CODEWITHSUNDEEP
vb.netfilenameswildcard
user3360710
user3360710

Reputation: 15

vb.net get filename list from wildcard

I have string say "c:\debug\ *.txt" In Debug folder there are severeal .txt files , say test1.txt test2.txt test3.txt .

How can I get from this string c:\debug\ *.txt an array of wildcard files?

a(0)=c:\debug\test1.txt
a(1)=c:\debug\test2.txt
a(2)=c:\debug\test3.txt

It is also possible that the string would be something like "C:\logs\12*\ *.log"

a(0)=C:\logs\120114\01.log
a(0)=C:\logs\120114\02.log
a(0)=C:\logs\120114\03.log

etc.

Anyone have any ideas on this?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 5858

Answers (4)

Spiritman
Spiritman

Reputation: 23

You could use the 'Like' keyword:

  ' For your example, call this function with root = "C:\logs" and wild = "12*\*.log"

  Friend Function GetMyFiles(root As String, wild As String, Optional allowsub As Boolean = True) As List(Of String)

    Dim a As New List(Of String), pattern As String

    ' ensure root ends with a \
    If Not root.EndsWith("\") Then root &= "\"

    ' the extra * allows for subdirectories in between, if required
    pattern = root & If(allowsub, "*", "") & wild

    For Each f As String In My.Computer.FileSystem.GetFiles(root, FileIO.SearchOption.SearchAllSubDirectories)
      If f Like pattern Then a.Add(f)
    Next

    Return a

  End Function

Of course, if you hit a protected system directory, it'll fail.

This function is just to demonstrate the 'Like' keyword.

It will work if 'root' isn't a drive root (e.g. C:).

Done properly, a separate function would collect directories first, each tested for access permissions in a Try/Catch block. Here's how that looks:

  Friend Function GetAllAccessibleDirs(ByRef Dir As String, Optional inclDir As Boolean = True, Optional Sort As Boolean = False) As List(Of String)
    Dim D As New List(Of String), Q As New Queue(Of String), dummy As DirectoryInfo, s As String
    If inclDir Then D.Add(Dir)
    Q.Enqueue(Dir)
    While Q.Count
      For Each s In GetTopLevelDirs(Q.Dequeue)
        Try
          dummy = My.Computer.FileSystem.GetDirectoryInfo(s)
          D.Add(s)
          Q.Enqueue(s)
        Catch
          ' Inaccessible folder
        End Try
      Next
    End While
    If Sort AndAlso D.Count Then D.Sort()
    Return D
  End Function

  Friend Function GetTopLevelDirs(ByRef dir As String) As List(Of String)
    Try
      Return My.Computer.FileSystem.GetDirectories(dir, FileIO.SearchOption.SearchTopLevelOnly).ToList
    Catch
      Return New List(Of String)
    End Try
  End Function

Upvotes: 0

Georg
Georg

Reputation: 414

Use the GetFiles from My.Computer.System and the ReadOnlyCollection(of String) from the system.collections.objectModel import and a searchoption as desired (top or all)

sPath = "C:\debug"     ' your desired path
sFile1 = "t*.txt"      ' your desired search pattern with * wildcard
sFile2 = "test?.txt"   ' your desired search pattern with ? wildcard  

dim lstFiles as system.collections.ObjectModel.ReadOnlyCollection(of String) = My.Computer.Filesystem.GetFiles(sPath, FileIO.SearchOption.SearchTopLevelOnly, sFile1)

'lstfiles contains all the files that match your selection 
'if you really need an array you can convert the list to array here

dim i as integer = 0
for each sFile as string in lstfiles
    a(i)=sfile
    i+=1
next

Upvotes: 0

Kev
Kev

Reputation: 286

This should do it for you. It'll handle wildcards in directory part and filename part

Private Function GetFiles(ByVal Path As String) As List(Of String)

    Dim drivePart As String, dirPart As String, filePart As String

    drivePart = Path.Substring(0, Path.IndexOf("\") + 1)
    dirPart = Path.Substring(Path.IndexOf("\") + 1, Path.LastIndexOf("\") - Path.IndexOf("\") - 1)
    filePart = Path.Substring(Path.LastIndexOf("\") + 1)


    Dim directories As New List(Of String)
    Dim files As New List(Of String)


    '' Walk directory tree finding matches
    '' This should handle wildcards in any part of the path
    Dim currentIndex As Integer = 0
    Dim directoryMatch As String() = dirPart.Split("\")
    For Each directory As String In directoryMatch
        WalkDirectories(drivePart, directories, directoryMatch, currentIndex)
        currentIndex += 1
    Next

    For Each directory As String In directories
        files.AddRange(System.IO.Directory.GetFiles(directory, filePart))
    Next


    Return files

End Function

Private Sub WalkDirectories(ByVal dirPart As String, ByVal directories As List(Of String), ByVal directoryMatch As String(), ByVal currentIndex As Integer)

    If currentIndex = directoryMatch.Length Then Return

    For Each d As String In System.IO.Directory.GetDirectories(dirPart, directoryMatch(currentIndex))
        directories.Add(d)


        WalkDirectories(System.IO.Path.Combine(dirPart, d), directories, directoryMatch, currentIndex + 1)
    Next
End Sub

Edit: just noticed that it wont handle UNC paths but it should be pretty easy to modify for that if you need to Editted again to handle multiple directory levels and wildcards at multiple levels (eg C:\debug\12*\log1*\errors*.txt

Upvotes: 0

Prasanth
Prasanth

Reputation: 183

I use the following code:

Dim Path As String = "C:\debug"
Dim Dir As New DirectoryInfo(Path)
Dim q = (From x In Dir.GetFiles("*.txt", SearchOption.AllDirectories) Select x.FullName).ToArray

You might need to

Import System.IO
Import System.Linq

Basically your key for the requirement is SearchOption.AllDirectories which iterates through sub directories as well.

Upvotes: 2

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