FileSystemWatcher.Path Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.IO

Assemblies:

netstandard.dll, System.IO.FileSystem.Watcher.dll

Source:

FileSystemWatcher.cs

Gets or sets the path of the directory to watch.

C#

public string Path { get; set; }

Property Value

String

The path to monitor. The default is an empty string ("").

Exceptions

ArgumentException

The specified path does not exist or could not be found.

-or-

The specified path contains wildcard characters.

-or-

The specified path contains invalid path characters.

Examples

The following example creates a FileSystemWatcher to watch the directory specified at run time. The component is set to watch for changes in LastWrite and LastAccess time, the creation, deletion, or renaming of text files in the directory. If a file is changed, created, or deleted, the path to the file prints to the console. When a file is renamed, the old and new paths print to the console.

C#

using System;
using System.IO;

namespace MyNamespace
{
    class MyClassCS
    {
        static void Main()
        {
            using var watcher = new FileSystemWatcher(@"C:\path\to\folder");

            watcher.NotifyFilter = NotifyFilters.Attributes
                                 | NotifyFilters.CreationTime
                                 | NotifyFilters.DirectoryName
                                 | NotifyFilters.FileName
                                 | NotifyFilters.LastAccess
                                 | NotifyFilters.LastWrite
                                 | NotifyFilters.Security
                                 | NotifyFilters.Size;

            watcher.Changed += OnChanged;
            watcher.Created += OnCreated;
            watcher.Deleted += OnDeleted;
            watcher.Renamed += OnRenamed;
            watcher.Error += OnError;

            watcher.Filter = "*.txt";
            watcher.IncludeSubdirectories = true;
            watcher.EnableRaisingEvents = true;

            Console.WriteLine("Press enter to exit.");
            Console.ReadLine();
        }

        private static void OnChanged(object sender, FileSystemEventArgs e)
        {
            if (e.ChangeType != WatcherChangeTypes.Changed)
            {
                return;
            }
            Console.WriteLine($"Changed: {e.FullPath}");
        }

        private static void OnCreated(object sender, FileSystemEventArgs e)
        {
            string value = $"Created: {e.FullPath}";
            Console.WriteLine(value);
        }

        private static void OnDeleted(object sender, FileSystemEventArgs e) =>
            Console.WriteLine($"Deleted: {e.FullPath}");

        private static void OnRenamed(object sender, RenamedEventArgs e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine($"Renamed:");
            Console.WriteLine($"    Old: {e.OldFullPath}");
            Console.WriteLine($"    New: {e.FullPath}");
        }

        private static void OnError(object sender, ErrorEventArgs e) =>
            PrintException(e.GetException());

        private static void PrintException(Exception? ex)
        {
            if (ex != null)
            {
                Console.WriteLine($"Message: {ex.Message}");
                Console.WriteLine("Stacktrace:");
                Console.WriteLine(ex.StackTrace);
                Console.WriteLine();
                PrintException(ex.InnerException);
            }
        }
    }
}

Remarks

This is a fully qualified path to a directory. If the IncludeSubdirectories property is true, this directory is the root at which the system watches for changes; otherwise it is the only directory watched. To watch a specific file, set the Path property to the fully qualified, correct directory, and the Filter property to the file name.

The Path property supports Universal Naming Convention (UNC) paths.

Note

This property must be set before the component can watch for changes.

When a directory is renamed, the FileSystemWatcher automatically reattaches itself to the newly renamed item. For example, if you set the Path property to "C:\My Documents" and then manually rename the directory to "C:\Your Documents", the component continues listening for change notifications on the newly renamed directory. However, when you ask for the Path property, it contains the old path. This happens because the component determines what directory watches based on the handle, rather than the name of the directory. Renaming does not affect the handle. So, if you destroy the component, and then recreate it without updating the Path property, your application will fail because the directory no longer exists.

Applies to

See also

• FileSystemWatcher
• Filter