How to delete a single file?

[GradDev]

I have a file field named "resume". I want to delete the file saved in it using the API.

The field is limited to only 1 upload of file and the return type is set to "Automatic" which means it will return a single object if a file is available.

Now there are two options that I have tried- delete() and deleteAll().

$page_to_change = $pages->get("name=xyz");

$page_to_change->resume->deleteAll();

//OR
//$page_to_change->resume->delete($page_to_change->resume);

$page_to_change->of(false);
$page_to_change->save();

Both of these give an error like-

Error: Exception: Method Pagefile::deleteAll does not exist or is not callable in this context(...)

I understand that this error is because these two functions work on a wirearray rather than on a file object.

But how do I delete a single file?

[eelkenet]

Have you tried this? https://processwire.com/api/ref/pagefiles/delete/

[Jan Romero]

Your code as well as eelkenet’s should work if you set output formatting to false at the top instead of at the bottom. AFAIK, without output formatting, File fields always return a WireArray, or rather, a Pagefiles array, which inherits from WireArray.

In general the reason you disable output formatting is that you can work with the “raw” data before saving. Changing the formatted data and then only disabling output formatting before the save() should be pointless and/or introduce errors. For example, if you have a field with Markdown formatting and you modify its contents without disabling output formatting, you’re modifying and saving the rendered HTML, destroying your original Markdown markup.

[GradDev]

@Jan Romero Thanks!

The positioning of output formatting was the issue.

The code just needs to be-

$page_to_change->of(false);

$page_to_change = $pages->get("name=xyz");

$page_to_change->resume->deleteAll();

//OR
//$page_to_change->resume->delete($page_to_change->resume);

$page_to_change->save();

This will make $page_to_change->resume be a Pagefiles array rather than just an object; thus both the deleteAll() and delete($Pagefile) functions work on it now.