Returns the names of files in the specified directory that match the specified search pattern.
Namespace: System.IO
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
Visual Basic (Declaration)
Public Shared Function GetFiles ( _
path As String, _
searchPattern As String _
) As String()
Dim path As String
Dim searchPattern As String
Dim returnValue As String()
returnValue = Directory.GetFiles(path, searchPattern)
public static string[] GetFiles (
string path,
string searchPattern
)
public:
static array<String^>^ GetFiles (
String^ path,
String^ searchPattern
)
public static String[] GetFiles (
String path,
String searchPattern
)
public static function GetFiles (
path : String,
searchPattern : String
) : String[]
Parameters
- path
The directory to search.
- searchPattern
The search string to match against the names of files in path. The parameter cannot end in two periods ("..") or contain two periods ("..") followed by DirectorySeparatorChar or AltDirectorySeparatorChar, nor can it contain any of the characters in InvalidPathChars.
Return Value
A String array containing the names of files in the specified directory that match the specified search pattern. File names include the full path.
| Exception type | 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. -or- searchPattern does not contain a valid pattern. |
ArgumentNullException | path or searchPattern is a null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic). |
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. |
DirectoryNotFoundException | The specified path is invalid (for example, it is on an unmapped drive). |
The file names include the full path.
The following wildcard specifiers are permitted in searchPattern.
| Wildcard character | Description |
| * | Zero or more characters. |
| ? | Exactly one character. |
Characters other than the wildcard specifiers represent themselves. For example, the searchPattern string "*t" searches for all names in path ending with the letter "t". The searchPattern string "s*" searches for all names in path beginning with the letter "s".
The matching behavior of searchPattern when the extension is exactly three characters long is different from when the extension is more than three characters long. A searchPattern of exactly three characters returns files having an extension of three or more characters. A searchPattern of one, two, or more than three characters returns only files having extensions of exactly that length.
Note |
|---|
| The A search pattern using the asterisk matches all extensions with a wildcard on the end, while a search pattern using the question mark does not use a wildcard. For example, given two files, file1.txt and file1.txtother, in a directory, a search pattern of "file?.txt" returns just the first file, while a search pattern of "file*.txt" returns both files. |
The following list shows the behavior of different lengths for the searchPattern parameter:
-
"*.abc*" returns files having an extension of.abc,.abcd,.abcde,.abcdef, and so on.
-
"*.abcd" returns only files having an extension of.abcd.
-
"*.abcde" returns only files having an extension of.abcde.
-
"*.abcdef" returns only files having an extension of.abcdef.
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.
The following table lists examples of other typical or related I/O tasks.
The following code example counts the number of files that begin with the specified letter.
Imports System
Imports System.IO
Public Class Test
Public Shared Sub Main()
Try
' Only get files that begin with the letter "c."
Dim dirs As String() = Directory.GetFiles("c:\", "c*")
Console.WriteLine("The number of files starting with c is {0}.", dirs.Length)
Dim dir As String
For Each dir In dirs
Console.WriteLine(dir)
Next
Catch e As Exception
Console.WriteLine("The process failed: {0}", e.ToString())
End Try
End Sub
End Class
using System;
using System.IO;
class Test
{
public static void Main()
{
try
{
// Only get files that begin with the letter "c."
string[] dirs = Directory.GetFiles(@"c:\", "c*");
Console.WriteLine("The number of files starting with c is {0}.", dirs.Length);
foreach (string dir in dirs)
{
Console.WriteLine(dir);
}
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine("The process failed: {0}", e.ToString());
}
}
}
using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
int main()
{
try
{
// Only get files that begin with the letter "c."
array<String^>^dirs = Directory::GetFiles( "c:\\", "c*" );
Console::WriteLine( "The number of files starting with c is {0}.", dirs->Length );
Collections::IEnumerator^ myEnum = dirs->GetEnumerator();
while ( myEnum->MoveNext() )
{
Console::WriteLine( myEnum->Current );
}
}
catch ( Exception^ e )
{
Console::WriteLine( "The process failed: {0}", e );
}
}
import System.*;
import System.IO.*;
class Test
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
try {
// Only get files that begin with the letter "c."
String dirs[] = Directory.GetFiles("c:\\", "c*");
Console.WriteLine("The number of files starting with c is {0}.",
(Int32)dirs.length);
String dir = "";
for ( int iCtr=0; iCtr < dirs.length ; iCtr++ ) {
dir = dirs[iCtr];
Console.WriteLine(dir);
}
}
catch (System.Exception e) {
Console.WriteLine("The process failed: {0}", e.ToString());
}
} //main
} //Test
Windows 98, Windows 2000 SP4, Windows CE, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Starter Edition
The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see System Requirements.
.NET Framework
Supported in: 2.0, 1.1, 1.0
.NET Compact Framework
Supported in: 2.0, 1.0