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c#directorygetfiles
jerryh91
jerryh91

Reputation: 1795

System.IO.Directory.GetFiles() not retrieving any files in C#?

I'm simply trying to retrieve all the files in a certain directory. 

if (System.IO.Directory.Exists(dir_path)) //this line passes
{
    //The following files array is empty although there's clearly files
    string[] files = System.IO.Directory.GetFiles(dir_path);
}

Is there a way to copy over all the subdirectories, with all files still in their respective subdirectories when copied over?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 15045

Answers (3)

GoldNova
GoldNova

Reputation: 353

I have encountered the same problem by trying to use System.IO.Directory.GetFiles() and believing that it will return me all the immediate contents of a folder.

However, Directory.GetFiles() only returns FILES. This means that subfolders will NOT be returned, only all the immediate files of a folder.

If you plan on getting all immediate files and folders of a directory you must use Directory.GetFileSystemEntries() instead!

Upvotes: 0

rajeemcariazo
rajeemcariazo

Reputation: 2524

Try to run Visual Studio as an administrator. If the code runs successfully, then there may be some access privileges issue on the folder being accessed.

Upvotes: 0

Chris Sinclair
Chris Sinclair

Reputation: 23218

Based on your comment "The directory has 2 non-empty subdirectories", the Directory.GetFiles(string) overload does not recursively check subdirectories and would not pick up those files.

Instead try using Directory.GetFiles(dir_path, "*", SearchOption.AllDirectories) which will grab files in subdirectories as well.

Upvotes: 9

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