DirectoryInfo.Parent Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.IO

Assembly:

System.Runtime.dll

Source:

DirectoryInfo.cs

Gets the parent directory of a specified subdirectory.

public:
 property System::IO::DirectoryInfo ^ Parent { System::IO::DirectoryInfo ^ get(); };

public System.IO.DirectoryInfo? Parent { get; }

member this.Parent : System.IO.DirectoryInfo

Public ReadOnly Property Parent As DirectoryInfo

Property Value

DirectoryInfo

The parent directory, or null if the path is null or if the file path denotes a root (such as \, C:\, or \\server\share).

Exceptions

SecurityException

The caller does not have the required permission.

Examples

The following example refers to the parent directory of a specified directory.

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
int main()
{
   
   // Make a reference to a directory.
   DirectoryInfo^ di = gcnew DirectoryInfo( "TempDir" );
   
   // Create the directory only if it does not already exist.
   if (  !di->Exists )
      di->Create();

   
   // Create a subdirectory in the directory just created.
   DirectoryInfo^ dis = di->CreateSubdirectory( "SubDir" );
   
   // Get a reference to the parent directory of the subdirectory you just made.
   DirectoryInfo^ parentDir = dis->Parent;
   Console::WriteLine( "The parent directory of '{0}' is '{1}'", dis->Name, parentDir->Name );
   
   // Delete the parent directory.
   di->Delete( true );
}

using System;
using System.IO;

public class MoveToTest
{
    public static void Main()
    {

        // Make a reference to a directory.
        DirectoryInfo di = new DirectoryInfo("TempDir");

        // Create the directory only if it does not already exist.
        if (di.Exists == false)
            di.Create();

        // Create a subdirectory in the directory just created.
        DirectoryInfo dis = di.CreateSubdirectory("SubDir");

        // Get a reference to the parent directory of the subdirectory you just made.
        DirectoryInfo parentDir = dis.Parent;
        Console.WriteLine("The parent directory of '{0}' is '{1}'", dis.Name, parentDir.Name);

        // Delete the parent directory.
        di.Delete(true);
    }
}

open System.IO

// Make a reference to a directory.
let di = DirectoryInfo "TempDir"

// Create the directory only if it does not already exist.
if not di.Exists then
    di.Create()

// Create a subdirectory in the directory just created.
let dis = di.CreateSubdirectory "SubDir"

// Get a reference to the parent directory of the subdirectory you just made.
let parentDir = dis.Parent
printfn $"The parent directory of '{dis.Name}' is '{parentDir.Name}'"

// Delete the parent directory.
di.Delete true

Imports System.IO

Public Class MoveToTest

    Public Shared Sub Main()
        ' Make a reference to a directory.
        Dim di As New DirectoryInfo("TempDir")
        ' Create the directory only if it does not already exist.
        If di.Exists = False Then
            di.Create()
        End If

        ' Create a subdirectory in the directory just created.
        Dim dis As DirectoryInfo = di.CreateSubdirectory("SubDir")

        ' Get a reference to the parent directory of the subdirectory you just made.
        Dim parentDir As DirectoryInfo = dis.Parent
        Console.WriteLine("The parent directory of '{0}' is '{1}'", dis.Name, parentDir.Name)

        ' Delete the parent directory.
        di.Delete(True)
    End Sub
End Class

Remarks

Important

In .NET Framework, Parent returns a relative path. In .NET Core, Parent returns a fully qualified path.

To ensure consistent behavior across versions and to make your intent explicit, retrieve the value of one of the following properties on the DirectoryInfo instance returned by Parent.

• Name, which returns the simple name of the directory (such as bin).
• FullName, which returns the absolute path of the directory.

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

See also

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