Directory.GetLogicalDrives Method

Definition

Namespace:

System.IO

Assemblies:

netstandard.dll, System.Runtime.dll

Source:

Directory.cs

Retrieves the names of the logical drives on this computer.

C#

public static string[] GetLogicalDrives();

Returns

String[]

An array of strings representing the logical drive names.

Exceptions

IOException

An I/O error occurred (for example, a disk error).

UnauthorizedAccessException

The caller does not have the required permission.

Examples

The following example uses the GetLogicalDrives method to assign the name of each drive on the calling computer to an array of strings. Each member of this string array is then printed to the console. The example is configured to catch all errors common to this method.

C#

using System;

namespace GetFileSystemEntries
{
    class Class1
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Class1 snippets = new Class1();

            string path = System.IO.Directory.GetCurrentDirectory();
            string filter = "*.exe";

            snippets.PrintFileSystemEntries(path);
            snippets.PrintFileSystemEntries(path, filter);		
            snippets.GetLogicalDrives();
            snippets.GetParent(path);
            snippets.Move("C:\\proof", "C:\\Temp");
        }

        void PrintFileSystemEntries(string path)
        {
            
            try
            {
                // Obtain the file system entries in the directory path.
                string[] directoryEntries =
                    System.IO.Directory.GetFileSystemEntries(path);

                foreach (string str in directoryEntries)
                {
                    System.Console.WriteLine(str);
                }
            }
            catch (ArgumentNullException)
            {
                System.Console.WriteLine("Path is a null reference.");
            }
            catch (System.Security.SecurityException)
            {
                System.Console.WriteLine("The caller does not have the " +
                    "required permission.");
            }
            catch (ArgumentException)
            {
                System.Console.WriteLine("Path is an empty string, " +
                    "contains only white spaces, " +
                    "or contains invalid characters.");
            }
            catch (System.IO.DirectoryNotFoundException)
            {
                System.Console.WriteLine("The path encapsulated in the " +
                    "Directory object does not exist.");
            }
        }
        void PrintFileSystemEntries(string path, string pattern)
        {
            try
            {
                // Obtain the file system entries in the directory
                // path that match the pattern.
                string[] directoryEntries =
                    System.IO.Directory.GetFileSystemEntries(path, pattern);

                foreach (string str in directoryEntries)
                {
                    System.Console.WriteLine(str);
                }
            }
            catch (ArgumentNullException)
            {
                System.Console.WriteLine("Path is a null reference.");
            }
            catch (System.Security.SecurityException)
            {
                System.Console.WriteLine("The caller does not have the " +
                    "required permission.");
            }
            catch (ArgumentException)
            {
                System.Console.WriteLine("Path is an empty string, " +
                    "contains only white spaces, " +
                    "or contains invalid characters.");
            }
            catch (System.IO.DirectoryNotFoundException)
            {
                System.Console.WriteLine("The path encapsulated in the " +
                    "Directory object does not exist.");
            }
        }

        // Print out all logical drives on the system.
        void GetLogicalDrives()
        {
            try
            {
                string[] drives = System.IO.Directory.GetLogicalDrives();

                foreach (string str in drives)
                {
                    System.Console.WriteLine(str);
                }
            }
            catch (System.IO.IOException)
            {
                System.Console.WriteLine("An I/O error occurs.");
            }
            catch (System.Security.SecurityException)
            {
                System.Console.WriteLine("The caller does not have the " +
                    "required permission.");
            }
        }
        void GetParent(string path)
        {
            try
            {
                System.IO.DirectoryInfo directoryInfo =
                    System.IO.Directory.GetParent(path);

                System.Console.WriteLine(directoryInfo.FullName);
            }
            catch (ArgumentNullException)
            {
                System.Console.WriteLine("Path is a null reference.");
            }
            catch (ArgumentException)
            {
                System.Console.WriteLine("Path is an empty string, " +
                    "contains only white spaces, or " +
                    "contains invalid characters.");
            }
        }
        void Move(string sourcePath, string destinationPath)
        {
            try
            {
                System.IO.Directory.Move(sourcePath, destinationPath);
                System.Console.WriteLine("The directory move is complete.");
            }
            catch (ArgumentNullException)
            {
                System.Console.WriteLine("Path is a null reference.");
            }
            catch (System.Security.SecurityException)
            {
                System.Console.WriteLine("The caller does not have the " +
                    "required permission.");
            }
            catch (ArgumentException)
            {
                System.Console.WriteLine("Path is an empty string, " +
                    "contains only white spaces, " +
                    "or contains invalid characters.");	
            }
            catch (System.IO.IOException)
            {
                System.Console.WriteLine("An attempt was made to move a " +
                    "directory to a different " +
                    "volume, or destDirName " +
                    "already exists.");
            }
        }
    }
}

Remarks

On Windows, GetLogicalDrives returns the names of all accessible drives on a particular machine, including any optical drives or removable media devices, in the form "<drive letter>:\" (for example, "C:\"). On Unix, it returns the paths of all filesystem mount points mounted on a particular machine (for example, "/home/user", "/media/usb").

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

Applies to

See also

• File and Stream I/O
• How to: Read Text from a File
• How to: Write Text to a File