Directory.GetFiles Method
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 files that meet specified criteria.
GetFiles(String) |
Returns the names of files (including their paths) in the specified directory. |
GetFiles(String, String) |
Returns the names of files (including their paths) that match the specified search pattern in the specified directory. |
GetFiles(String, String, EnumerationOptions) |
Returns the names of files (including their paths) that match the specified search pattern and enumeration options in the specified directory. |
GetFiles(String, String, SearchOption) |
Returns the names of files (including their paths) that match the specified search pattern in the specified directory, using a value to determine whether to search subdirectories. |
- Source:
- Directory.cs
- Source:
- Directory.cs
- Source:
- Directory.cs
Returns the names of files (including their paths) in the specified directory.
public:
static cli::array <System::String ^> ^ GetFiles(System::String ^ path);
public static string[] GetFiles (string path);
static member GetFiles : string -> string[]
Public Shared Function GetFiles (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
An array of the full names (including paths) for the files in the specified directory, or an empty array if no files are found.
Exceptions
The caller does not have the required permission.
.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.
path
is null
.
The specified path, file name, or both exceed the system-defined maximum length.
The specified path is not found or is invalid (for example, it is on an unmapped drive).
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.
// 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
The EnumerateFiles and GetFiles methods differ as follows: When you use EnumerateFiles, you can start enumerating the collection of names before the whole collection is returned; when you use GetFiles, 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, EnumerateFiles can be more efficient.
The returned file names are appended to the supplied path
parameter.
This method is identical to GetFiles(String, String) with the asterisk (*) specified as the search pattern.
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 order of the returned file names is not guaranteed; use the Sort method if a specific sort order is required.
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.
See also
Applies to
.NET 9 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 |
.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 |
- Source:
- Directory.cs
- Source:
- Directory.cs
- Source:
- Directory.cs
Returns the names of files (including their paths) that match the specified search pattern in the specified directory.
public:
static cli::array <System::String ^> ^ GetFiles(System::String ^ path, System::String ^ searchPattern);
public static string[] GetFiles (string path, string searchPattern);
static member GetFiles : string * string -> string[]
Public Shared Function GetFiles (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
The search string to match against the names of files in path
. This parameter can contain a combination of valid literal path and wildcard (* and ?) characters, but it doesn't support regular expressions.
Returns
An array of the full names (including paths) for the files in the specified directory that match the specified search pattern, or an empty array if no files are found.
Exceptions
The caller does not have the required permission.
.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 GetInvalidPathChars().
-or-
searchPattern
doesn't contain a valid pattern.
path
or searchPattern
is null
.
The specified path, file name, or both exceed the system-defined maximum length.
The specified path is not found or is invalid (for example, it is on an unmapped drive).
Examples
The following example counts the number of files that begin with the specified letter.
using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
int main()
{
try
{
// Only get files that begin with the letter "c".
array<String^>^dirs = Directory::GetFiles( "c:\\", "c*" );
Console::WriteLine( "The number of files starting with c 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 files that begin with the letter "c".
string[] dirs = Directory.GetFiles(@"c:\", "c*");
Console.WriteLine("The number of files starting with c 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 files that begin with the letter "c".
let dirs = Directory.GetFiles(@"c:\", "c*")
printfn $"The number of files starting with c 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 files that begin with the letter "c".
Dim dirs As String() = Directory.GetFiles("c:\", "c*")
Console.WriteLine("The number of files starting with c 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 returned file names are appended to the supplied path
parameter and the order of the returned file names is not guaranteed; use the Sort method if a specific sort order is required.
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.
Note
.NET Framework only: When you use the asterisk wildcard character in searchPattern
and you specify a three-character file extension, for example, "*.txt", this method also returns files with extensions that begin with the specified extension. For example, the search pattern "*.xls" returns both "book.xls" and "book.xlsx". This behavior only occurs if an asterisk is used in the search pattern and the file extension provided is exactly three characters. If you use the question mark wildcard character somewhere in the search pattern, this method returns only files that match the specified file extension exactly. The following table depicts this anomaly in .NET Framework.
Files in directory | Search pattern | .NET 5+ returns | .NET Framework returns |
---|---|---|---|
file.ai, file.aif | *.ai | file.ai | file.ai |
book.xls, book.xlsx | *.xls | book.xls | book.xls, book.xlsx |
ello.txt, hello.txt, hello.txtt | ?ello.txt | hello.txt | hello.txt |
Note
Because this method checks against file names with both the 8.3 file name format and the long file name format, a search pattern similar to "*1*.txt" may return unexpected file names. For example, using a search pattern of "*1*.txt" returns "longfilename.txt" because the equivalent 8.3 file name format is "LONGFI~1.TXT".
The EnumerateFiles and GetFiles methods differ as follows: When you use EnumerateFiles, you can start enumerating the collection of names before the whole collection is returned; when you use GetFiles, 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, EnumerateFiles can be more efficient.
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 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.
See also
Applies to
.NET 9 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 |
.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 |
- Source:
- Directory.cs
- Source:
- Directory.cs
- Source:
- Directory.cs
Returns the names of files (including their paths) that match the specified search pattern and enumeration options in the specified directory.
public:
static cli::array <System::String ^> ^ GetFiles(System::String ^ path, System::String ^ searchPattern, System::IO::EnumerationOptions ^ enumerationOptions);
public static string[] GetFiles (string path, string searchPattern, System.IO.EnumerationOptions enumerationOptions);
static member GetFiles : string * string * System.IO.EnumerationOptions -> string[]
Public Shared Function GetFiles (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
The search string to match against the names of files in path
. This parameter can contain a combination of valid literal and wildcard characters, but it doesn't support regular expressions.
- enumerationOptions
- EnumerationOptions
An object that describes the search and enumeration configuration to use.
Returns
An array of the full names (including paths) for the files in the specified directory that match the specified search pattern and enumeration options, or an empty array if no files are found.
Exceptions
The caller does not have the required permission.
.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 GetInvalidPathChars().
-or-
searchPattern
doesn't contain a valid pattern.
path
or searchPattern
is null
.
The specified path, file name, or both exceed the system-defined maximum length.
The specified path is not found or is invalid (for example, it is on an unmapped drive).
Remarks
The returned file names are appended to the supplied path
parameter and the order of the returned file names is not guaranteed; use the Sort method if a specific sort order is required.
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.
Note
.NET Framework only: When you use the asterisk wildcard character in searchPattern
and you specify a three-character file extension, for example, "*.txt", this method also returns files with extensions that begin with the specified extension. For example, the search pattern "*.xls" returns both "book.xls" and "book.xlsx". This behavior only occurs if an asterisk is used in the search pattern and the file extension provided is exactly three characters. If you use the question mark wildcard character somewhere in the search pattern, this method returns only files that match the specified file extension exactly. The following table depicts this anomaly in .NET Framework.
Files in directory | Search pattern | .NET 5+ returns | .NET Framework returns |
---|---|---|---|
file.ai, file.aif | *.ai | file.ai | file.ai |
book.xls, book.xlsx | *.xls | book.xls | book.xls, book.xlsx |
ello.txt, hello.txt, hello.txtt | ?ello.txt | hello.txt | hello.txt |
Note
Because this method checks against file names with both the 8.3 file name format and the long file name format, a search pattern similar to "*1*.txt" may return unexpected file names. For example, using a search pattern of "*1*.txt" returns "longfilename.txt" because the equivalent 8.3 file name format is "LONGFI~1.TXT".
The EnumerateFiles and GetFiles methods differ as follows: When you use EnumerateFiles, you can start enumerating the collection of names before the whole collection is returned; when you use GetFiles, 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, EnumerateFiles can be more efficient.
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 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 9 and other versions
Product | Versions |
---|---|
.NET | Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 |
.NET Standard | 2.1 |
- Source:
- Directory.cs
- Source:
- Directory.cs
- Source:
- Directory.cs
Returns the names of files (including their paths) that match the specified search pattern in the specified directory, using a value to determine whether to search subdirectories.
public:
static cli::array <System::String ^> ^ GetFiles(System::String ^ path, System::String ^ searchPattern, System::IO::SearchOption searchOption);
public static string[] GetFiles (string path, string searchPattern, System.IO.SearchOption searchOption);
static member GetFiles : string * string * System.IO.SearchOption -> string[]
Public Shared Function GetFiles (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 files in path
. This parameter can contain a combination of valid literal path and wildcard (* and ?) 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
An array of the full names (including paths) for the files in the specified directory that match the specified search pattern and option, or an empty array if no files are found.
Exceptions
.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 with the GetInvalidPathChars() method.
-or-
searchPattern
does not contain a valid pattern.
path
or searchpattern
is null
.
searchOption
is not a valid SearchOption value.
The caller does not have the required permission.
The specified path is not found or is invalid (for example, it is on an unmapped drive).
The specified path, file name, or both exceed the system-defined maximum length.
Remarks
The returned file names are appended to the supplied parameter path
and the order of the returned file names is not guaranteed; use the Sort method if a specific sort order is required.
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.
Note
.NET Framework only: When you use the asterisk wildcard character in searchPattern
and you specify a three-character file extension, for example, "*.txt", this method also returns files with extensions that begin with the specified extension. For example, the search pattern "*.xls" returns both "book.xls" and "book.xlsx". This behavior only occurs if an asterisk is used in the search pattern and the file extension provided is exactly three characters. If you use the question mark wildcard character somewhere in the search pattern, this method returns only files that match the specified file extension exactly. The following table depicts this anomaly in .NET Framework.
Files in directory | Search pattern | .NET 5+ returns | .NET Framework returns |
---|---|---|---|
file.ai, file.aif | *.ai | file.ai | file.ai |
book.xls, book.xlsx | *.xls | book.xls | book.xls, book.xlsx |
ello.txt, hello.txt, hello.txtt | ?ello.txt | hello.txt | hello.txt |
Note
Because this method checks against file names with both the 8.3 file name format and the long file name format, a search pattern similar to "*1*.txt" may return unexpected file names. For example, using a search pattern of "*1*.txt" returns "longfilename.txt" because the equivalent 8.3 file name format is "LONGFI~1.TXT".
The EnumerateFiles and GetFiles methods differ as follows: When you use EnumerateFiles, you can start enumerating the collection of names before the whole collection is returned; when you use GetFiles, 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, EnumerateFiles can be more efficient.
The file names include the full path.
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 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.
See also
Applies to
.NET 9 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 |
.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 |
.NET feedback
.NET is an open source project. Select a link to provide feedback: