CODEWITHSUNDEEP
vb.netwinformsfilesearchwildcard
BizApps
BizApps

Reputation: 6130

How to get all Filenames on Directory in VB.NET

I want to show all PDF filenames that has "33" in any position.

sample pdf list on PDFFiles Folder

1111.pdf
3311.pdf
2222.pdf
2331.pdf
1234.pdf
1233.pdf

I need to get result like this,that is something like wildcard %33% on sql

3311.pdf
2331.pdf
1233.pdf

I tried this one 

Me.ListBox1.Items.AddRange(Directory.GetFiles("C:\PDFFiles", "*33*" & ".PDF", SearchOption.AllDirectories))

but it still displays all the pdf files.

1111.pdf
3311.pdf
2222.pdf
2331.pdf
1234.pdf
1233.pdf

and this 

Me.ListBox1.Items.AddRange(Directory.GetFiles("C:\PDFFiles", "*33" & ".PDF", SearchOption.AllDirectories))

but it only get 

1233.pdf //this get all filename that ends with 33

Thanks in Regards

Upvotes: 1

Views: 10965

Answers (4)

BizApps
BizApps

Reputation: 6130

We have found out that

Filter *___* works if the string has lenght greater than or equal to 4.

So if i want to get all records that has test name value:

test1234.pdf
abcdefg.pdf
123test45.pdf
12345678.pdf

My filter should be: "*test" & ".PDF" it will give the desired result

test1234.pdf
123test45.pdf

FYI

Upvotes: 0

Hans Passant
Hans Passant

Reputation: 942418

The pattern matching algorithm for wildcards are rather strange if you are used to regular expressions. There's a lot of history behind it, going back through Windows 3, MS-DOS, CP/M (an operating system for 8-bit machines) and RSX (an operating system on 16-bit DEC machines). With heavy borrowing between them, including the wildcard behavior. Some accidental commonality btw, David Cutler was the principal architect behind the first and the last one.

Anyhoo, *33* isn't going to work. You'll need to apply your own filter. Search for *.* or *.pdf and use Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension() and String.Contains() to find the matches.

Upvotes: 2

Emond
Emond

Reputation: 50712

I have noticed this behavior too when using more than one *.

I solved it by getting all file names and then filtering the correct names by using LINQ:

Dim allFileNames as String() = _ 
    Directory.GetFiles("C:\PDFFiles", "*.PDF", SearchOption.AllDirectories)
Dim filtered As IEnumerable(Of String) = _ 
    .Where(Function(fileName) Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(fileName).Contains("33"))

Upvotes: 2

Habib
Habib

Reputation: 223422

You are missing * at the end of "*33", put one more star at the end of like "*33*".

Your current expression : "*33" & ".PDF" means, All file names which ends with 33.PDF that is why you are getting 1233.pdf and not 2331.pdf

EDIT: Directory.GetFileName()

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".

Upvotes: 0

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