Express.js Delete File (Local FS) after Download

Question

I've got the following code for an Express handler which aims to download a file after a valid file path is found in the directory entries - the handler has a command-line option which is in place to delete said file, after a successful download:

     res.download(filePath, err => {
      if (err) {
        return next(err)
      }
      if (AUTO_DELETE_ENABLED) {
        rmSync(filePath)
        console.log('deleted after download...')
      }
    })

In a browser, when entering the valid file path, the download seems to begin , but the file is deleted right away, without waiting.

Can someone explain to me how I can do this? Express res.download takes a callback, I'm using that callback to dynamically determine if the command line setting is enabled, if so - I delete the file.

So why does this not work? And what can I do to ensure this happens?

For now, I have a 3000ms setTimeout which can make sure the desired functionality is achieved, but some videos may take longer than that to download...

Q: Is the fact I'm using rmSync potentially part of the problem? The rest of the code is for the most part asynchronous.

Any help appreciated!

Answer 1

You shoul use unlink function: https://nodejs.org/api/fs.html#fs_file_system

You can use callback function to signal when deleting is finished or if some error occured.