macOS Permanently Delete Files With Applescript

[noobsauce]

I am trying to make a simple script that permanently deletes my flash cache, but whenever I run the script neither of the files are deleted and the applescript window returns the result "". Is this script correct?

try
	do shell script "rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash Player/#SharedObjects"
	do shell script "rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash Player/macromedia.com"
end try

EDIT: The second ~/ has been removed

 

[angelwatt]

Well the second rm line has two ~/ pieces in it that will screw things up.

 

[noobsauce]

I rewrote the script and it still does not work...

 

[angelwatt]

Try adding \ before the space in the path in order to escape it, or add single quotes around the whole path. Also, you can catch any errors given.

try
	do shell script "rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash\ Player/#SharedObjects"
	do shell script "rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash\ Player/macromedia.com"
  on error error_message
    display alert error_message
end try

 

[Caleb531]

Better yet, use the quoted form of the path to take care of the spaces automatically:

set thePath to "~/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash Player/macromedia.com"
set thPath to quoted form of thePath

 

[Bill McEnaney]

I don't know AppleScript, so I don't know the advantages of using it to delete those files. But why not just write a bash script that contains two "rm" commands? If I wanted to write something like this:

rm -rf cache_1
rm -rf cache_2

Naturally, you need to replace "cache_1" and "cache_2" with names of the things you need to delete.

Then I'd save the two lines in a file called, say "delete_caches" and type "chmod +x delete_caches" to make the script executable.

 

[noobsauce]

Naturally, you need to replace "cache_1" and "cache_2" with names of the things you need to delete.

Does it have to be names or can I also use or paths? I am new to scripting.

 

[Weaselboy]

I am trying to make a simple script that permanently deletes my flash cache, but whenever I run the script neither of the files are deleted and the applescript window returns the result "". Is this script correct?

try
	do shell script "rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash Player/#SharedObjects"
	do shell script "rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash Player/macromedia.com"
end try

EDIT: The second ~/ has been removed

Sorry to resurrect an old post, but thought it might help people who discover this thread in a Google search.

Use this Applescript with the asterisk in the Flash*Player section and it will work.

try
	do shell script "rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash*Player/#SharedObjects"
	do shell script "rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash*Player/macromedia.com"
end try