.NET Framework Class Library
Directory..::.Exists Method

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

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

Visual Basic (Declaration)
Public Shared Function Exists ( _
    path As String _
) As Boolean
Visual Basic (Usage)
Dim path As String
Dim returnValue As Boolean

returnValue = Directory.Exists(path)
C#
public static bool Exists(
    string path
)
Visual C++
public:
static bool Exists(
    String^ path
)
JScript
public static function Exists(
    path : String
) : boolean

Parameters

path
Type: System..::.String
The path to test.

Return Value

Type: System..::.Boolean
true if path refers to an existing directory; otherwise, false.
Remarks

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

Trailing spaces are removed from the end of the path parameter before checking whether the directory exists.

The path parameter is not case-sensitive.

If you do not have at a minimum read-only permission to the directory, the Exists method will return false.

The following table lists examples of other typical or related I/O tasks.

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

Examples

The following code 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);        
    }
}
Visual C++
// For File::Exists, Directory::Exists
using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Collections;

// Insert logic for processing found files here.
void ProcessFile( String^ path )
{
   Console::WriteLine( "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.
   array<String^>^fileEntries = Directory::GetFiles( targetDirectory );
   IEnumerator^ files = fileEntries->GetEnumerator();
   while ( files->MoveNext() )
   {
      String^ fileName = safe_cast<String^>(files->Current);
      ProcessFile( fileName );
   }


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

int main( int argc, char *argv[] )
{
   for ( int i = 1; i < argc; i++ )
   {
      String^ path = gcnew String(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( "{0} is not a valid file or directory.", path );
      }

   }
}

JScript
//For Directory.GetFiles and Directory.GetDirectories
import System;
import System.IO;
import System.Collections;

// For File.Exists, Directory.Exists 
// Takes an array of file names or directory names on the command line.  
// Determines what kind of name it is and processes it appropriately
public class RecursiveFileProcessor {
    public static function Main(args : String[]) : void  {
        for(var i : int in args) {
            var path : String = args[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("{0} is not a valid file or directory.", path);
            }        
        }        
    }


    // Process all files in the directory passed in, and recurse on any directories 
    // that are found to process the files they contain
    public static function ProcessDirectory(targetDirectory : String) : void  {
        // Process the list of files found in the directory
        var fileEntries : String [] = Directory.GetFiles(targetDirectory);
        for (var i : int in fileEntries)
            ProcessFile(fileEntries[i]);

        // Recurse into subdirectories of this directory
        var subdirectoryEntries : String[] = Directory.GetDirectories(targetDirectory);
        for (i in subdirectoryEntries)
            ProcessDirectory(subdirectoryEntries[i]);
    }

    // Real logic for processing found files would go here.
    public static function ProcessFile(path : String) : void  {
        Console.WriteLine("Processed file '{0}'.", path);        
    }
}

// For JScript there is no 'Main' routine defined and hence the command line arguments
// have to be obtained with a call to System.Environment.GetCommandLineArgs
RecursiveFileProcessor.Main(System.Environment.GetCommandLineArgs());
.NET Framework Security

Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Xbox 360, Zune

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.
Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0

.NET Compact Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 2.0, 1.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: 3.0, 2.0, 1.0
See Also

Reference

Other Resources

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