DirectoryInfo.Exists Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.IO

Assembly:

System.Runtime.dll

Source:

DirectoryInfo.cs

Gets a value indicating whether the directory exists.

public:
 virtual property bool Exists { bool get(); };

public override bool Exists { get; }

member this.Exists : bool

Public Overrides ReadOnly Property Exists As Boolean

Property Value

Boolean

true if the directory exists; otherwise, false.

Examples

The following example demonstrates a use of the Exists property in the context of copying a source directory to a target directory.

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;

// Copy a source directory to a target directory.
void CopyDirectory( String^ SourceDirectory, String^ TargetDirectory )
{
   DirectoryInfo^ source = gcnew DirectoryInfo( SourceDirectory );
   DirectoryInfo^ target = gcnew DirectoryInfo( TargetDirectory );
   
   //Determine whether the source directory exists.
   if (  !source->Exists )
      return;

   if (  !target->Exists )
      target->Create();

   
   //Copy files.
   array<FileInfo^>^sourceFiles = source->GetFiles();
   for ( int i = 0; i < sourceFiles->Length; ++i )
      File::Copy( sourceFiles[ i ]->FullName, String::Concat( target->FullName, "\\", sourceFiles[ i ]->Name ), true );
   
   //Copy directories.
   array<DirectoryInfo^>^sourceDirectories = source->GetDirectories();
   for ( int j = 0; j < sourceDirectories->Length; ++j )
      CopyDirectory( sourceDirectories[ j ]->FullName, String::Concat( target->FullName, "\\", sourceDirectories[ j ]->Name ) );
}

int main()
{
   CopyDirectory( "D:\\Tools", "D:\\NewTools" );
}

using System;
using System.IO;

namespace DirectoryInfoCS2
{
    class Class1
    {
        // Copy a source directory to a target directory.
        static public void CopyDirectory(string SourceDirectory, string TargetDirectory)
        {
            DirectoryInfo	source = new DirectoryInfo(SourceDirectory);
            DirectoryInfo	target = new DirectoryInfo(TargetDirectory);
            
            //Determine whether the source directory exists.
            if(!source.Exists)
                return;
            if(!target.Exists)
                target.Create();
            
            //Copy files.
            FileInfo[] sourceFiles = source.GetFiles();	
            for(int i = 0; i < sourceFiles.Length; ++i)
                File.Copy(sourceFiles[i].FullName, target.FullName + "\\" + sourceFiles[i].Name,true);
            
            //Copy directories.
            DirectoryInfo[] sourceDirectories = source.GetDirectories();	
            for(int j = 0; j < sourceDirectories.Length; ++j)
                CopyDirectory(sourceDirectories[j].FullName,target.FullName +"\\" + sourceDirectories[j].Name);
        }

        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            CopyDirectory("D:\\Tools","D:\\NewTools");
        }
    }
}

open System.IO

// Copy a source directory to a target directory.
let rec copyDirectory sourceDirectory targetDirectory =
    let source = DirectoryInfo sourceDirectory
    let target = DirectoryInfo targetDirectory
    
    //Determine whether the source directory exists.
    if source.Exists then
        if target.Exists then
            target.Create()
        
        //Copy files.
        let sourceFiles = source.GetFiles()
        for file in sourceFiles do
            File.Copy(file.FullName, target.FullName + "\\" + file.Name,true)
        
        //Copy directories.
        let sourceDirectories = source.GetDirectories()
        for dir in sourceDirectories do
            copyDirectory dir.FullName (target.FullName + "\\" + dir.Name)

copyDirectory "D:\\Tools" "D:\\NewTools"

Imports System.IO

Module Module1
    Public Sub CopyDirectory(ByVal SourceDirectory As String, ByVal TargetDirectory As String)
        Dim source As DirectoryInfo = New DirectoryInfo(SourceDirectory)
        Dim target As DirectoryInfo = New DirectoryInfo(TargetDirectory)

        'Determine whether the source directory exists.
        If (source.Exists = False) Then
            Return
        End If
        If (target.Exists = False) Then
            target.Create()
        End If

        'Copy files.
        Dim sourceFiles As FileInfo() = source.GetFiles()
        Dim i, j As Integer
        For i = 0 To sourceFiles.Length - 1
            File.Copy(sourceFiles(i).FullName, target.FullName + "\\" + sourceFiles(i).Name, True)
        Next i

        'Copy directories.
        Dim sourceDirectories As DirectoryInfo() = source.GetDirectories()
        For j = 0 To sourceDirectories.Length - 1
            CopyDirectory(sourceDirectories(j).FullName, target.FullName + "\\" + sourceDirectories(j).Name)
        Next j
        source = Nothing
        target = Nothing
    End Sub
    Sub Main()
        CopyDirectory("D:\\Tools", "D:\\NewTools")
    End Sub
End Module

Remarks

The Exists property returns false if any error occurs while trying to determine if the specified file exists. This can occur in situations that raise exceptions such as passing a file name with invalid characters or too many characters, a failing or missing disk, or if the caller does not have permission to read the file.

See also

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