FileSystemInfo Class

Definition

Namespace:

System.IO

Assembly:

System.Runtime.dll

Source:

FileSystemInfo.cs

Provides the base class for both FileInfo and DirectoryInfo objects.

public ref class FileSystemInfo abstract : MarshalByRefObject, System::Runtime::Serialization::ISerializable

public abstract class FileSystemInfo : MarshalByRefObject, System.Runtime.Serialization.ISerializable

type FileSystemInfo = class
    inherit MarshalByRefObject
    interface ISerializable

Public MustInherit Class FileSystemInfo
Inherits MarshalByRefObject
Implements ISerializable

Inheritance

Object

MarshalByRefObject

FileSystemInfo

Derived

System.IO.DirectoryInfo

System.IO.FileInfo

Implements

ISerializable

Examples

The following example shows how to loop through all the files and directories, querying some information about each entry.

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;


namespace ConsoleApplication2
{
    public ref class Program
    {
    public:
        static void Main()
        {
            //  Loop through all the immediate subdirectories of C.
            for each (String^ entry in Directory::GetDirectories("C:\\"))
            {
                DisplayFileSystemInfoAttributes(gcnew DirectoryInfo(entry));
            }
            //  Loop through all the files in C.
            for each (String^ entry in Directory::GetFiles("C:\\"))
            {
                DisplayFileSystemInfoAttributes(gcnew FileInfo(entry));
            }
        }
        static void DisplayFileSystemInfoAttributes(FileSystemInfo^ fsi)
        {
            //  Assume that this entry is a file.
            String^ entryType = "File";

            // Determine if entry is really a directory
            if ((fsi->Attributes & FileAttributes::Directory) == FileAttributes::Directory)
            {
                entryType = "Directory";
            }
            //  Show this entry's type, name, and creation date.
            Console::WriteLine("{0} entry {1} was created on {2:D}", entryType, fsi->FullName, fsi->CreationTime);
        }
    };
};

int main()
{
    ConsoleApplication2::Program::Main();
}

 // Output will vary based on contents of drive C.

 // Directory entry C:\Documents and Settings was created on Tuesday, November 25, 2003
 // Directory entry C:\Inetpub was created on Monday, January 12, 2004
 // Directory entry C:\Program Files was created on Tuesday, November 25, 2003
 // Directory entry C:\RECYCLER was created on Tuesday, November 25, 2003
 // Directory entry C:\System Volume Information was created on Tuesday, November 2, 2003
 // Directory entry C:\WINDOWS was created on Tuesday, November 25, 2003
 // File entry C:\IO.SYS was created on Tuesday, November 25, 2003
 // File entry C:\MSDOS.SYS was created on Tuesday, November 25, 2003
 // File entry C:\pagefile.sys was created on Saturday, December 27, 2003

using System;
using System.IO;

namespace ConsoleApplication2
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            //  Loop through all the immediate subdirectories of C.
            foreach (string entry in Directory.GetDirectories(@"C:\"))
            {
                DisplayFileSystemInfoAttributes(new DirectoryInfo(entry));
            }
            //  Loop through all the files in C.
            foreach (string entry in Directory.GetFiles(@"C:\"))
            {
                DisplayFileSystemInfoAttributes(new FileInfo(entry));
            }
        }
        static void DisplayFileSystemInfoAttributes(FileSystemInfo fsi)
        {
            //  Assume that this entry is a file.
            string entryType = "File";

            // Determine if entry is really a directory
            if ((fsi.Attributes & FileAttributes.Directory) == FileAttributes.Directory )
            {
                entryType = "Directory";
            }
            //  Show this entry's type, name, and creation date.
            Console.WriteLine("{0} entry {1} was created on {2:D}", entryType, fsi.FullName, fsi.CreationTime);
        }
    }
}

 // Output will vary based on contents of drive C.

 // Directory entry C:\Documents and Settings was created on Tuesday, November 25, 2003
 // Directory entry C:\Inetpub was created on Monday, January 12, 2004
 // Directory entry C:\Program Files was created on Tuesday, November 25, 2003
 // Directory entry C:\RECYCLER was created on Tuesday, November 25, 2003
 // Directory entry C:\System Volume Information was created on Tuesday, November 2, 2003
 // Directory entry C:\WINDOWS was created on Tuesday, November 25, 2003
 // File entry C:\IO.SYS was created on Tuesday, November 25, 2003
 // File entry C:\MSDOS.SYS was created on Tuesday, November 25, 2003
 // File entry C:\pagefile.sys was created on Saturday, December 27, 2003

Imports System.IO
Module Module1

    Sub Main()
        ' Loop through all the immediate subdirectories of C.
        For Each entry As String In Directory.GetDirectories("C:\")
            DisplayFileSystemInfoAttributes(New DirectoryInfo(entry))
        Next

        ' Loop through all the files in C.
        For Each entry As String In Directory.GetFiles("C:\")
            DisplayFileSystemInfoAttributes(New FileInfo(entry))
        Next
    End Sub

    Sub DisplayFileSystemInfoAttributes(ByVal fsi As IO.FileSystemInfo)
        ' Assume that this entry is a file.
        Dim entryType As String = "File"

        ' Determine if this entry is really a directory.
        If (fsi.Attributes And FileAttributes.Directory) = FileAttributes.Directory Then
            entryType = "Directory"
        End If

        ' Show this entry's type, name, and creation date.
        Console.WriteLine("{0} entry {1} was created on {2:D}", _
            entryType, fsi.FullName, fsi.CreationTime)
    End Sub
End Module

' Output will vary based on contents of drive C.
' 
' Directory entry C:\Documents and Settings was created on Tuesday, November 25, 2003
' Directory entry C:\Inetpub was created on Monday, January 12, 2004
' Directory entry C:\Program Files was created on Tuesday, November 25, 2003
' Directory entry C:\RECYCLER was created on Tuesday, November 25, 2003
' Directory entry C:\System Volume Information was created on Tuesday, November 2, 2003
' Directory entry C:\WINDOWS was created on Tuesday, November 25, 2003
' File entry C:\IO.SYS was created on Tuesday, November 25, 2003
' File entry C:\MSDOS.SYS was created on Tuesday, November 25, 2003
' File entry C:\pagefile.sys was created on Saturday, December 27, 2003

Remarks

The FileSystemInfo class contains methods that are common to file and directory manipulation. A FileSystemInfo object can represent either a file or a directory, thus serving as the basis for FileInfo or DirectoryInfo objects. Use this base class when parsing a lot of files and directories.

A derived class can inherit from FileSystemInfo only if the derived class has the AllAccess permission from the FileIOPermissionAccess enumeration.

In members that accept a path, the path can refer to a file or just a directory. The specified path can also refer to a relative path or a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path for a server and share name. For example, all the following are acceptable paths:

• "c:\\MyDir\\MyFile.txt" in C#, or "c:\MyDir\MyFile.txt" in Visual Basic.

• "c:\\MyDir" in C#, or "c:\MyDir" in Visual Basic.

• "MyDir\\MySubdir" in C#, or "MyDir\MySubDir" in Visual Basic.

• "\\\\MyServer\\MyShare" in C#, or "\\MyServer\MyShare" in Visual Basic.

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

Constructors

FileSystemInfo()	Initializes a new instance of the FileSystemInfo class.
FileSystemInfo(SerializationInfo, StreamingContext)	Obsolete. Initializes a new instance of the FileSystemInfo class with serialized data.

Fields

FullPath	Represents the fully qualified path of the directory or file.
OriginalPath	The path originally specified by the user, whether relative or absolute.

Properties

Attributes	Gets or sets the attributes for the current file or directory.
CreationTime	Gets or sets the creation time of the current file or directory.
CreationTimeUtc	Gets or sets the creation time, in coordinated universal time (UTC), of the current file or directory.
Exists	Gets a value indicating whether the file or directory exists.
Extension	Gets the extension part of the file name, including the leading dot . even if it is the entire file name, or an empty string if no extension is present.
FullName	Gets the full path of the directory or file.
LastAccessTime	Gets or sets the time the current file or directory was last accessed.
LastAccessTimeUtc	Gets or sets the time, in coordinated universal time (UTC), that the current file or directory was last accessed.
LastWriteTime	Gets or sets the time when the current file or directory was last written to.
LastWriteTimeUtc	Gets or sets the time, in coordinated universal time (UTC), when the current file or directory was last written to.
LinkTarget	Gets the target path of the link located in FullName, or null if this FileSystemInfo instance doesn't represent a link.
Name	For files, gets the name of the file. For directories, gets the name of the last directory in the hierarchy if a hierarchy exists. Otherwise, the Name property gets the name of the directory.
UnixFileMode	Gets or sets the Unix file mode for the current file or directory.

Methods

CreateAsSymbolicLink(String)	Creates a symbolic link located in FullName that points to the specified pathToTarget.
CreateObjRef(Type)	Creates an object that contains all the relevant information required to generate a proxy used to communicate with a remote object. (Inherited from MarshalByRefObject)
Delete()	Deletes a file or directory.
Equals(Object)	Determines whether the specified object is equal to the current object. (Inherited from Object)
GetHashCode()	Serves as the default hash function. (Inherited from Object)
GetLifetimeService()	Obsolete. Retrieves the current lifetime service object that controls the lifetime policy for this instance. (Inherited from MarshalByRefObject)
GetObjectData(SerializationInfo, StreamingContext)	Obsolete. Sets the SerializationInfo object with the file name and additional exception information.
GetType()	Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object)
InitializeLifetimeService()	Obsolete. Obtains a lifetime service object to control the lifetime policy for this instance. (Inherited from MarshalByRefObject)
MemberwiseClone()	Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object)
MemberwiseClone(Boolean)	Creates a shallow copy of the current MarshalByRefObject object. (Inherited from MarshalByRefObject)
Refresh()	Refreshes the state of the object.
ResolveLinkTarget(Boolean)	Gets the target of the specified link.
ToString()	Returns the original path. Use the FullName or Name properties for the full path or file/directory name.

See also

• FileSystemWatcher
• DriveInfo
• File and Stream I/O
• How to: Read Text from a File
• How to: Write Text to a File
• How to: Read and Write to a Newly Created Data File