DirectoryInfo
Class
Definition
Exposes instance methods for creating, moving, and enumerating through directories and subdirectories. This class cannot be inherited.
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(true)]
public sealed class DirectoryInfo : System.IO.FileSystemInfo
- Inheritance
- Attributes
Inherited Members
System.IO.FileSystemInfo
System.MarshalByRefObject
System.Object
Examples
The following example demonstrates some of the main members of the DirectoryInfo class.
using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
int main()
{
// Specify the directories you want to manipulate.
DirectoryInfo^ di = gcnew DirectoryInfo( "c:\\MyDir" );
try
{
// Determine whether the directory exists.
if ( di->Exists )
{
// Indicate that the directory already exists.
Console::WriteLine( "That path exists already." );
return 0;
}
// Try to create the directory.
di->Create();
Console::WriteLine( "The directory was created successfully." );
// Delete the directory.
di->Delete();
Console::WriteLine( "The directory was deleted successfully." );
}
catch ( Exception^ e )
{
Console::WriteLine( "The process failed: {0}", e );
}
}
using System;
using System.IO;
class Test
{
public static void Main()
{
// Specify the directories you want to manipulate.
DirectoryInfo di = new DirectoryInfo(@"c:\MyDir");
try
{
// Determine whether the directory exists.
if (di.Exists)
{
// Indicate that the directory already exists.
Console.WriteLine("That path exists already.");
return;
}
// Try to create the directory.
di.Create();
Console.WriteLine("The directory was created successfully.");
// Delete the directory.
di.Delete();
Console.WriteLine("The directory was deleted successfully.");
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine("The process failed: {0}", e.ToString());
}
finally {}
}
}
Imports System
Imports System.IO
Public Class Test
Public Shared Sub Main()
' Specify the directories you want to manipulate.
Dim di As DirectoryInfo = New DirectoryInfo("c:\MyDir")
Try
' Determine whether the directory exists.
If di.Exists Then
' Indicate that it already exists.
Console.WriteLine("That path exists already.")
Return
End If
' Try to create the directory.
di.Create()
Console.WriteLine("The directory was created successfully.")
' Delete the directory.
di.Delete()
Console.WriteLine("The directory was deleted successfully.")
Catch e As Exception
Console.WriteLine("The process failed: {0}", e.ToString())
End Try
End Sub
End Class
The following example demonstrates how to copy a directory and its contents.
using System;
using System.IO;
class CopyDir
{
public static void CopyAll(DirectoryInfo source, DirectoryInfo target)
{
if (source.FullName.ToLower() == target.FullName.ToLower())
{
return;
}
// Check if the target directory exists, if not, create it.
if (Directory.Exists(target.FullName) == false)
{
Directory.CreateDirectory(target.FullName);
}
// Copy each file into it's new directory.
foreach (FileInfo fi in source.GetFiles())
{
Console.WriteLine(@"Copying {0}\{1}", target.FullName, fi.Name);
fi.CopyTo(Path.Combine(target.ToString(), fi.Name), true);
}
// Copy each subdirectory using recursion.
foreach (DirectoryInfo diSourceSubDir in source.GetDirectories())
{
DirectoryInfo nextTargetSubDir =
target.CreateSubdirectory(diSourceSubDir.Name);
CopyAll(diSourceSubDir, nextTargetSubDir);
}
}
public static void Main()
{
string sourceDirectory = @"c:\sourceDirectory";
string targetDirectory = @"c:\targetDirectory";
DirectoryInfo diSource = new DirectoryInfo(sourceDirectory);
DirectoryInfo diTarget = new DirectoryInfo(targetDirectory);
CopyAll(diSource, diTarget);
}
// Output will vary based on the contents of the source directory.
}
Imports System
Imports System.IO
Class CopyDir
Shared Sub CopyAll(ByVal source As DirectoryInfo, ByVal target As DirectoryInfo)
If (source.FullName.ToLower() = target.FullName.ToLower()) Then
Return
End If
' Check if the target directory exists, if not, create it.
If Directory.Exists(target.FullName) = False Then
Directory.CreateDirectory(target.FullName)
End If
' Copy each file into it's new directory.
For Each fi As FileInfo In source.GetFiles()
Console.WriteLine("Copying {0}\{1}", target.FullName, fi.Name)
fi.CopyTo(Path.Combine(target.ToString(), fi.Name), True)
Next
' Copy each subdirectory using recursion.
For Each diSourceSubDir As DirectoryInfo In source.GetDirectories()
Dim nextTargetSubDir As DirectoryInfo = target.CreateSubdirectory(diSourceSubDir.Name)
CopyAll(diSourceSubDir, nextTargetSubDir)
Next
End Sub
Shared Sub Main()
Dim sourceDirectory As String = "c:\\sourceDirectory"
Dim targetDirectory As String = "c:\\targetDirectory"
Dim diSource As DirectoryInfo = New DirectoryInfo(sourceDirectory)
Dim diTarget As DirectoryInfo = New DirectoryInfo(targetDirectory)
CopyAll(diSource, diTarget)
End Sub
' Output will vary based on the contents of the source directory.
End Class
Remarks
Note
To view the .NET Framework source code for this type, see the Reference Source. You can browse through the source code online, download the reference for offline viewing, and step through the sources (including patches and updates) during debugging; see instructions.
Use the DirectoryInfo class for typical operations such as copying, moving, renaming, creating, and deleting directories.
If you are going to reuse an object several times, consider using the instance method of DirectoryInfo instead of the corresponding static methods of the Directory class, because a security check will not always be necessary.
Note
In members that accept a path as an input string, that path must be well-formed or an exception is raised. For example, if a path is fully qualified but begins with a space, the path is not trimmed in methods of the class. Therefore, the path is malformed and an exception is raised. Similarly, a path or a combination of paths cannot be fully qualified twice. For example, "c:\temp c:\windows" also raises an exception in most cases. Ensure that your paths are well-formed when using methods that accept a path string.
In members that accept a path, the path can refer to a file or just a directory. The specified path can also refer to a relative path or a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path for a server and share name. For example, all the following are acceptable paths:
"c:\\MyDir\\MyFile.txt" in C#, or "c:\MyDir\MyFile.txt" in Visual Basic.
"c:\\MyDir" in C#, or "c:\MyDir" in Visual Basic.
"MyDir\\MySubdir" in C#, or "MyDir\MySubDir" in Visual Basic.
"\\\\MyServer\\MyShare" in C#, or "\\MyServer\MyShare" in Visual Basic.
By default, full read/write access to new directories is granted to all users.
For a list of common I/O tasks, see Common I/O Tasks.
Constructors
| DirectoryInfo(String) |
Initializes a new instance of the DirectoryInfo class on the specified path. |
Properties
| Exists |
Gets a value indicating whether the directory exists. |
| FullName |
Gets the full path of the directory. |
| Name |
Gets the name of this DirectoryInfo instance. |
| Parent |
Gets the parent directory of a specified subdirectory. |
| Root |
Gets the root portion of the directory. |
Methods
| Create() |
Creates a directory. |
| Create(DirectorySecurity) |
Creates a directory using a DirectorySecurity object. |
| CreateSubdirectory(String) |
Creates a subdirectory or subdirectories on the specified path. The specified path can be relative to this instance of the DirectoryInfo class. |
| CreateSubdirectory(String, DirectorySecurity) |
Creates a subdirectory or subdirectories on the specified path with the specified security. The specified path can be relative to this instance of the DirectoryInfo class. |
| Delete() |
Deletes this DirectoryInfo if it is empty. |
| Delete(Boolean) |
Deletes this instance of a DirectoryInfo, specifying whether to delete subdirectories and files. |
| EnumerateDirectories(String, SearchOption) |
Returns an enumerable collection of directory information that matches a specified search pattern and search subdirectory option. |
| EnumerateDirectories(String) |
Returns an enumerable collection of directory information that matches a specified search pattern. |
| EnumerateDirectories() |
Returns an enumerable collection of directory information in the current directory. |
| EnumerateFiles() |
Returns an enumerable collection of file information in the current directory. |
| EnumerateFiles(String) |
Returns an enumerable collection of file information that matches a search pattern. |
| EnumerateFiles(String, SearchOption) |
Returns an enumerable collection of file information that matches a specified search pattern and search subdirectory option. |
| EnumerateFileSystemInfos() |
Returns an enumerable collection of file system information in the current directory. |
| EnumerateFileSystemInfos(String) |
Returns an enumerable collection of file system information that matches a specified search pattern. |
| EnumerateFileSystemInfos(String, SearchOption) |
Returns an enumerable collection of file system information that matches a specified search pattern and search subdirectory option. |
| GetAccessControl() |
Gets a DirectorySecurity object that encapsulates the access control list (ACL) entries for the directory described by the current DirectoryInfo object. |
| GetAccessControl(AccessControlSections) |
Gets a DirectorySecurity object that encapsulates the specified type of access control list (ACL) entries for the directory described by the current DirectoryInfo object. |
| GetDirectories() |
Returns the subdirectories of the current directory. |
| GetDirectories(String) |
Returns an array of directories in the current DirectoryInfo matching the given search criteria. |
| GetDirectories(String, SearchOption) |
Returns an array of directories in the current DirectoryInfo matching the given search criteria and using a value to determine whether to search subdirectories. |
| GetFiles() |
Returns a file list from the current directory. |
| GetFiles(String) |
Returns a file list from the current directory matching the given search pattern. |
| GetFiles(String, SearchOption) |
Returns a file list from the current directory matching the given search pattern and using a value to determine whether to search subdirectories. |
| GetFileSystemInfos(String, SearchOption) |
Retrieves an array of FileSystemInfo objects that represent the files and subdirectories matching the specified search criteria. |
| GetFileSystemInfos() |
Returns an array of strongly typed FileSystemInfo entries representing all the files and subdirectories in a directory. |
| GetFileSystemInfos(String) |
Retrieves an array of strongly typed FileSystemInfo objects representing the files and subdirectories that match the specified search criteria. |
| MoveTo(String) |
Moves a DirectoryInfo instance and its contents to a new path. |
| SetAccessControl(DirectorySecurity) |
Applies access control list (ACL) entries described by a DirectorySecurity object to the directory described by the current DirectoryInfo object. |
| ToString() |
Returns the original path that was passed by the user. |
Extension Methods
| GetAccessControl(DirectoryInfo) | |
| GetAccessControl(DirectoryInfo, AccessControlSections) | |
| SetAccessControl(DirectoryInfo, DirectorySecurity) |