How do i list all directories and subdirectories i

Question

I have this problem that i cant seem to overcome. i am trying to list all the directories and sub directories. This is what i have so far in code :

String[] Folders;
            String[] Files;
            path = Server.MapPath("/");

            DirectoryInfo dir = new DirectoryInfo(path);
            Folders = Directory.GetDirectories(path);

            try
            {
                FolderListing.Append("<ul id=\"FolderList\">");

                for (int x = 0; x < Folders.Length; x++ )
                {
                    DirectoryInfo folder = new DirectoryInfo(Folders[x]);

                    FolderListing.Append("<li>").Append(folder.Name).Append("</li>");
                    CheckSubdirectories(Folders[x]);
                }



                FolderListing.Append("</ul>");
                FolderList.Text = FolderListing.ToString();
            }
            catch (Exception exc) //Module failed to load
            {
                Exceptions.ProcessModuleLoadException(this, exc);
            }
        }
        private void CheckSubdirectories(string currentpath)
        {
           String[] subfolders = Directory.GetDirectories(currentpath);
           if (subfolders.Length != 0)
           {
               FolderListing.Append("<ul id=\"SubFolderList\">");
           }
            for (int x = 0; x < subfolders.Length; x++ )
            {
               DirectoryInfo sfolder = new DirectoryInfo(subfolders[x]);
               FolderListing.Append("<li>").Append(sfolder.Name).Append("</li>");
            }
            if (subfolders.Length != 0)
            {
                FolderListing.Append("</ul>");
            }
            path = currentpath.ToString();
        }

i would like the end result to be :

<ul>
    <li>admin</li>
    <ul>
        <li>Containers</li>
        <li>ControlPanel</li>
        <li>Menus</li>
        <ul>
            <li>etc etc</li>
        </ul>
    </ul>
</ul>

if anyone can help me please

Answer 1

Hope this recursive method helps:

void ListDirectories(string path, StringBuilder sb)
{
    var directories = Directory.GetDirectories(path);
    if (directories.Any())
    {
        sb.AppendLine("<ul>");
        foreach (var directory in directories)
        {
            var di = new DirectoryInfo(directory);
            sb.AppendFormat("<li>{0}</li>", di.Name);
            sb.AppendLine();
            ListDirectories(directory, sb);
        }
        sb.AppendLine("</ul>");
    }
}

To invoke it, just create an instance of StringBuilder and send it along with the path to the method:

var sb = new StringBuilder();
ListDirectories(Server.MapPath("/"), sb);

Answer 2

You can solve the problem by using a recursive approach. You need a method that calls itself in order to list subdirectories that are nested at any depth.

public ListDirectory (DirectoryInfo dir)
{
     //TODO: Output the directory info here.
     foreach (DirectoryInfo subdir in dir.Directories) {
         ListDirectory(subdir);
     }
     foreach (FileInfo file in dir.Files) {
         //TODO: Output the file info here.
     }
}

---

The list should look like this in HTML. Note that a subdirectory's <li> must enclose the whole nested <ul>.

<ul> 
    <li>subdirectory item 1
        <ul> 
            <li>file 1 in subdirectory</li> 
            <li>file 2 in subdirectory</li> 
        </ul> 
    </li> 
    <li>subdirectory item 2
        <ul> 
            <li>sub-subdirectory item
                <ul> 
                    <li>file 1 in sub-subdirectory</li> 
                    <li>file 2 in sub-subdirectory</li> 
                </ul> 
            </li> 
            <li>file 1 in subdirectory</li> 
            <li>file 2 in subdirectory</li> 
        </ul> 
    </li> 
    <li>file item 1</li> 
    <li>file item 2</li> 
</ul>

This will produce the following output:

• subdirectory item 1
  • file 1 in subdirectory
  • file 2 in subdirectory
• subdirectory item 2
  • sub-subdirectory item
    • file 1 in sub-subdirectory
    • file 2 in sub-subdirectory
  • file 1 in subdirectory
  • file 2 in subdirectory
• file item 1
• file item 2

With this information, we can refine the method above (in pseudo-code)

public ListDirectory (DirectoryInfo dir)
{
     Output("<li>");    Output(dir.Name);
         if (dir.Directories.Count > 0 || dir.Files.Count > 0) {
             Output("<ul>");
             foreach (DirectoryInfo subdir in dir.Directories) {
                 ListDirectory(subdir);
             }
             foreach (FileInfo file in dir.Files) {
                 Output("<li>");  Output(file.Name);  Output("</li>");
             }
             Output("</ul>");
         }
     Output("</li>");
}

You also will have to enclose the whole thing in a <ul> </ul> pair. Also, you could use a slightly different scheme on the first level, in order to list files and directories instead of just one root directory, as my code above would.

Answer 3

This works:

Func<DirectoryInfo, XElement[]> getDirectories = null;
getDirectories = di =>
    (new []
    {
        new XElement("li", di.Name),
        di.GetDirectories().Any()
            ? new XElement("ul",
                from cdi in di.GetDirectories()
                select getDirectories(cdi))
            : null,
    })
        .Where(x => x != null)
        .ToArray();

var xml = new XElement("ul",
    getDirectories(
        new DirectoryInfo(@"E:\Install\_.NET")));

From my example directory I got this output:

<ul>
  <li>_.NET</li>
  <ul>
    <li>3DCollaborator</li>
    <li>MercurialVSSProvider</li>
    <li>MongoDB</li>
    <li>sqlite</li>
    <ul>
      <li>sqlite-netFx35-binary-bundle-Win32-2008-1.0.74.0</li>
      <li>sqlite-netFx35-binary-Win32-2008-1.0.74.0</li>
      <li>sqlite-netFx40-binary-Win32-2010-1.0.74.0</li>
    </ul>
  </ul>
</ul>