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Environment::GetFolderPath Method (Environment::SpecialFolder)

.NET Framework (current version)

Other Versions

Gets the path to the system special folder that is identified by the specified enumeration.

Namespace: System
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

Syntax

C++

public:
static String^ GetFolderPath(
	Environment::SpecialFolder folder
)

Parameters

folder: Type: System::Environment::SpecialFolder
An enumerated constant that identifies a system special folder.

Return Value

Type: System::String^

The path to the specified system special folder, if that folder physically exists on your computer; otherwise, an empty string ("").

A folder will not physically exist if the operating system did not create it, the existing folder was deleted, or the folder is a virtual directory, such as My Computer, which does not correspond to a physical path.

Exceptions

Exception	Condition
ArgumentException	folder is not a member of System::Environment::SpecialFolder.
PlatformNotSupportedException	The current platform is not supported.

Remarks

This method retrieves the path to a system special folder, such as Program Files, Programs, System, or Startup, which can be used to access common information. Special folders are set by default by the system, or explicitly by the user, when installing a version of Windows.

The folder parameter designates the special folder to retrieve and must be one of the values in the Environment::SpecialFolder enumeration; any other value throws an exception.

For more information about special folders, see the CSIDL values topic.

Examples

The following example demonstrates how to use the GetFolderPath method to return and display the path associated with the folder parameter.

C++

// Sample for the Environment::GetFolderPath method
using namespace System;
int main()
{
   Console::WriteLine();
   Console::WriteLine( "GetFolderPath: {0}", Environment::GetFolderPath( Environment::SpecialFolder::System ) );
}

/*
This example produces the following results:

GetFolderPath: C:\WINNT\System32
*/

Security

FileIOPermission

for writing files. Associated enumeration: FileIOPermissionAccess::Write