How to: Iterate File Directories with the Parallel Class
In many cases, file iteration is an operation that can be easily parallelized. The topic How to: Iterate File Directories with PLINQ shows the easiest way to perform this task for many scenarios. However, complications can arise when your code has to deal with the many types of exceptions that can arise when accessing the file system. The following example shows one approach to the problem. It uses a stack-based iteration to traverse all files and folders under a specified directory, and it enables your code to catch and handle various exceptions. Of course, the way that you handle the exceptions is up to you.
Example
The following example iterates the directories sequentially, but processes the files in parallel. This is probably the best approach when you have a large file-to-directory ratio. It is also possible to parallelize the directory iteration, and access each file sequentially. It is probably not efficient to parallelize both loops unless you are specifically targeting a machine with a large number of processors. However, as in all cases, you should test your application thoroughly to determine the best approach.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.IO;
using System.Security;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
try
{
TraverseTreeParallelForEach(@"C:\Program Files", (f) =>
{
// Exceptions are no-ops.
try
{
// Do nothing with the data except read it.
byte[] data = File.ReadAllBytes(f);
}
catch (FileNotFoundException) { }
catch (IOException) { }
catch (UnauthorizedAccessException) { }
catch (SecurityException) { }
// Display the filename.
Console.WriteLine(f);
});
}
catch (ArgumentException)
{
Console.WriteLine(@"The directory 'C:\Program Files' does not exist.");
}
// Keep the console window open.
Console.ReadKey();
}
public static void TraverseTreeParallelForEach(string root, Action<string> action)
{
//Count of files traversed and timer for diagnostic output
int fileCount = 0;
var sw = Stopwatch.StartNew();
// Determine whether to parallelize file processing on each folder based on processor count.
int procCount = Environment.ProcessorCount;
// Data structure to hold names of subfolders to be examined for files.
Stack<string> dirs = new Stack<string>();
if (!Directory.Exists(root))
{
throw new ArgumentException(
"The given root directory doesn't exist.", nameof(root));
}
dirs.Push(root);
while (dirs.Count > 0)
{
string currentDir = dirs.Pop();
string[] subDirs = { };
string[] files = { };
try
{
subDirs = Directory.GetDirectories(currentDir);
}
// Thrown if we do not have discovery permission on the directory.
catch (UnauthorizedAccessException e)
{
Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
continue;
}
// Thrown if another process has deleted the directory after we retrieved its name.
catch (DirectoryNotFoundException e)
{
Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
continue;
}
try
{
files = Directory.GetFiles(currentDir);
}
catch (UnauthorizedAccessException e)
{
Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
continue;
}
catch (DirectoryNotFoundException e)
{
Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
continue;
}
catch (IOException e)
{
Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
continue;
}
// Execute in parallel if there are enough files in the directory.
// Otherwise, execute sequentially.Files are opened and processed
// synchronously but this could be modified to perform async I/O.
try
{
if (files.Length < procCount)
{
foreach (var file in files)
{
action(file);
fileCount++;
}
}
else
{
Parallel.ForEach(files, () => 0,
(file, loopState, localCount) =>
{
action(file);
return (int)++localCount;
},
(c) =>
{
Interlocked.Add(ref fileCount, c);
});
}
}
catch (AggregateException ae)
{
ae.Handle((ex) =>
{
if (ex is UnauthorizedAccessException)
{
// Here we just output a message and go on.
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
return true;
}
// Handle other exceptions here if necessary...
return false;
});
}
// Push the subdirectories onto the stack for traversal.
// This could also be done before handing the files.
foreach (string str in subDirs)
dirs.Push(str);
}
// For diagnostic purposes.
Console.WriteLine("Processed {0} files in {1} milliseconds", fileCount, sw.ElapsedMilliseconds);
}
}
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Diagnostics
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Security
Imports System.Threading
Imports System.Threading.Tasks
Module Example
Sub Main()
Try
TraverseTreeParallelForEach("C:\Program Files",
Sub(f)
' Exceptions are No-ops.
Try
' Do nothing with the data except read it.
Dim data() As Byte = File.ReadAllBytes(f)
' In the event the file has been deleted.
Catch e As FileNotFoundException
' General I/O exception, especially if the file is in use.
Catch e As IOException
' Lack of adequate permissions.
Catch e As UnauthorizedAccessException
' Lack of adequate permissions.
Catch e As SecurityException
End Try
' Display the filename.
Console.WriteLine(f)
End Sub)
Catch e As ArgumentException
Console.WriteLine("The directory 'C:\Program Files' does not exist.")
End Try
' Keep the console window open.
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
Public Sub TraverseTreeParallelForEach(ByVal root As String, ByVal action As Action(Of String))
'Count of files traversed and timer for diagnostic output
Dim fileCount As Integer = 0
Dim sw As Stopwatch = Stopwatch.StartNew()
' Determine whether to parallelize file processing on each folder based on processor count.
Dim procCount As Integer = System.Environment.ProcessorCount
' Data structure to hold names of subfolders to be examined for files.
Dim dirs As New Stack(Of String)
If Not Directory.Exists(root) Then Throw New ArgumentException(
"The given root directory doesn't exist.", NameOf(root))
dirs.Push(root)
While (dirs.Count > 0)
Dim currentDir As String = dirs.Pop()
Dim subDirs() As String = Nothing
Dim files() As String = Nothing
Try
subDirs = Directory.GetDirectories(currentDir)
' Thrown if we do not have discovery permission on the directory.
Catch e As UnauthorizedAccessException
Console.WriteLine(e.Message)
Continue While
' Thrown if another process has deleted the directory after we retrieved its name.
Catch e As DirectoryNotFoundException
Console.WriteLine(e.Message)
Continue While
End Try
Try
files = Directory.GetFiles(currentDir)
Catch e As UnauthorizedAccessException
Console.WriteLine(e.Message)
Continue While
Catch e As DirectoryNotFoundException
Console.WriteLine(e.Message)
Continue While
Catch e As IOException
Console.WriteLine(e.Message)
Continue While
End Try
' Execute in parallel if there are enough files in the directory.
' Otherwise, execute sequentially.Files are opened and processed
' synchronously but this could be modified to perform async I/O.
Try
If files.Length < procCount Then
For Each file In files
action(file)
fileCount += 1
Next
Else
Parallel.ForEach(files, Function() 0, Function(file, loopState, localCount)
action(file)
localCount = localCount + 1
Return localCount
End Function,
Sub(c)
Interlocked.Add(fileCount, c)
End Sub)
End If
Catch ae As AggregateException
ae.Handle(Function(ex)
If TypeOf (ex) Is UnauthorizedAccessException Then
' Here we just output a message and go on.
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message)
Return True
End If
' Handle other exceptions here if necessary...
Return False
End Function)
End Try
' Push the subdirectories onto the stack for traversal.
' This could also be done before handing the files.
For Each str As String In subDirs
dirs.Push(str)
Next
' For diagnostic purposes.
Console.WriteLine("Processed {0} files in {1} milliseconds", fileCount, sw.ElapsedMilliseconds)
End While
End Sub
End Module
In this example, the file I/O is performed synchronously. When dealing with large files or slow network connections, it might be preferable to access the files asynchronously. You can combine asynchronous I/O techniques with parallel iteration. For more information, see TPL and Traditional .NET Asynchronous Programming.
The example uses the local fileCount variable to maintain a count of the total number of files processed. Because the variable might be accessed concurrently by multiple tasks, access to it is synchronized by calling the Interlocked.Add method.
Note that if an exception is thrown on the main thread, the threads that are started by the ForEach method might continue to run. To stop these threads, you can set a Boolean variable in your exception handlers, and check its value on each iteration of the parallel loop. If the value indicates that an exception has been thrown, use the ParallelLoopState variable to stop or break from the loop. For more information, see How to: Stop or Break from a Parallel.For Loop.
See also
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