Learning Objectives

• Understand the constants and functions available in the System.IO namespace.

Prerequisites for Developers

• Familiarity with Visual Studio or Visual Studio Code.
• Basic knowledge of handling variables, utilizing string interpolation, and displaying output.

Getting Started

How can you find out the current directory?

The System.IO namespace offers a method to retrieve the full path of the current directory. Start by creating a static class file named "FilePath.cs" in your console application and paste the following code snippet into it:

public static class FilePath

{

///

/// Outputs

/// D:Workspace30DayChallenge.Net30DayChallenge.NetbinDebugnet8.0

///

public static void DisplayCurrentDirectory()

{

Console.WriteLine(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory());

}

}

Run the code from the main method like this:

#region Day 10 - File Path

FilePath.DisplayCurrentDirectory();

#endregion

Console Output:

D:Workspace30DayChallenge.Net30DayChallenge.NetbinDebugnet8.0

Working with Special Directories

The following code snippet demonstrates how to access the Windows My Documents folder or the user's HOME directory across different operating systems, including Linux. Add this method to the same static class:

///

/// Outputs

/// C:UsersadminDocuments

///

public static void DisplaySpecialDirectory()

{

Console.WriteLine(Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.MyDocuments));

}

Execute the code from the main method as follows:

#region Day 10 - File Path

FilePath.DisplaySpecialDirectory();

#endregion

Console Output:

C:UsersadminDocuments

Retrieving OS Path Characters

Different operating systems utilize unique characters to separate directory levels. The framework automatically recognizes the appropriate separator for the current OS. To demonstrate this, add another method:

///

/// Outputs

/// For Windows: sample

///

public static void DisplayOSPathCharacters()

{

Console.WriteLine($"For Windows: {Path.DirectorySeparatorChar}sample");

}

Run it from the main method as follows:

#region Day 10 - File Path

FilePath.DisplayOSPathCharacters();

#endregion

Console Output:

For Windows: sample

Finding Filename Extensions

The Path class provides a method for retrieving the extension of any given filename. To add this functionality, include the following method:

///

/// Outputs

/// .json

///

public static void DisplayFileExtension()

{

Console.WriteLine(Path.GetExtension("sample.json"));

}

Execute it from the main method like this:

#region Day 10 - File Path

FilePath.DisplayFileExtension();

#endregion

Console Output:

.json

Complete Code Available on GitHub

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