The returned file names are appended to the supplied path parameter.

If there are no files, or no files match the searchPattern parameter, this method returns an empty array.

The order of the returned file names is not guaranteed; use the Sort()()() method if a specific sort order is required.

The following wildcard specifiers are permitted in searchPattern.

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".

Note:

When using the asterisk wildcard character in a searchPattern, such as "*.txt", the matching behavior when the extension is exactly three characters long is different than when the extension is more or less than three characters long. A searchPattern with a file extension of exactly three characters returns files having an extension of three or more characters, where the first three characters match the file extension specified in the searchPattern. A searchPattern with a file extension of one, two, or more than three characters returns only files having extensions of exactly that length that match the file extension specified in the searchPattern. When using the question mark wildcard character, this method returns only files that match the specified file extension. 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.

Note:
Because this method checks against file names with both the 8.3 file name format and the long file name format, a search pattern similar to "*1*.txt" may return unexpected file names. For example, using a search pattern of "*1*.txt" returns "longfilename.txt" because the equivalent 8.3 file name format is "LONGFI~1.TXT".

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 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 );
   }

}

• FileIOPermission 

  for access to path information for the current directory. Associated enumeration: FileIOPermissionAccess..::.PathDiscovery

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

.NET Framework

.NET Compact Framework

XNA Framework

Reference

Other Resources