FileSystemWatcher.Changed Event

Definition

Namespace:

System.IO

Assembly:

System.IO.FileSystem.Watcher.dll

Source:

FileSystemWatcher.cs

Occurs when a file or directory in the specified Path is changed.

public:
 event System::IO::FileSystemEventHandler ^ Changed;

public event System.IO.FileSystemEventHandler? Changed;

member this.Changed : System.IO.FileSystemEventHandler 

Public Custom Event Changed As FileSystemEventHandler 

Event Type

FileSystemEventHandler

Examples

The following example uses the Changed event to display the file path to the console whenever the watched file is changed.

#include "pch.h"

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;

class MyClassCPP
{
public:

    int static Run()
    {
        FileSystemWatcher^ watcher = gcnew FileSystemWatcher("C:\\path\\to\\folder");

        watcher->NotifyFilter = static_cast<NotifyFilters>(NotifyFilters::Attributes
                                                         | NotifyFilters::CreationTime
                                                         | NotifyFilters::DirectoryName
                                                         | NotifyFilters::FileName
                                                         | NotifyFilters::LastAccess
                                                         | NotifyFilters::LastWrite
                                                         | NotifyFilters::Security
                                                         | NotifyFilters::Size);

        watcher->Changed += gcnew FileSystemEventHandler(MyClassCPP::OnChanged);
        watcher->Created += gcnew FileSystemEventHandler(MyClassCPP::OnCreated);
        watcher->Deleted += gcnew FileSystemEventHandler(MyClassCPP::OnDeleted);
        watcher->Renamed += gcnew RenamedEventHandler(MyClassCPP::OnRenamed);
        watcher->Error   += gcnew ErrorEventHandler(MyClassCPP::OnError);

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

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

        return 0;
    }

private:

    static void OnChanged(Object^ sender, FileSystemEventArgs^ e)
    {
        if (e->ChangeType != WatcherChangeTypes::Changed)
        {
            return;
        }
        Console::WriteLine("Changed: {0}", e->FullPath);
    }

    static void OnCreated(Object^ sender, FileSystemEventArgs^ e)
    {
        Console::WriteLine("Created: {0}", e->FullPath);
    }

    static void OnDeleted(Object^ sender, FileSystemEventArgs^ e)
    {
        Console::WriteLine("Deleted: {0}", e->FullPath);
    }

    static void OnRenamed(Object^ sender, RenamedEventArgs^ e)
    {
        Console::WriteLine("Renamed:");
        Console::WriteLine("    Old: {0}", e->OldFullPath);
        Console::WriteLine("    New: {0}", e->FullPath);
    }

    static void OnError(Object^ sender, ErrorEventArgs^ e)
    {
        PrintException(e->GetException());
    }

    static void PrintException(Exception^ ex)
    {
        if (ex != nullptr)
        {
            Console::WriteLine("Message: {0}", ex->Message);
            Console::WriteLine("Stacktrace:");
            Console::WriteLine(ex->StackTrace);
            Console::WriteLine();
            PrintException(ex->InnerException);
        }
    }
};


int main()
{
    MyClassCPP::Run();
}

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);
            }
        }
    }
}

Imports System.IO

Namespace MyNamespace

    Class MyClassVB

        Shared Sub Main()
            Using watcher = New FileSystemWatcher("C:\path\to\folder")
                watcher.NotifyFilter = NotifyFilters.Attributes Or
                                       NotifyFilters.CreationTime Or
                                       NotifyFilters.DirectoryName Or
                                       NotifyFilters.FileName Or
                                       NotifyFilters.LastAccess Or
                                       NotifyFilters.LastWrite Or
                                       NotifyFilters.Security Or
                                       NotifyFilters.Size

                AddHandler watcher.Changed, AddressOf OnChanged
                AddHandler watcher.Created, AddressOf OnCreated
                AddHandler watcher.Deleted, AddressOf OnDeleted
                AddHandler watcher.Renamed, AddressOf OnRenamed
                AddHandler watcher.Error, AddressOf OnError

                watcher.Filter = "*.txt"
                watcher.IncludeSubdirectories = True
                watcher.EnableRaisingEvents = True

                Console.WriteLine("Press enter to exit.")
                Console.ReadLine()
            End Using
        End Sub

        Private Shared Sub OnChanged(sender As Object, e As FileSystemEventArgs)
            If e.ChangeType <> WatcherChangeTypes.Changed Then
                Return
            End If
            Console.WriteLine($"Changed: {e.FullPath}")
        End Sub

        Private Shared Sub OnCreated(sender As Object, e As FileSystemEventArgs)
            Dim value As String = $"Created: {e.FullPath}"
            Console.WriteLine(value)
        End Sub

        Private Shared Sub OnDeleted(sender As Object, e As FileSystemEventArgs)
            Console.WriteLine($"Deleted: {e.FullPath}")
        End Sub

        Private Shared Sub OnRenamed(sender As Object, e As RenamedEventArgs)
            Console.WriteLine($"Renamed:")
            Console.WriteLine($"    Old: {e.OldFullPath}")
            Console.WriteLine($"    New: {e.FullPath}")
        End Sub

        Private Shared Sub OnError(sender As Object, e As ErrorEventArgs)
            PrintException(e.GetException())
        End Sub

        Private Shared Sub PrintException(ex As Exception)
            If ex IsNot Nothing Then
                Console.WriteLine($"Message: {ex.Message}")
                Console.WriteLine("Stacktrace:")
                Console.WriteLine(ex.StackTrace)
                Console.WriteLine()
                PrintException(ex.InnerException)
            End If
        End Sub

    End Class

End Namespace

Remarks

The Changed event is raised when changes are made to the size, system attributes, last write time, last access time, or security permissions of a file or directory in the directory being monitored.

Note

Common file system operations might raise more than one event. For example, when a file is moved from one directory to another, several OnChanged and some OnCreated and OnDeleted events might be raised. Moving a file is a complex operation that consists of multiple simple operations, therefore raising multiple events. Likewise, some applications (for example, antivirus software) might cause additional file system events that are detected by FileSystemWatcher.

Use NotifyFilter to restrict the number of notifications raised when this event is handled.

Note

The Changed event is raised unexpectedly when a file is renamed, but is not raised when a directory is renamed. To watch for renaming, use the Renamed event.

Note

The order in which the Changed event is raised in relation to the other FileSystemWatcher events may change when the SynchronizingObject property is not null.

See also

• NotifyFilter
• OnChanged(FileSystemEventArgs)
• SynchronizingObject
• FileSystemEventArgs
• FileSystemEventHandler