Edit

Share via


FileInfo(String) Constructor

Definition

Initializes a new instance of the FileInfo class, which acts as a wrapper for a file path.

C#
public FileInfo(string fileName);

Parameters

fileName
String

The fully qualified name of the new file, or the relative file name. Do not end the path with the directory separator character.

Exceptions

fileName is null.

The caller does not have the required permission.

.NET Framework and .NET Core versions older than 2.1: The file name is empty, contains only white spaces, or contains invalid characters.

Access to fileName is denied.

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

fileName contains a colon (:) in the middle of the string.

Examples

The following example uses this constructor to create two files, which are then written to, read from, copied, and deleted.

C#
using System;
using System.IO;

class Test
{
    
    public static void Main()
    {
        string path = @"c:\temp\MyTest.txt";
        FileInfo fi1 = new FileInfo(path);

        if (!fi1.Exists)
        {
            //Create a file to write to.
            using (StreamWriter sw = fi1.CreateText())
            {
                sw.WriteLine("Hello");
                sw.WriteLine("And");
                sw.WriteLine("Welcome");
            }	
        }

        //Open the file to read from.
        using (StreamReader sr = fi1.OpenText())
        {
            string s = "";
            while ((s = sr.ReadLine()) != null)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(s);
            }
        }

        try
        {
            string path2 = path + "temp";
            FileInfo fi2 = new FileInfo(path2);

            //Ensure that the target does not exist.
            fi2.Delete();

            //Copy the file.
            fi1.CopyTo(path2);
            Console.WriteLine("{0} was copied to {1}.", path, path2);

            //Delete the newly created file.
            fi2.Delete();
            Console.WriteLine("{0} was successfully deleted.", path2);
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("The process failed: {0}", e.ToString());
        }
    }
}
//This code produces output similar to the following;
//results may vary based on the computer/file structure/etc.:
//
//Hello
//And
//Welcome
//c:\MyTest.txt was copied to c:\MyTest.txttemp.
//c:\MyTest.txttemp was successfully deleted.

The following example opens an existing file or creates a file, appends text to the file, and displays the results.

C#
using System;
using System.IO;

public class FileInfoMainTest
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        // Open an existing file, or create a new one.
        FileInfo fi = new FileInfo("temp.txt");
        // Create a writer, ready to add entries to the file.
        StreamWriter sw = fi.AppendText();
        sw.WriteLine("This is a new entry to add to the file");
        sw.WriteLine("This is yet another line to add...");
        sw.Flush();
        sw.Close();
        // Get the information out of the file and display it.
        StreamReader sr = new StreamReader( fi.OpenRead() );
        while (sr.Peek() != -1)
            Console.WriteLine( sr.ReadLine() );
    }
}
//This code produces output similar to the following;
//results may vary based on the computer/file structure/etc.:
//
//Add as many lines as you like...
//Add another line to the output...
//This is a new entry to add to the file
//This is yet another line to add...

Remarks

You can specify either the fully qualified or the relative file name, but the security check gets the fully qualified name.

Applies to

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

See also