Directory.GetFiles Method (String) (System.IO)

GetFiles Method (String)

Collapse All

Language Filter

This page is specific to

Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

Other versions are also available for the following:

.NET Framework Class Library

Directory..::.GetFiles Method (String)

Updated: November 2007

Returns the names of files in the specified directory.

Namespace: System.IO
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

Public Shared Function GetFiles ( _
    path As String _
) As String()

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim path As String
Dim returnValue As String()

returnValue = Directory.GetFiles(path)

public static string[] GetFiles(
    string path
)

Visual C++

public:
static array<String^>^ GetFiles(
    String^ path
)

public static String[] GetFiles(
    String path
)

JScript

public static function GetFiles(
    path : String
) : String[]

Parameters

path: Type: System..::.String
The directory from which to retrieve the files.

Return Value

Type: array<System..::.String>[]()[]

A String array of file names in the specified directory.

Exceptions

Exception	Condition
IOException	path is a file name.
UnauthorizedAccessException	The caller does not have the required permission.
ArgumentException	path is a zero-length string, contains only white space, or contains one or more invalid characters as defined by InvalidPathChars.
ArgumentNullException	path is nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).
PathTooLongException	The specified path, file name, or both exceed the system-defined maximum length. For example, on Windows-based platforms, paths must be less than 248 characters and file names must be less than 260 characters.
DirectoryNotFoundException	The specified path is invalid (for example, it is on an unmapped drive).

Remarks

The returned file names are appended to the supplied path parameter.

If there are no files, this method returns an empty array.

This method is identical to GetFiles with the asterisk (*) specified as the search pattern.

The path parameter is permitted to specify relative or absolute path information. Relative path information is interpreted as relative to the current working directory. To obtain the current working directory, see GetCurrentDirectory.

The order of the returned file names is not guaranteed; use the Sort()()() method if a specific sort order is required.

The path parameter is not case-sensitive.

For a list of common I/O tasks, see Common I/O Tasks.

Examples

The following example demonstrates how to use the GetFiles method to return file names from a user-specified location. The example is configured to catch all errors common to this method.

Visual Basic

' For Directory.GetFiles and Directory.GetDirectories
' For File.Exists, Directory.Exists 

Imports System
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Collections

Public Class RecursiveFileProcessor

    Public Overloads Shared Sub Main(ByVal args() As String)
        Dim path As String
        For Each path In args
            If File.Exists(path) Then
                ' This path is a file.
                ProcessFile(path)
            Else
                If Directory.Exists(path) Then
                    ' This path is a directory.
                    ProcessDirectory(path)
                Else
                    Console.WriteLine("{0} is not a valid file or directory.", path)
                End If
            End If
        Next path
    End Sub 'Main


    ' Process all files in the directory passed in, recurse on any directories 
    ' that are found, and process the files they contain.
    Public Shared Sub ProcessDirectory(ByVal targetDirectory As String)
        Dim fileEntries As String() = Directory.GetFiles(targetDirectory)
        ' Process the list of files found in the directory.
        Dim fileName As String
        For Each fileName In fileEntries
            ProcessFile(fileName)

        Next fileName
        Dim subdirectoryEntries As String() = Directory.GetDirectories(targetDirectory)
        ' Recurse into subdirectories of this directory.
        Dim subdirectory As String
        For Each subdirectory In subdirectoryEntries
            ProcessDirectory(subdirectory)
        Next subdirectory

    End Sub 'ProcessDirectory

    ' Insert logic for processing found files here.
    Public Shared Sub ProcessFile(ByVal path As String)
        Console.WriteLine("Processed file '{0}'.", path)
    End Sub 'ProcessFile
End Class 'RecursiveFileProcessor

// For Directory.GetFiles and Directory.GetDirectories
// For File.Exists, Directory.Exists
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Collections;

public class RecursiveFileProcessor 
{
    public static void Main(string[] args) 
    {
        foreach(string path in args) 
        {
            if(File.Exists(path)) 
            {
                // This path is a file
                ProcessFile(path); 
            }               
            else if(Directory.Exists(path)) 
            {
                // This path is a directory
                ProcessDirectory(path);
            }
            else 
            {
                Console.WriteLine("{0} is not a valid file or directory.", path);
            }        
        }        
    }


    // Process all files in the directory passed in, recurse on any directories 
    // that are found, and process the files they contain.
    public static void ProcessDirectory(string targetDirectory) 
    {
        // Process the list of files found in the directory.
        string [] fileEntries = Directory.GetFiles(targetDirectory);
        foreach(string fileName in fileEntries)
            ProcessFile(fileName);

        // Recurse into subdirectories of this directory.
        string [] subdirectoryEntries = Directory.GetDirectories(targetDirectory);
        foreach(string subdirectory in subdirectoryEntries)
            ProcessDirectory(subdirectory);
    }

    // Insert logic for processing found files here.
    public static void ProcessFile(string path) 
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Processed file '{0}'.", path);        
    }
}

Visual C++

// For Directory::GetFiles and Directory::GetDirectories
// For File::Exists, Directory::Exists
using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Collections;

// Insert logic for processing found files here.
void ProcessFile( String^ path )
{
   Console::WriteLine( "Processed file '{0}'.", path );
}


// Process all files in the directory passed in, recurse on any directories 
// that are found, and process the files they contain.
void ProcessDirectory( String^ targetDirectory )
{

   // Process the list of files found in the directory.
   array<String^>^fileEntries = Directory::GetFiles( targetDirectory );
   IEnumerator^ files = fileEntries->GetEnumerator();
   while ( files->MoveNext() )
   {
      String^ fileName = safe_cast<String^>(files->Current);
      ProcessFile( fileName );
   }


   // Recurse into subdirectories of this directory.
   array<String^>^subdirectoryEntries = Directory::GetDirectories( targetDirectory );
   IEnumerator^ dirs = subdirectoryEntries->GetEnumerator();
   while ( dirs->MoveNext() )
   {
      String^ subdirectory = safe_cast<String^>(dirs->Current);
      ProcessDirectory( subdirectory );
   }
}

int main( int argc, char *argv[] )
{
   for ( int i = 1; i < argc; i++ )
   {
      String^ path = gcnew String(argv[ i ]);
      if ( File::Exists( path ) )
      {

         // This path is a file
         ProcessFile( path );
      }
      else
      if ( Directory::Exists( path ) )
      {

         // This path is a directory
         ProcessDirectory( path );
      }
      else
      {
         Console::WriteLine( "{0} is not a valid file or directory.", path );
      }

   }
}

// For Directory.GetFiles and Directory.GetDirectories
// For File.Exists, Directory.Exists
import System.*;
import System.IO.*;
import System.Collections.*;

public class RecursiveFileProcessor
{
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        for (int iCtr = 0; iCtr < args.get_Length(); iCtr++) {
            String path = args[iCtr];
            if (File.Exists(path)) {
                // This path is a file
                ProcessFile(path);
            }
            else {
                if (Directory.Exists(path)) {
                    // This path is a directory
                    ProcessDirectory(path);
                }
                else {
                    Console.WriteLine("{0} is not a valid file or directory.",
                        path);
                }
            }
        }
    } //main

    // Process all files in the directory passed in, recurse on any directories 
    // that are found, and process the files they contain.
    public static void ProcessDirectory(String targetDirectory)
    {
        // Process the list of files found in the directory.
        String fileEntries[] = Directory.GetFiles(targetDirectory);
        for (int iCtr1 = 0; iCtr1 < fileEntries.get_Length(); iCtr1++) {
            String fileName = fileEntries[iCtr1];
            ProcessFile(fileName);
        }
        // Recurse into subdirectories of this directory.
        String subDirectoryEntries[] = 
            Directory.GetDirectories(targetDirectory);
        for (int iCtr2 = 0; iCtr2 < subDirectoryEntries.get_Length(); 
            iCtr2++) {
            String subDirectory = subDirectoryEntries[iCtr2];
            ProcessDirectory(subDirectory);
        }
    } //ProcessDirectory

    // Insert logic for processing found files here.
    public static void ProcessFile(String path)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Processed file '{0}'.", path);
    } //ProcessFile
} //RecursiveFileProcessor

JScript

//For Directory.GetFiles and Directory.GetDirectories
import System;
import System.IO;
import System.Collections;

// For File.Exists, Directory.Exists 
// Takes an array of file names or directory names on the command line.  
// Determines what kind of name it is and processes it appropriately
public class RecursiveFileProcessor {
    public static function Main(args : String[]) : void  {
        for(var i : int in args) {
            var path : String = args[i];
            if (File.Exists(path)) {
                // This path is a file
                ProcessFile(path); 
            }               
            else if(Directory.Exists(path)) {
                // This path is a directory
                ProcessDirectory(path);
            }
            else {
                Console.WriteLine("{0} is not a valid file or directory.", path);
            }        
        }        
    }


    // Process all files in the directory passed in, and recurse on any directories 
    // that are found to process the files they contain
    public static function ProcessDirectory(targetDirectory : String) : void  {
        // Process the list of files found in the directory
        var fileEntries : String [] = Directory.GetFiles(targetDirectory);
        for (var i : int in fileEntries)
            ProcessFile(fileEntries[i]);

        // Recurse into subdirectories of this directory
        var subdirectoryEntries : String[] = Directory.GetDirectories(targetDirectory);
        for (i in subdirectoryEntries)
            ProcessDirectory(subdirectoryEntries[i]);
    }

    // Real logic for processing found files would go here.
    public static function ProcessFile(path : String) : void  {
        Console.WriteLine("Processed file '{0}'.", path);        
    }
}

// For JScript there is no 'Main' routine defined and hence the command line arguments
// have to be obtained with a call to System.Environment.GetCommandLineArgs
RecursiveFileProcessor.Main(System.Environment.GetCommandLineArgs());

Permissions

FileIOPermission
for access to path information for the current directory. Associated enumeration: FileIOPermissionAccess..::.PathDiscovery

Platforms

Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Xbox 360

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Version Information