Directory.Exists Method

Determines whether the given path refers to an existing directory on disk.

[Visual Basic]
Public Shared Function Exists( _
   ByVal path As String _
) As Boolean
[C#]
public static bool Exists(
 string path
);
[C++]
public: static bool Exists(
 String* path
);
[JScript]
public static function Exists(
   path : String
) : Boolean;

Parameters

path

The path to test.

Return Value

true if path refers to an existing directory; otherwise, false.

Remarks

The path argument is permitted to specify relative or absolute path information. Relative path information is interpreted as relative to the current working directory.

The path parameter is not case-sensitive.

For an example of using this method, see the Example section below. The following table lists examples of other typical or related I/O tasks.

Example

[Visual Basic, C#, C++] The following example takes an array of file or directory names on the command line, determines what kind of name it is, and processes it appropriately.

[Visual Basic] 
' For File.Exists, Directory.Exists 

Imports System
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Collections

Public Class RecursiveFileProcessor

    Public Overloads Shared Sub Main(ByVal args() As String)
        Dim path As String
        For Each path In args
            If File.Exists(path) Then
                ' This path is a file.
                ProcessFile(path)
            Else
                If Directory.Exists(path) Then
                    ' This path is a directory.
                    ProcessDirectory(path)
                Else
                    Console.WriteLine("{0} is not a valid file or directory.", path)
                End If
            End If
        Next path
    End Sub 'Main


    ' Process all files in the directory passed in, recurse on any directories 
    ' that are found, and process the files they contain.
    Public Shared Sub ProcessDirectory(ByVal targetDirectory As String)
        Dim fileEntries As String() = Directory.GetFiles(targetDirectory)
        ' Process the list of files found in the directory.
        Dim fileName As String
        For Each fileName In fileEntries
            ProcessFile(fileName)

        Next fileName
        Dim subdirectoryEntries As String() = Directory.GetDirectories(targetDirectory)
        ' Recurse into subdirectories of this directory.
        Dim subdirectory As String
        For Each subdirectory In subdirectoryEntries
            ProcessDirectory(subdirectory)
        Next subdirectory

    End Sub 'ProcessDirectory

    ' Insert logic for processing found files here.
    Public Shared Sub ProcessFile(ByVal path As String)
        Console.WriteLine("Processed file '{0}'.", path)
    End Sub 'ProcessFile
End Class 'RecursiveFileProcessor

[C#] 
// For File.Exists, Directory.Exists
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Collections;

public class RecursiveFileProcessor 
{
    public static void Main(string[] args) 
    {
        foreach(string path in args) 
        {
            if(File.Exists(path)) 
            {
                // This path is a file
                ProcessFile(path); 
            }               
            else if(Directory.Exists(path)) 
            {
                // This path is a directory
                ProcessDirectory(path);
            }
            else 
            {
                Console.WriteLine("{0} is not a valid file or directory.", path);
            }        
        }        
    }


    // Process all files in the directory passed in, recurse on any directories 
    // that are found, and process the files they contain.
    public static void ProcessDirectory(string targetDirectory) 
    {
        // Process the list of files found in the directory.
        string [] fileEntries = Directory.GetFiles(targetDirectory);
        foreach(string fileName in fileEntries)
            ProcessFile(fileName);

        // Recurse into subdirectories of this directory.
        string [] subdirectoryEntries = Directory.GetDirectories(targetDirectory);
        foreach(string subdirectory in subdirectoryEntries)
            ProcessDirectory(subdirectory);
    }
        
    // Insert logic for processing found files here.
    public static void ProcessFile(string path) 
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Processed file '{0}'.", path);        
    }
}

[C++] 
// For File::Exists, Directory::Exists
#using <mscorlib.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Collections;

// Insert logic for processing found files here.
void ProcessFile(String* path) {
    Console::WriteLine(S"Processed file '{0}'.", path);        
}

// Process all files in the directory passed in, recurse on any directories 
// that are found, and process the files they contain.
void ProcessDirectory(String* targetDirectory) {
    // Process the list of files found in the directory.
    String* fileEntries[] = Directory::GetFiles(targetDirectory);
    IEnumerator* files = fileEntries->GetEnumerator();
    while (files->MoveNext()) {
        String* fileName = __try_cast<String*>(files->Current);
        ProcessFile(fileName);
    }

    // Recurse into subdirectories of this directory.
    String* subdirectoryEntries[] = Directory::GetDirectories(targetDirectory);
    IEnumerator* dirs = subdirectoryEntries->GetEnumerator();
    while (dirs->MoveNext()) {
        String* subdirectory = __try_cast<String*>(dirs->Current);
        ProcessDirectory(subdirectory);
    }
}

int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
    for(int i=1; i < argc; i++) {
        String* path = argv[i];
        if (File::Exists(path)) {
            // This path is a file
            ProcessFile(path); 
        } else if (Directory::Exists(path)) {
            // This path is a directory
            ProcessDirectory(path);
        }else {
            Console::WriteLine(S"{0} is not a valid file or directory.", path);
        }
    }
}        

[JScript] No example is available for JScript. To view a Visual Basic, C#, or C++ example, click the Language Filter button in the upper-left corner of the page.

Requirements

Platforms: Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 2000, Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional, Windows Server 2003 family, .NET Compact Framework, Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) Standard

.NET Framework Security: 

• FileIOPermission for reading files. Associated enumeration: FileIOPermissionAccess.Read

See Also

Directory Class | Directory Members | System.IO Namespace | DirectoryInfo | Working with I/O | Reading Text from a File | Writing Text to a File