How to delete folder with files using Google Storage REST api?

Question

I am trying to delete _$folder$ from Google Storage using their REST api. I have tried so far headerserver.com/testestset/*, headerserver.com/testestset, headerserver.com/testestset_$folder$ but neither seem to work when there are any files in the folder.

The only approach I came up so far is to foreach all objects under the _$folder$ before attempting to delete it, however, this is highly inefficient.

In a worst scenario: is it possible to batch/delete more than one file per one request?

Answer 1

It's been 4 years, and they still don't give a proper API for this.

For you who still need a work around, here is an option.

This example is to remove a parent folder, its nested folders, and all of their contents

<?php

/**
 * Delete nested folders for Google Cloud Storage
 */

class ClassName {

    /** @var Google_Service_Storage $storageService */
    public $storageService;

    /** @var string $bucket */
    public $bucket = '';

    /**
     * Remove an object
     *
     * @param string $objectPath
     * @return boolean
     */
    public function removeObject($objectPath) {
        // validator
        try {
            if (!$this->storageService->objects->get($this->bucket, $objectPath)) {
                // log error
                return false;
            }
        } catch (Exception $ex) {
            // leave this empty
        }

        // remove action
        try {
            $this->storageService->objects->delete($this->bucket, $objectPath);
        } catch (Exception $ex) {
            // log error
            return false;
        }
        // log success

        return true;
    }

    /**
     * Remove the specified container
     *
     * @param string $path
     * @return boolean
     */
    public function removeContainer($path) {
        $c = array();
        $c['delimiter'] = '/';
        if (!empty($path) && $path != '/') {
            $c['prefix'] = $path;
        }
        $objects = null;

        // validator
        try {
            $objects = $this->storageService->objects->listObjects($this->bucket, $c);
            if (empty($objects)) {
                if (!$this->storageService->objects->get($this->bucket, $path)) {
                    // log error
                    return false;
                }
            }
        } catch (Exception $ex) {
            // leave this empty
        }

        // remove action
        try {
            if (empty($objects)) {
                $this->storageService->objects->delete($this->bucket, $path);
            } else {
                /**
                 * Process files first
                 */
                $files = $objects->getItems();
                if (!empty($files)) {
                    foreach ($files as $file) {
                        $this->removeObject($file->getName());
                    }
                }
                /**
                 * And folders later
                 */
                $folders = $objects->getPrefixes();
                if (!empty($folders)) {
                    foreach ($folders as $folder) {
                        $this->removeContainer($folder);
                    }
                }
            }
        } catch (Exception $ex) {
            // log error
            return false;
        }
        // log success

        return true;
    }

}

This is how it's logged in database, to explain the recursive process.

If you are curious why empty-folders came out twice in the log for file_remove and directory_remove, this $objects = $this->driver->objects->listObjects($this->bucket, $c); part listed the folder's name back into $files = $objects->getItems();,

may be because it's not a physical folder, but rather an empty file that represents as a folder.