2 files changed, 45 insertions, 3 deletions
diff --git a/lib/puppet/provider/file_line/ruby.rb b/lib/puppet/provider/file_line/ruby.rb
index d4cdfec..aab6fe2 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/provider/file_line/ruby.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/provider/file_line/ruby.rb
@@ -22,9 +22,10 @@ Puppet::Type.type(:file_line).provide(:ruby) do
   end
 
   def destroy
-    local_lines = lines
-    File.open(resource[:path],'w') do |fh|
-      fh.write(local_lines.reject{|l| l.chomp == resource[:line] }.join(''))
+    if resource[:match_for_absence].to_s == 'true' and resource[:match]
+      handle_destroy_with_match
+    else
+      handle_destroy_line
     end
   end
 
@@ -93,6 +94,25 @@ Puppet::Type.type(:file_line).provide(:ruby) do
     lines.select{|l| l.match(regex)}.size
   end
 
+  def handle_destroy_with_match
+    match_count = count_matches(match_regex)
+    if match_count > 1 && resource[:multiple].to_s != 'true'
+     raise Puppet::Error, "More than one line in file '#{resource[:path]}' matches pattern '#{resource[:match]}'"
+    end
+
+    local_lines = lines
+    File.open(resource[:path],'w') do |fh|
+      fh.write(local_lines.reject{|l| match_regex.match(l) }.join(''))
+    end
+  end
+
+  def handle_destroy_line
+    local_lines = lines
+    File.open(resource[:path],'w') do |fh|
+      fh.write(local_lines.reject{|l| l.chomp == resource[:line] }.join(''))
+    end
+  end
+
   ##
   # append the line to the file.
   #
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/file_line.rb b/lib/puppet/type/file_line.rb
index 4a96ba7..446f103 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/file_line.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/file_line.rb
@@ -34,6 +34,20 @@ Puppet::Type.newtype(:file_line) do
     In this code example match will look for a line beginning with export 
     followed by HTTP_PROXY and replace it with the value in line.
 
+    Match Example With `ensure => absent`:
+
+        file_line { 'bashrc_proxy':
+          ensure            => absent,
+          path              => '/etc/bashrc',
+          line              => 'export HTTP_PROXY=http://squid.puppetlabs.vm:3128',
+          match             => '^export\ HTTP_PROXY\=',
+          match_for_absence => true,
+        }
+
+    In this code example match will look for a line beginning with export
+    followed by HTTP_PROXY and delete it.  If multiple lines match, an
+    error will be raised unless the `multiple => true` parameter is set.
+
     **Autorequires:** If Puppet is managing the file that will contain the line
     being managed, the file_line resource will autorequire that file.
 
@@ -55,6 +69,14 @@ Puppet::Type.newtype(:file_line) do
          ' match an exception will be raised. '
   end
 
+  newparam(:match_for_absence) do
+    desc 'An optional value to determine if match should be applied when ensure => absent.' +
+         ' If set to true and match is set, the line that matches match will be deleted.' +
+         ' If set to false (the default), match is ignored when ensure => absent.'
+    newvalues(true, false)
+    defaultto false
+  end
+
   newparam(:multiple) do
     desc 'An optional value to determine if match can change multiple lines.' +
          ' If set to false, an exception will be raised if more than one line matches'