Directory.GetCreationTime Method
Gets the creation date and time of a directory.
Namespace: System.IO
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
Parameters
- path
- Type: System.String
The path of the directory.
Return Value
Type: System.DateTimeA structure that is set to the creation date and time for the specified directory. This value is expressed in local time.
| Exception | Condition |
|---|---|
| UnauthorizedAccessException | The caller does not have the required permission. |
| ArgumentException | path is a zero-length string, contains only white space, or contains one or more invalid characters as defined by InvalidPathChars. |
| ArgumentNullException | path is null. |
| PathTooLongException | The specified path, file name, or both exceed the system-defined maximum length. For example, on Windows-based platforms, paths must be less than 248 characters and file names must be less than 260 characters. |
 Note |
|---|
This method may return an inaccurate value, because it uses native functions whose values may not be continuously updated by the operating system. |
This method is equivalent to File.GetCreationTime.
If the directory described in the path parameter does not exist, this method returns 12:00 midnight, January 1, 1601 A.D. (C.E.) Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), adjusted to local time.
The path parameter is permitted to specify relative or absolute path information. Relative path information is interpreted as relative to the current working directory. To obtain the current working directory, see GetCurrentDirectory.
The path parameter is not case-sensitive.
For a list of common I/O tasks, see Common I/O Tasks.
The following example gets the creation time of the specified directory.
using System; using System.IO; class Test { public static void Main() { try { // Get the creation time of a well-known directory. DateTime dt = Directory.GetCreationTime(Environment.CurrentDirectory); // Give feedback to the user. if (DateTime.Now.Subtract(dt).TotalDays > 364) { Console.WriteLine("This directory is over a year old."); } else if (DateTime.Now.Subtract(dt).TotalDays > 30) { Console.WriteLine("This directory is over a month old."); } else if (DateTime.Now.Subtract(dt).TotalDays <= 1) { Console.WriteLine("This directory is less than a day old."); } else { Console.WriteLine("This directory was created on {0}", dt); } } catch (Exception e) { Console.WriteLine("The process failed: {0}", e.ToString()); } } }
- FileIOPermission
for reading the specified file or directory. Associated enumeration: FileIOPermissionAccess.Read
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.
