for all of them. This is handy -when you have marked many directories for deletion and you are very -sure that all of them can safely be deleted. For every nonempty -directory you are asked for confirmation; if you answer @code{all}, -then all the remaining directories will be deleted without more -questions. +Dired cannot delete directories that are nonempty. However, if the +variable @code{dired-recursive-deletes} is non-@code{nil}, then Dired +is allowed to delete nonempty directories including all their +contents. That can be somewhat risky. If the value of the variable +is @code{always}, Dired will delete nonempty directories recursively, +which is even more risky. + +Even if you have set @code{dired-recursive-deletes} to @code{nil}, you +might want sometimes to delete directories recursively without being +asked for confirmation for all of them. For example, you may want +that when you have marked many directories for deletion and you are +very sure that all of them can safely be deleted. For every nonempty +directory you are asked for confirmation to delete, if you answer +@code{all}, then all the remaining directories will be deleted without +any further questions. @vindex delete-by-moving-to-trash@r{, and Dired} If you change the variable @code{delete-by-moving-to-trash} to -- 2.39.2