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SearchOption Enumeration

.NET Framework 4.5

Specifies whether to search the current directory, or the current directory and all subdirectories.

Namespace: System.IO
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

[SerializableAttribute]
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
public enum SearchOption

Members

	Member name	Description
	TopDirectoryOnly	Includes only the current directory in a search operation.
	AllDirectories	Includes the current directory and all its subdirectories in a search operation. This option includes reparse points such as mounted drives and symbolic links in the search.

Remarks

If you choose AllDirectories in your search and the directory structure contains a link that creates a loop, the search operation enters an infinite loop.

Examples

The following example lists all the directories and files that begin with the letter "c", as in "c:\". In this example, the SearchOption is used to specify that only the top-level directory should be searched.

C++

using System;
using System.IO;

class App
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        // Specify the directory you want to manipulate. 
        string path = @"c:\";
        string searchPattern = "c*";

        DirectoryInfo di = new DirectoryInfo(path);
        DirectoryInfo[] directories = 
            di.GetDirectories(searchPattern, SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly);

        FileInfo[] files = 
            di.GetFiles(searchPattern, SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly);

        Console.WriteLine(
            "Directories that begin with the letter \"c\" in {0}", path);
        foreach (DirectoryInfo dir in directories)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(
                "{0,-25} {1,25}", dir.FullName, dir.LastWriteTime);
        }

        Console.WriteLine();
        Console.WriteLine(
            "Files that begin with the letter \"c\" in {0}", path);
        foreach (FileInfo file in files)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(
                "{0,-25} {1,25}", file.Name, file.LastWriteTime);
        }
    } // Main()
} // App()

Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 4.5, 4, 3.5, 3.0, 2.0

.NET Framework Client Profile

Supported in: 4, 3.5 SP1

Platforms

Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, Windows 7, Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core Role not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core Role supported with SP1 or later; Itanium not supported)

The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Reference

System.IO Namespace

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