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NotifyFilters Enum

Definition

Specifies changes to watch for in a file or folder.

This enumeration supports a bitwise combination of its member values.

[System.Flags]
public enum NotifyFilters
Inheritance
NotifyFilters
Attributes

Fields

Name Value Description
FileName 1

The name of the file.

DirectoryName 2

The name of the directory.

Attributes 4

The attributes of the file or folder.

Size 8

The size of the file or folder.

LastWrite 16

The date the file or folder last had anything written to it.

LastAccess 32

The date the file or folder was last opened.

CreationTime 64

The time the file or folder was created.

Security 256

The security settings of the file or folder.

Examples

The following example creates a FileSystemWatcher to watch the directory that is specified at runtime. The component is set to watch for any changes in LastWrite and LastAccess time, the creation, deletion, or renaming of text files in the directory. If a file is changed, created, or deleted, the path to the file prints to the console. When a file is renamed, the old and new paths print to the console.

using System;
using System.IO;

namespace MyNamespace
{
    class MyClassCS
    {
        static void Main()
        {
            using var watcher = new FileSystemWatcher(@"C:\path\to\folder");

            watcher.NotifyFilter = NotifyFilters.Attributes
                                 | NotifyFilters.CreationTime
                                 | NotifyFilters.DirectoryName
                                 | NotifyFilters.FileName
                                 | NotifyFilters.LastAccess
                                 | NotifyFilters.LastWrite
                                 | NotifyFilters.Security
                                 | NotifyFilters.Size;

            watcher.Changed += OnChanged;
            watcher.Created += OnCreated;
            watcher.Deleted += OnDeleted;
            watcher.Renamed += OnRenamed;
            watcher.Error += OnError;

            watcher.Filter = "*.txt";
            watcher.IncludeSubdirectories = true;
            watcher.EnableRaisingEvents = true;

            Console.WriteLine("Press enter to exit.");
            Console.ReadLine();
        }

        private static void OnChanged(object sender, FileSystemEventArgs e)
        {
            if (e.ChangeType != WatcherChangeTypes.Changed)
            {
                return;
            }
            Console.WriteLine($"Changed: {e.FullPath}");
        }

        private static void OnCreated(object sender, FileSystemEventArgs e)
        {
            string value = $"Created: {e.FullPath}";
            Console.WriteLine(value);
        }

        private static void OnDeleted(object sender, FileSystemEventArgs e) =>
            Console.WriteLine($"Deleted: {e.FullPath}");

        private static void OnRenamed(object sender, RenamedEventArgs e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine($"Renamed:");
            Console.WriteLine($"    Old: {e.OldFullPath}");
            Console.WriteLine($"    New: {e.FullPath}");
        }

        private static void OnError(object sender, ErrorEventArgs e) =>
            PrintException(e.GetException());

        private static void PrintException(Exception? ex)
        {
            if (ex != null)
            {
                Console.WriteLine($"Message: {ex.Message}");
                Console.WriteLine("Stacktrace:");
                Console.WriteLine(ex.StackTrace);
                Console.WriteLine();
                PrintException(ex.InnerException);
            }
        }
    }
}

Remarks

You can combine the members of this enumeration to watch for more than one kind of change. For example, you can watch for changes in the size of a file or folder, and for changes in security settings. This raises an event anytime there is a change in size or security settings of a file or folder.

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
.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 2.0, 2.1

See also