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FileSystemInfo Class

Definition

Provides the base class for both FileInfo and DirectoryInfo objects.

public abstract class FileSystemInfo
public abstract class FileSystemInfo : MarshalByRefObject, System.Runtime.Serialization.ISerializable
[System.Serializable]
public abstract class FileSystemInfo : MarshalByRefObject, System.Runtime.Serialization.ISerializable
[System.Serializable]
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(true)]
public abstract class FileSystemInfo : MarshalByRefObject, System.Runtime.Serialization.ISerializable
Inheritance
FileSystemInfo
Inheritance
FileSystemInfo
Derived
Attributes
Implements

Examples

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

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

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.

ToString()

Returns a string that represents the current object.

(Inherited from Object)

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 1.3, 1.4, 1.6, 2.0, 2.1
UWP 10.0

See also