recycleBin Module

Interact with the Windows Recycle Bin including opening, emptying, and inspecting contents. Provides programmatic access to standard Windows Recycle Bin operations.

javascript

import { recycleBin } from "system";

Availability

Available in the Main script only.

Methods

Opens the Windows Recycle Bin folder in Windows Explorer, allowing users to manually manage deleted files. This provides a convenient way to access the Recycle Bin from your Novadesk widgets.

RETURNS: boolean true if the request was accepted by the Windows shell, false otherwise.

javascript

import { recycleBin } from "system";

// Simple open
if (recycleBin.openBin()) {
  console.log("Recycle Bin opened successfully");
} else {
  console.log("Failed to open Recycle Bin");
}

// Integrate with UI button
function onRecycleBinButtonClick() {
  const success = recycleBin.openBin();
  if (success) {
    console.log("Opening Recycle Bin...");
  } else {
    console.error("Unable to access Recycle Bin");
  }
}

Empties the Recycle Bin using standard Windows behavior with confirmation dialog and progress UI. This follows the same flow as right-clicking the Recycle Bin and selecting "Empty Recycle Bin" from the context menu.

The operation will:

Show a confirmation dialog asking the user to confirm permanent deletion
Display a progress dialog during the deletion process
Allow the user to cancel the operation

RETURNS: boolean true on success, false otherwise.

javascript

import { recycleBin } from "system";

function emptyRecycleBin() {
  // Get current stats before emptying
  const stats = recycleBin.getStats();
  if (stats && stats.count > 0) {
    console.log("Attempting to empty", stats.count, "items from Recycle Bin");
    
    const success = recycleBin.emptyBin();
    if (success) {
      console.log("Recycle Bin empty operation initiated");
      console.log("User will see confirmation dialog");
    } else {
      console.error("Failed to initiate empty operation");
    }
  } else {
    console.log("Recycle Bin is already empty");
  }
}

// Safe emptying with user feedback
function safeEmptyRecycleBin() {
  const stats = recycleBin.getStats();
  if (!stats || stats.count === 0) {
    console.log("Recycle Bin is empty - nothing to delete");
    return;
  }
  
  console.log("Recycle Bin contains:");
  console.log("- Items:", stats.count);
  console.log("- Size:", (stats.size / 1048576).toFixed(1), "MB");
  
  recycleBin.emptyBin();
}

Empties the Recycle Bin silently without showing confirmation dialog or progress UI. Files are permanently deleted immediately without user interaction.

Permanent Deletion

This operation permanently deletes all files in the Recycle Bin without confirmation. Use with extreme caution as deleted files cannot be recovered.

RETURNS: boolean true on success, false otherwise.

javascript

import { recycleBin } from "system";

function silentEmpty() {
  // Get stats first for logging
  const stats = recycleBin.getStats();
  if (stats && stats.count > 0) {
    console.log("Silently emptying", stats.count, "items");
    console.log("Total size:", (stats.size / 1048576).toFixed(1), "MB");
    
    const success = recycleBin.emptyBinSilent();
    if (success) {
      console.log("Recycle Bin emptied silently");
    } else {
      console.error("Silent empty operation failed");
    }
  }
}

// Automated cleanup (use carefully!)
function automatedCleanup() {
  const stats = recycleBin.getStats();
  if (!stats) return;
  
  // Only auto-empty if more than 1000 items or > 1GB
  const threshold_items = 1000;
  const threshold_bytes = 1073741824; // 1GB
  
  if (stats.count > threshold_items || stats.size > threshold_bytes) {
    console.log("Automatic cleanup triggered:");
    console.log("Items:", stats.count, "Size:", (stats.size / 1e9).toFixed(2), "GB");
    
    // Use silent empty for automated cleanup
    if (recycleBin.emptyBinSilent()) {
      console.log("Automatic cleanup completed");
    }
  }
}

Returns current statistics about Recycle Bin contents including the number of deleted items and their total size in bytes.

The returned object contains these properties:

Property	Type	Description
`count`	`number`	Number of items currently in the Recycle Bin
`size`	`number`	Total size of all items in bytes

RETURNS: object | null An object with count and size properties, or null on failure.

javascript

import { recycleBin } from "system";

function checkRecycleBin() {
  const stats = recycleBin.getStats();
  if (stats) {
    console.log("Recycle Bin Status:");
    console.log("- Items:", stats.count);
    console.log("- Size:", (stats.size / 1048576).toFixed(1), "MB");
    
    // Analysis and recommendations
    if (stats.count === 0) {
      console.log("✅ Recycle Bin is empty");
    } else if (stats.count < 10) {
      console.log("📄 Few items in Recycle Bin");
    } else if (stats.count < 100) {
      console.log("📚 Moderate items in Recycle Bin");
    } else {
      console.log("🗂️ Many items in Recycle Bin - consider cleaning");
    }
    
    // Size analysis
    const sizeMB = stats.size / 1048576;
    if (sizeMB > 1000) { // > 1GB
      console.log("⚠️ Large files in Recycle Bin:", sizeMB.toFixed(0), "MB");
    }
    
    return stats;
  } else {
    console.log("❌ Unable to access Recycle Bin statistics");
    return null;
  }
}

// Monitor Recycle Bin growth
let previousCount = 0;
function monitorRecycleBin() {
  const stats = recycleBin.getStats();
  if (stats) {
    if (stats.count > previousCount) {
      const newItems = stats.count - previousCount;
      console.log("📥 New items added to Recycle Bin:", newItems);
    } else if (stats.count < previousCount) {
      const removedItems = previousCount - stats.count;
      console.log("🗑️ Items removed from Recycle Bin:", removedItems);
    }
    previousCount = stats.count;
  }
}

// Check every 30 seconds
setInterval(monitorRecycleBin, 30000);

Recycle Bin Management Examples

Smart Cleanup System

javascript

import { recycleBin } from "system";

function createSmartCleanup() {
  const stats = recycleBin.getStats();
  if (!stats) {
    console.log("Cannot access Recycle Bin for cleanup");
    return;
  }
  
  const sizeMB = stats.size / 1048576;
  const sizeGB = stats.size / 1073741824;
  
  console.log("=== Smart Recycle Bin Cleanup ===");
  console.log("Items:", stats.count);
  console.log("Size:", sizeGB > 1 ? sizeGB.toFixed(2) + " GB" : sizeMB.toFixed(1) + " MB");
  
  // Cleanup recommendations
  let recommendation = "none";
  let reason = "";
  
  if (stats.count === 0) {
    recommendation = "none";
    reason = "Recycle Bin is already empty";
  } else if (stats.count > 500) {
    recommendation = "cleanup";
    reason = "Too many items (" + stats.count + ")";
  } else if (sizeGB > 2) {
    recommendation = "cleanup";
    reason = "Large size (" + sizeGB.toFixed(1) + " GB)";
  } else if (stats.count > 100 && sizeGB > 0.5) {
    recommendation = "consider";
    reason = "Moderate usage (" + stats.count + " items, " + sizeGB.toFixed(1) + " GB)";
  }
  
  console.log("Recommendation:", recommendation);
  console.log("Reason:", reason);
  
  // Execute recommendation
  if (recommendation === "cleanup") {
    console.log("Performing automatic cleanup...");
    recycleBin.emptyBinSilent();
  } else if (recommendation === "consider") {
    console.log("Consider manual cleanup through recycleBin.openBin()");
  }
  
  return { stats, recommendation, reason };
}

// Schedule smart cleanup
setInterval(createSmartCleanup, 300000); // Every 5 minutes

javascript

import { recycleBin } from "system";

class RecycleBinDashboard {
  constructor() {
    this.updateInterval = null;
    this.lastStats = null;
  }
  
  start() {
    this.update();
    this.updateInterval = setInterval(() => this.update(), 10000);
  }
  
  stop() {
    if (this.updateInterval) {
      clearInterval(this.updateInterval);
      this.updateInterval = null;
    }
  }
  
  update() {
    const stats = recycleBin.getStats();
    if (!stats) {
      console.log("Recycle Bin: Unavailable");
      return;
    }
    
    // Detect changes
    if (this.lastStats) {
      if (stats.count !== this.lastStats.count) {
        const change = stats.count - this.lastStats.count;
        if (change > 0) {
          console.log("🗑️ +" + change + " item(s) added to Recycle Bin");
        } else {
          console.log("♻️ " + Math.abs(change) + " item(s) removed from Recycle Bin");
        }
      }
    }
    
    this.lastStats = stats;
    this.displayStatus(stats);
  }
  
  displayStatus(stats) {
    const sizeMB = stats.size / 1048576;
    const isEmpty = stats.count === 0;
    
    // Status indicator
    let indicator;
    if (isEmpty) {
      indicator = "🗑️ Empty";
    } else if (stats.count < 10) {
      indicator = "🗑️ Light";
    } else if (stats.count < 100) {
      indicator = "📦 Moderate";
    } else {
      indicator = "📚 Full";
    }
    
    console.log(indicator, 
      "(" + stats.count + " items,", 
      sizeMB.toFixed(1) + " MB)");
  }
  
  // Action methods
  open() {
    return recycleBin.openBin();
  }
  
  empty(silent = false) {
    if (silent) {
      return recycleBin.emptyBinSilent();
    } else {
      return recycleBin.emptyBin();
    }
  }
  
  getRecommendation() {
    const stats = recycleBin.getStats();
    if (!stats || stats.count === 0) {
      return "No action needed - Recycle Bin is empty";
    }
    
    const sizeMB = stats.size / 1048576;
    if (stats.count > 200 || sizeMB > 500) {
      return "Recommend emptying - high usage detected";
    } else if (stats.count > 50 || sizeMB > 100) {
      return "Consider emptying - moderate usage";
    } else {
      return "No action needed - low usage";
    }
  }
}

// Usage
const dashboard = new RecycleBinDashboard();
dashboard.start();

// Example UI integration
console.log("Recycle Bin Recommendation:", dashboard.getRecommendation());

Technical Notes:

All operations work with the system-wide Recycle Bin shared by all applications
The Recycle Bin may contain files from multiple drives/partitions
Statistics include files deleted by any user or application
Operations may fail if the Recycle Bin is currently being accessed by other applications
File permissions and system policies may affect the ability to empty the Recycle Bin

General Options

UI Elements

Modules

novadesk

system

recycleBin Module

Table of Contents

Methods

Recycle Bin Management Examples

Smart Cleanup System

Recycle Bin Dashboard Widget

recycleBin Module ​

Table of Contents ​

Methods ​

Recycle Bin Management Examples ​

Smart Cleanup System ​

Recycle Bin Dashboard Widget ​

recycleBin Module

Table of Contents

Methods

Recycle Bin Management Examples

Smart Cleanup System

Recycle Bin Dashboard Widget