Returns the directory information for the specified path string.
(in mscorlib.dll)
Visual Basic (Declaration)
Public Shared Function GetDirectoryName ( _
path As String _
) As String
Dim path As String
Dim returnValue As String
returnValue = Path.GetDirectoryName(path)
public static string GetDirectoryName(
string path
)
public:
static String^ GetDirectoryName(
String^ path
)
public static function GetDirectoryName(
path : String
) : String
Return Value
Type:
System..::.StringA String containing directory information for path, or nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic) if path denotes a root directory, is the empty string (""), or is nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic). Returns String..::.Empty if path does not contain directory information.
| Exception | Condition |
|---|
| ArgumentException | The path parameter contains invalid characters, is empty, or contains only white spaces. |
| PathTooLongException | The path parameter is longer than the system-defined maximum length. |
In most cases, the string returned by this method consists of all characters in the path up to but not including the last DirectorySeparatorChar or AltDirectorySeparatorChar. If the path consists of a root directory, such as "c:\", null is returned. Note that this method does not support paths using "file:". Because the returned path does not include the DirectorySeparatorChar or AltDirectorySeparatorChar, passing the returned path back into the GetDirectoryName method will result in the truncation of one folder level per subsequent call on the result string. For example, passing the path "C:\Directory\SubDirectory\test.txt" into the GetDirectoryName method will return "C:\Directory\SubDirectory". Passing that string, "C:\Directory\SubDirectory", into GetDirectoryName will result in "C:\Directory".
For a list of common I/O tasks, see Common I/O Tasks.
The following code example demonstrates using the GetDirectoryName method on a Windows-based desktop platform.
Dim fileName As String = "C:\mydir\myfile.ext"
Dim pathname As String = "C:\mydir\"
Dim rootPath As String = "C:\"
Dim directoryName As String
directoryName = Path.GetDirectoryName(fileName)
Console.WriteLine("GetDirectoryName('{0}') returns '{1}'", fileName, directoryName)
directoryName = Path.GetDirectoryName(pathname)
Console.WriteLine("GetDirectoryName('{0}') returns '{1}'", pathname, directoryName)
directoryName = Path.GetDirectoryName(rootPath)
Console.WriteLine("GetDirectoryName('{0}') returns '{1}'", rootPath, directoryName)
'This code produces the following output:
'
'GetDirectoryName('C:\mydir\myfile.ext') returns 'C:\mydir'
'GetDirectoryName('C:\mydir\') returns 'C:\mydir'
'GetDirectoryName('C:\') returns ''
string fileName = @"C:\mydir\myfile.ext";
string path = @"C:\mydir\";
string rootPath = @"C:\";
string directoryName;
directoryName = Path.GetDirectoryName(fileName);
Console.WriteLine("GetDirectoryName('{0}') returns '{1}'",
fileName, directoryName);
directoryName = Path.GetDirectoryName(path);
Console.WriteLine("GetDirectoryName('{0}') returns '{1}'",
path, directoryName);
directoryName = Path.GetDirectoryName(rootPath);
Console.WriteLine("GetDirectoryName('{0}') returns '{1}'",
rootPath, directoryName);
/*
This code produces the following output:
GetDirectoryName('C:\mydir\myfile.ext') returns 'C:\mydir'
GetDirectoryName('C:\mydir\') returns 'C:\mydir'
GetDirectoryName('C:\') returns ''
*/
String^ fileName = "C:\\mydir\\myfile.ext";
String^ path = "C:\\mydir\\";
String^ rootPath = "C:\\";
String^ directoryName;
directoryName = Path::GetDirectoryName( fileName );
Console::WriteLine( "GetDirectoryName('{0}') returns '{1}'", fileName, directoryName );
directoryName = Path::GetDirectoryName( path );
Console::WriteLine( "GetDirectoryName('{0}') returns '{1}'", path, directoryName );
directoryName = Path::GetDirectoryName( rootPath );
Console::WriteLine( "GetDirectoryName('{0}') returns '{1}'", rootPath, directoryName );
/*
This code produces the following output:
GetDirectoryName('C:\mydir\myfile.ext') returns 'C:\mydir'
GetDirectoryName('C:\mydir\') returns 'C:\mydir'
GetDirectoryName('C:\') returns ''
*/
var fileName : String = "C:\\mydir\\myfile.ext";
var path : String = "C:\\mydir\\";
var rootPath : String = "C:\\";
var directoryName : String;
directoryName = Path.GetDirectoryName(fileName);
Console.WriteLine("GetDirectoryName('{0}') returns '{1}'",
fileName, directoryName);
directoryName = Path.GetDirectoryName(path);
Console.WriteLine("GetDirectoryName('{0}') returns '{1}'",
path, directoryName);
directoryName = Path.GetDirectoryName(rootPath);
Console.WriteLine("GetDirectoryName('{0}') returns '{1}'",
rootPath, directoryName);
/*
This code produces the following output:
GetDirectoryName('C:\mydir\myfile.ext') returns 'C:\mydir'
GetDirectoryName('C:\mydir\') returns 'C:\mydir'
GetDirectoryName('C:\') returns ''
*/
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.
.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
Reference
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