My.Computer.FileSystem.CopyDirectory Method

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

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Visual Basic Language Reference

My.Computer.FileSystem.CopyDirectory Method

Copies a directory to another directory.

' Usage
My.Computer.FileSystem.CopyDirectory(sourceDirectoryName ,destinationDirectoryName)
My.Computer.FileSystem.CopyDirectory(sourceDirectoryName ,destinationDirectoryName ,overwrite)
My.Computer.FileSystem.CopyDirectory(sourceDirectoryName ,destinationDirectoryName ,showUI)
My.Computer.FileSystem.CopyDirectory(sourceDirectoryName ,destinationDirectoryName ,showUI ,onUserCancel)
' Declaration
Public Sub CopyDirectory( _
   ByVal sourceDirectoryName As String, _
   ByVal destinationDirectoryName As String _
)
' -or-
Public Sub CopyDirectory( _
   ByVal sourceDirectoryName As String, _
   ByVal destinationDirectoryName As String, _
   ByVal overwrite As Boolean _
)
' -or-
Public Sub CopyDirectory( _
   ByVal sourceDirectoryName As String, _
   ByVal destinationDirectoryName As String, _
   ByVal showUI As UIOption _
)
' -or-
Public Sub CopyDirectory( _
   ByVal sourceDirectoryName As String, _
   ByVal destinationDirectoryName As String, _
   ByVal showUI As UIOption, _
   ByVal onUserCancel As UICancelOption _
)

Parameters

sourceDirectoryName: String. The directory to be copied. Required.
destinationDirectoryName: String. The location to which the directory should be copied. Required.
overwrite: Boolean. Whether or not existing files should be overwritten. Default is False. Required.
showUI: UIOption. Whether to visually track the operation's progress. Default is UIOption.OnlyErrorDialogs. Required.
onUserCancel: UICancelOption. Specifies what should be done if the user clicks Cancel during the operation. Default is ThrowException. Required.

Exceptions

The following conditions may cause an exception:

The new name specified for the directory contains a colon (:) or slash (\ or /) (ArgumentException).
The path is not valid for one of the following reasons: it is a zero-length string; it contains only white space; it contains invalid characters; or it is a device path (starts with \\.\) (ArgumentException).
The path is not valid because it is Nothing (ArgumentNullException).
destinationDirectoryName is Nothing or an empty string (ArgumentNullException)
The source directory does not exist (DirectoryNotFoundException).
The source directory is a root directory (IOException).
The combined path points to an existing file (IOException).
The source path and target path are the same (IOException).
ShowUI is set to UIOption.AllDialogs and the user cancels the operation, or one or more files in the directory cannot be copied (OperationCanceledException).
The operation is cyclic (InvalidOperationException).
The path contains a colon (:) (NotSupportedException).
The path exceeds the system-defined maximum length (PathTooLongException).
A file or folder name in the path contains a colon (:) or is in an invalid format (NotSupportedException).
The user lacks necessary permissions to view the path (SecurityException).
A destination file exists but cannot be accessed (UnauthorizedAccessException).

Remarks

This method copies the contents of the directory as well as the directory itself. If the target directory does not exist, it is created. If a directory with the same name exists in the target location, the contents of the two directories are merged. You can specify a new name for the directory during the operation.

When copying files within a directory, exceptions may be thrown that are caused by a specific file, such as a file existing during a merge while overwrite is set to False. When such exceptions are thrown, they are consolidated into a single exception whose Data property holds entries in the form of an IDictionary in which the file or directory path is the key and the specific exception message is contained in the corresponding value. Use For…Each to enumerate through the entries.

Tasks

The following table lists examples of tasks involving the My.Computer.FileSystem.CopyDirectory method.

To	See
Copy a directory	How to: Copy a Directory to Another Directory in Visual Basic

Example

The following example copies the directory TestDirectory1 into TestDirectory2, overwriting existing files.

Visual Basic

My.Computer.FileSystem.CopyDirectory("C:\TestDirectory1", "C:\TestDirectory2", True)

Replace C:\TestDirectory1 and C:\TestDirectory2 with the path and name of the directory you wish to copy and the location to which you wish to copy it.

Requirements

Namespace: Microsoft.VisualBasic.MyServices

Class: FileSystemProxy (provides access to FileSystem)

Assembly: Visual Basic Runtime Library (in Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll)

Availability by Project Type

Project type	Available
Windows Application	Yes
Class Library	Yes
Console Application	Yes
Windows Control Library	Yes
Web Control Library	Yes
Windows Service	Yes
Web Site	Yes

Permissions

The following permissions may be necessary:

Permission	Description
FileIOPermission	Controls the ability to access files and folders. Associated enumeration: Unrestricted.
UIPermission	Controls the permissions related to user interfaces and the clipboard. Associated enumeration: SafeSubWindows.

For more information, see Code Access Security and Requesting Permissions.

Tasks

How to: Get the Collection of Files in a Directory in Visual Basic

How to: Move a Directory in Visual Basic

How to: Move the Contents of a Directory in Visual Basic

How to: Parse File Paths in Visual Basic

How to: Determine the Absolute Path of a File in Visual Basic

How to: Determine if a Directory Exists in Visual Basic

Reference

My.Computer.FileSystem Object

UICancelOption Enumeration