idiom for clearing up resources?

[Serge Aleynikov]

You can use catch facility with pattern patching:

case catch file:make_dir("c:/tmp/foo") of
   ok               -> do_some_stuff();
   {'EXIT', Reason} -> file:del_dir("c:/tmp/foo")
end

or

Result = catch file:make_dir("c:/tmp/foo"),
file:del_dir("c:/tmp/foo"),
case Result of
   ok -> do_some_stuff();
   {'EXIT', Reason} -> io:format('Error making dir: ~p~n", [Reason])
end;

WILLIAMS Dominic wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> Is there an idiom for initializing and clearing up resources
> (e.g. files) needed by an Erlang function, in such a way that the
> clear-up code gets called even in the face of an error?
> 
> e.g.
> 
> myfunc() ->
> 	ok = file:make_dir("c:/tmp/foo"),
> 	% do some stuff
> 	ok = file:del_dir("c:/tmp/foo").
> 
> I want the last line to be called even if "do some stuff" crashes.
> Basically, coming from a C++ background, this is the code I would
> have put in something's destructor, and I am wondering what Erlangers
> do...
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Dominic.
>