File.GetCreationTime Method

Definition

Overloads

GetCreationTime(SafeFileHandle)

Returns the creation time of the specified file or directory.

GetCreationTime(String)

Returns the creation date and time of the specified file or directory.

GetCreationTime(SafeFileHandle)

Source:
File.cs
Source:
File.cs
Source:
File.cs

Returns the creation time of the specified file or directory.

public:
 static DateTime GetCreationTime(Microsoft::Win32::SafeHandles::SafeFileHandle ^ fileHandle);
public static DateTime GetCreationTime (Microsoft.Win32.SafeHandles.SafeFileHandle fileHandle);
static member GetCreationTime : Microsoft.Win32.SafeHandles.SafeFileHandle -> DateTime
Public Shared Function GetCreationTime (fileHandle As SafeFileHandle) As DateTime

Parameters

fileHandle
SafeFileHandle

A SafeFileHandle to the file or directory for which to obtain creation date and time information.

Returns

A DateTime structure set to the creation date and time for the specified file or directory. This value is expressed in local time.

Exceptions

fileHandle is null.

The caller does not have the required permission.

Applies to

GetCreationTime(String)

Source:
File.cs
Source:
File.cs
Source:
File.cs

Returns the creation date and time of the specified file or directory.

public:
 static DateTime GetCreationTime(System::String ^ path);
public static DateTime GetCreationTime (string path);
static member GetCreationTime : string -> DateTime
Public Shared Function GetCreationTime (path As String) As DateTime

Parameters

path
String

The file or directory for which to obtain creation date and time information.

Returns

A DateTime structure set to the creation date and time for the specified file or directory. This value is expressed in local time.

Exceptions

The caller does not have the required permission.

.NET Framework and .NET Core versions older than 2.1: path is a zero-length string, contains only white space, or contains one or more invalid characters. You can query for invalid characters by using the GetInvalidPathChars() method.

path is null.

The specified path, file name, or both exceed the system-defined maximum length.

path is in an invalid format.

Examples

The following example demonstrates GetCreationTime.

Imports System.IO

Module Module1

    Sub Main()
        Dim fileCreatedDate As DateTime = File.GetCreationTime("C:\Example\MyTest.txt")
        Console.WriteLine("file created: " + fileCreatedDate)
    End Sub

End Module

Remarks

Note

This method may return an inaccurate value, because it uses native functions whose values may not be continuously updated by the operating system.

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.

If the file 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.

NTFS-formatted drives may cache information about a file, such as file creation time, for a short period of time. As a result, it may be necessary to explicitly set the creation time of a file if you are overwriting or replacing an existing file.

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

See also

Applies to