FileSystemWatcher.Path Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.IO

Assembly:

System.IO.FileSystem.Watcher.dll

Source:

FileSystemWatcher.cs

Gets or sets the path of the directory to watch.

public:
 property System::String ^ Path { System::String ^ get(); void set(System::String ^ value); };

public string Path { get; set; }

member this.Path : string with get, set

Public Property Path As String

Property Value

String

The path to monitor. The default is an empty string ("").

Exceptions

ArgumentException

The specified path does not exist or could not be found.

-or-

The specified path contains wildcard characters.

-or-

The specified path contains invalid path characters.

Examples

The following example creates a FileSystemWatcher to watch the directory specified at run time. The component is set to watch for 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.

#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

This is a fully qualified path to a directory. If the IncludeSubdirectories property is true, this directory is the root at which the system watches for changes; otherwise it is the only directory watched. To watch a specific file, set the Path property to the fully qualified, correct directory, and the Filter property to the file name.

The Path property supports Universal Naming Convention (UNC) paths.

Note

This property must be set before the component can watch for changes.

When a directory is renamed, the FileSystemWatcher automatically reattaches itself to the newly renamed item. For example, if you set the Path property to "C:\My Documents" and then manually rename the directory to "C:\Your Documents", the component continues listening for change notifications on the newly renamed directory. However, when you ask for the Path property, it contains the old path. This happens because the component determines what directory watches based on the handle, rather than the name of the directory. Renaming does not affect the handle. So, if you destroy the component, and then recreate it without updating the Path property, your application will fail because the directory no longer exists.

See also

• FileSystemWatcher
• Filter