Directory.GetDirectories Method

Reference

Definition

Namespace:: System.IO

Assemblies:: mscorlib.dll, System.IO.FileSystem.dll

Assemblies:: netstandard.dll, System.Runtime.dll

Assemblies:: netstandard.dll, System.IO.FileSystem.dll

Assemblies:: netstandard.dll, System.IO.FileSystem.dll, System.Runtime.dll

Assembly:: System.IO.FileSystem.dll

Assembly:: mscorlib.dll

Assembly:: netstandard.dll

Important

Some information relates to prerelease product that may be substantially modified before it’s released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.

Returns the names of subdirectories that meet specified criteria.

Overloads

GetDirectories(String, String, SearchOption)	Returns the names of the subdirectories (including their paths) that match the specified search pattern in the specified directory, and optionally searches subdirectories.
GetDirectories(String, String, EnumerationOptions)	Returns the names of subdirectories (including their paths) that match the specified search pattern and enumeration options in the specified directory.
GetDirectories(String, String)	Returns the names of subdirectories (including their paths) that match the specified search pattern in the specified directory.
GetDirectories(String)	Returns the names of subdirectories (including their paths) in the specified directory.

GetDirectories(String, String, SearchOption)

Source:: Directory.cs

Source:: Directory.cs

Source:: Directory.cs

Returns the names of the subdirectories (including their paths) that match the specified search pattern in the specified directory, and optionally searches subdirectories.

public:
 static cli::array <System::String ^> ^ GetDirectories(System::String ^ path, System::String ^ searchPattern, System::IO::SearchOption searchOption);

public static string[] GetDirectories(string path, string searchPattern, System.IO.SearchOption searchOption);

static member GetDirectories : string * string * System.IO.SearchOption -> string[]

Public Shared Function GetDirectories (path As String, searchPattern As String, searchOption As SearchOption) As String()

Parameters

path: String

The relative or absolute path to the directory to search. This string is not case-sensitive.

searchPattern: String

The search string to match against the names of subdirectories in path. This parameter can contain a combination of valid literal and wildcard characters, but it doesn't support regular expressions.

searchOption: SearchOption

One of the enumeration values that specifies whether the search operation should include all subdirectories or only the current directory.

Returns

String[]

An array of the full names (including paths) of the subdirectories that match the specified criteria, or an empty array if no directories are found.

Exceptions

ArgumentException

.NET Framework and .NET Core versions older than 2.1: path is a zero-length string, contains only white space, or contains one or more invalid characters. You can query for invalid characters by using the GetInvalidPathChars() method.

-or-

searchPattern does not contain a valid pattern.

ArgumentNullException

path or searchPattern is null.

ArgumentOutOfRangeException

searchOption is not a valid SearchOption value.

UnauthorizedAccessException

The caller does not have the required permission.

PathTooLongException

The specified path, file name, or both exceed the system-defined maximum length.

IOException

path is a file name.

-or-

File or directory is corrupted and unreadable (example: invalid first allocation unit of a FAT32 partition).

DirectoryNotFoundException

The specified path is invalid (for example, it is on an unmapped drive).

Examples

The following example counts the number of directories that begin with the specified letter in a path. Only the top-level directory is searched.

using System;
using System.IO;

class Test
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        try
        {
            string[] dirs = Directory.GetDirectories(@"c:\", "p*", SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly);
            Console.WriteLine("The number of directories starting with p is {0}.", dirs.Length);
            foreach (string dir in dirs)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(dir);
            }
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("The process failed: {0}", e.ToString());
        }
    }
}

open System.IO

try
    let dirs = Directory.GetDirectories(@"c:\", "p*", SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly)
    printfn $"The number of directories starting with p is {dirs.Length}."
    for dir in dirs do
        printfn $"{dir}"
with e ->
    printfn $"The process failed: {e}"

Imports System.IO

Public Class Test
    Public Shared Sub Main()
        Try
            Dim dirs As String() = Directory.GetDirectories("c:\", "p*", SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly)
            Console.WriteLine("The number of directories starting with p is {0}.", dirs.Length)
            Dim dir As String
            For Each dir In dirs
                Console.WriteLine(dir)
            Next
        Catch e As Exception
            Console.WriteLine("The process failed: {0}", e.ToString())
        End Try
    End Sub
End Class

Remarks

The path parameter can specify relative or absolute path information, and is not case-sensitive. Relative path information is interpreted as relative to the current working directory. To obtain the current working directory, see GetCurrentDirectory.

searchPattern can be a combination of literal and wildcard characters, but it doesn't support regular expressions. The following wildcard specifiers are permitted in searchPattern.

Wildcard specifier	Matches
* (asterisk)	Zero or more characters in that position.
? (question mark)	Exactly one character in that position.

Characters other than the wildcard are literal characters. For example, the searchPattern string "*t" searches for all names in path ending with the letter "t". The searchPattern string "s*" searches for all names in path beginning with the letter "s".

searchPattern cannot end in two periods ("..") or contain two periods ("..") followed by DirectorySeparatorChar or AltDirectorySeparatorChar, nor can it contain any invalid characters. You can query for invalid characters by using the GetInvalidPathChars method.

The EnumerateDirectories and GetDirectories methods differ as follows: When you use EnumerateDirectories, you can start enumerating the collection of names before the whole collection is returned; when you use GetDirectories, you must wait for the whole array of names to be returned before you can access the array. Therefore, when you are working with many files and directories, EnumerateDirectories can be more efficient.

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

Applies to

.NET 10 and other versions

Product	Versions
.NET	Core 1.0, Core 1.1, Core 2.0, Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
.NET Framework	2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard	1.3, 1.4, 1.6, 2.0, 2.1
UWP	10.0

GetDirectories(String, String, EnumerationOptions)

Source:: Directory.cs

Source:: Directory.cs

Source:: Directory.cs

Returns the names of subdirectories (including their paths) that match the specified search pattern and enumeration options in the specified directory.

public:
 static cli::array <System::String ^> ^ GetDirectories(System::String ^ path, System::String ^ searchPattern, System::IO::EnumerationOptions ^ enumerationOptions);

public static string[] GetDirectories(string path, string searchPattern, System.IO.EnumerationOptions enumerationOptions);

static member GetDirectories : string * string * System.IO.EnumerationOptions -> string[]

Public Shared Function GetDirectories (path As String, searchPattern As String, enumerationOptions As EnumerationOptions) As String()

Parameters

path: String

The relative or absolute path to the directory to search. This string is not case-sensitive.

searchPattern: String

enumerationOptions: EnumerationOptions

An object that describes the search and enumeration configuration to use.

Returns

String[]

An array of the full names (including paths) of the subdirectories that match the search pattern and enumeration options in the specified directory, or an empty array if no directories are found.

Exceptions

UnauthorizedAccessException

The caller does not have the required permission.

ArgumentException

-or-

searchPattern doesn't contain a valid pattern.

ArgumentNullException

path or searchPattern is null.

PathTooLongException

The specified path, file name, or both exceed the system-defined maximum length.

IOException

path is a file name.

-or-

File or directory is corrupted and unreadable (example: invalid first allocation unit of a FAT32 partition).

DirectoryNotFoundException

The specified path is invalid (for example, it is on an unmapped drive).

Remarks

This method returns all subdirectories directly under the specified directory that match the specified search pattern. If the specified directory has no subdirectories, or no subdirectories match the searchPattern parameter, this method returns an empty array. Only the top directory is searched. If you want to search the subdirectories as well, use the GetDirectories(String, String, SearchOption) method and specify AllDirectories in the searchOption parameter.

searchPattern can be a combination of literal and wildcard characters, but it doesn't support regular expressions. The following wildcard specifiers are permitted in searchPattern.

Wildcard specifier	Matches
* (asterisk)	Zero or more characters in that position.
? (question mark)	Exactly one character in that position.

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

Applies to

.NET 10 and other versions

Product	Versions
.NET	Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
.NET Standard	2.1

GetDirectories(String, String)

Source:: Directory.cs

Source:: Directory.cs

Source:: Directory.cs

Returns the names of subdirectories (including their paths) that match the specified search pattern in the specified directory.

public:
 static cli::array <System::String ^> ^ GetDirectories(System::String ^ path, System::String ^ searchPattern);

public static string[] GetDirectories(string path, string searchPattern);

static member GetDirectories : string * string -> string[]

Public Shared Function GetDirectories (path As String, searchPattern As String) As String()

Parameters

path: String

The relative or absolute path to the directory to search. This string is not case-sensitive.

searchPattern: String

Returns

String[]

An array of the full names (including paths) of the subdirectories that match the search pattern in the specified directory, or an empty array if no directories are found.

Exceptions

UnauthorizedAccessException

The caller does not have the required permission.

ArgumentException

-or-

searchPattern doesn't contain a valid pattern.

ArgumentNullException

path or searchPattern is null.

PathTooLongException

The specified path, file name, or both exceed the system-defined maximum length.

IOException

path is a file name.

-or-

File or directory is corrupted and unreadable (example: invalid first allocation unit of a FAT32 partition).

DirectoryNotFoundException

The specified path is invalid (for example, it is on an unmapped drive).

Examples

The following example counts the number of directories in a path that begin with the specified letter.

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
int main()
{
   try
   {
      
      // Only get subdirectories that begin with the letter "p."
      array<String^>^dirs = Directory::GetDirectories( "c:\\", "p*" );
      Console::WriteLine( "The number of directories starting with p is {0}.", dirs->Length );
      Collections::IEnumerator^ myEnum = dirs->GetEnumerator();
      while ( myEnum->MoveNext() )
      {
         Console::WriteLine( myEnum->Current );
      }
   }
   catch ( Exception^ e ) 
   {
      Console::WriteLine( "The process failed: {0}", e );
   }

}

using System;
using System.IO;

class Test
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        try
        {
            // Only get subdirectories that begin with the letter "p."
            string[] dirs = Directory.GetDirectories(@"c:\", "p*");
            Console.WriteLine("The number of directories starting with p is {0}.", dirs.Length);
            foreach (string dir in dirs)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(dir);
            }
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("The process failed: {0}", e.ToString());
        }
    }
}

open System.IO

try
    // Only get subdirectories that begin with the letter "p."
    let dirs = Directory.GetDirectories(@"c:\", "p*")
    printfn $"The number of directories starting with p is {dirs.Length}."
    for dir in dirs do
        printfn $"{dir}"
with e ->
    printfn $"The process failed: {e}"

Imports System.IO

Public Class Test
    Public Shared Sub Main()
        Try
            ' Only get subdirectories that begin with the letter "p."
            Dim dirs As String() = Directory.GetDirectories("c:\", "p*")
            Console.WriteLine("The number of directories starting with p is {0}.", dirs.Length)
            Dim dir As String
            For Each dir In dirs
                Console.WriteLine(dir)
            Next
        Catch e As Exception
            Console.WriteLine("The process failed: {0}", e.ToString())
        End Try
    End Sub
End Class

Remarks

searchPattern can be a combination of literal and wildcard characters, but it doesn't support regular expressions. The following wildcard specifiers are permitted in searchPattern.

Wildcard specifier	Matches
* (asterisk)	Zero or more characters in that position.
? (question mark)	Exactly one character in that position.

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

Applies to

.NET 10 and other versions

Product	Versions
.NET	Core 1.0, Core 1.1, Core 2.0, Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
.NET Framework	1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard	1.3, 1.4, 1.6, 2.0, 2.1
UWP	10.0

GetDirectories(String)

Source:: Directory.cs

Source:: Directory.cs

Source:: Directory.cs

Returns the names of subdirectories (including their paths) in the specified directory.

public:
 static cli::array <System::String ^> ^ GetDirectories(System::String ^ path);

public static string[] GetDirectories(string path);

static member GetDirectories : string -> string[]

Public Shared Function GetDirectories (path As String) As String()

Parameters

path: String

The relative or absolute path to the directory to search. This string is not case-sensitive.

Returns

String[]

An array of the full names (including paths) of subdirectories in the specified path, or an empty array if no directories are found.

Exceptions

UnauthorizedAccessException

The caller does not have the required permission.

ArgumentException

ArgumentNullException

path is null.

PathTooLongException

The specified path, file name, or both exceed the system-defined maximum length.

IOException

path is a file name.

-or-

File or directory is corrupted and unreadable (example: invalid first allocation unit of a FAT32 partition).

DirectoryNotFoundException

The specified path is invalid (for example, it is on an unmapped drive).

Examples

The following example takes an array of file or directory names on the command line, determines what kind of name it is, and processes it appropriately.

// 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
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);	
    }
}

module RecursiveFileProcessor

open System.IO

// Insert logic for processing found files here.
let processFile path =
    printfn $"Processed file '%s{path}'."

// Process all files in the directory passed in, recurse on any directories
// that are found, and process the files they contain.
let rec processDirectory targetDirectory =
    // Process the list of files found in the directory.
    let fileEntries = Directory.GetFiles targetDirectory
    for fileName in fileEntries do
        processFile fileName

    // Recurse into subdirectories of this directory.
    let subdirectoryEntries = Directory.GetDirectories targetDirectory
    for subdirectory in subdirectoryEntries do
        processDirectory subdirectory

[<EntryPoint>]
let main args =
    for path in args do
        if File.Exists path then
            // This path is a file
            processFile path
        elif Directory.Exists path then
            // This path is a directory
            processDirectory path
        else
            printfn $"{path} is not a valid file or directory."
    0

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

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


    ' 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

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

Remarks

This method is identical to GetDirectories(String, String) with the asterisk (*) specified as the search pattern, so it returns all subdirectories. If you need to search subdirectories, use the GetDirectories(String, String, SearchOption) method, which enables you to specify a search of subdirectories with the searchOption parameter.

The path parameter can 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 names returned by this method are prefixed with the directory information provided in path.

The case-sensitivity of the path parameter corresponds to that of the file system on which the code is running. For example, it's case-insensitive on NTFS (the default Windows file system) and case-sensitive on Linux file systems.

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

Applies to

.NET 10 and other versions

Product	Versions
.NET	Core 1.0, Core 1.1, Core 2.0, Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
.NET Framework	1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard	1.3, 1.4, 1.6, 2.0, 2.1
UWP	10.0

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Directory.GetDirectories Method

Definition

Overloads

GetDirectories(String, String, SearchOption)

Parameters

Returns

Exceptions

Examples

Remarks

See also

Applies to

GetDirectories(String, String, EnumerationOptions)

Parameters

Returns

Exceptions

Remarks

Applies to

GetDirectories(String, String)

Parameters

Returns

Exceptions

Examples

Remarks

See also

Applies to

GetDirectories(String)

Parameters

Returns

Exceptions

Examples

Remarks

See also

Applies to

Additional resources