List all files and directories in a directory + su

Question

I want to list every file and directory contained in a directory and subdirectories of that directory. If I chose C:\ as the directory, the program would get every the name of every file and folder on the hard drive that it had access to.

A list might look like

fd\1.txt
fd\2.txt
fd\a\
fd\b\
fd\a\1.txt
fd\a\2.txt
fd\a\a\
fd\a\b\
fd\b\1.txt
fd\b\2.txt
fd\b\a
fd\b\b
fd\a\a\1.txt
fd\a\a\a\
fd\a\b\1.txt
fd\a\b\a
fd\b\a\1.txt
fd\b\a\a\
fd\b\b\1.txt
fd\b\b\a

Answer 1

public static void DirectorySearch(string dir)
{
    try
    {
        foreach (string f in Directory.GetFiles(dir))
        {
            Console.WriteLine(Path.GetFileName(f));
        }
        foreach (string d in Directory.GetDirectories(dir))
        {
            Console.WriteLine(Path.GetFileName(d));
            DirectorySearch(d);
        }
    }
    catch (System.Exception ex)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
    }
}

Answer 2

string[] allfiles = Directory.GetFiles("path/to/dir", "*.*", SearchOption.AllDirectories);

where *.* is pattern to match files

If the Directory is also needed you can go like this:

 foreach (var file in allfiles){
     FileInfo info = new FileInfo(file);
 // Do something with the Folder or just add them to a list via nameoflist.add();
 }

Answer 3

If you don't have access to a subfolder inside the directory tree, Directory.GetFiles stops and throws the exception resulting in a null value in the receiving string[].

Here, see this answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/38959208/6310707

It manages the exception inside the loop and keep on working untill the entire folder is traversed.

Answer 4

The following example the fastest (not parallelized) way list files and sub-folders in a directory tree handling exceptions. It would be faster to use Directory.EnumerateDirectories using SearchOption.AllDirectories to enumerate all directories, but this method will fail if hits a UnauthorizedAccessException or PathTooLongException.

Uses the generic Stack collection type, which is a last in first out (LIFO) stack and does not use recursion. From https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb513869.aspx, allows you to enumerate all sub-directories and files and deal effectively with those exceptions.

    public class StackBasedIteration
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        // Specify the starting folder on the command line, or in 
        // Visual Studio in the Project > Properties > Debug pane.
        TraverseTree(args[0]);

        Console.WriteLine("Press any key");
        Console.ReadKey();
    }

    public static void TraverseTree(string root)
    {
        // Data structure to hold names of subfolders to be
        // examined for files.
        Stack<string> dirs = new Stack<string>(20);

        if (!System.IO.Directory.Exists(root))
        {
            throw new ArgumentException();
        }
        dirs.Push(root);

        while (dirs.Count > 0)
        {
            string currentDir = dirs.Pop();
            string[] subDirs;
            try
            {
                subDirs = System.IO.Directory.EnumerateDirectories(currentDir); //TopDirectoryOnly
            }
            // An UnauthorizedAccessException exception will be thrown if we do not have
            // discovery permission on a folder or file. It may or may not be acceptable 
            // to ignore the exception and continue enumerating the remaining files and 
            // folders. It is also possible (but unlikely) that a DirectoryNotFound exception 
            // will be raised. This will happen if currentDir has been deleted by
            // another application or thread after our call to Directory.Exists. The 
            // choice of which exceptions to catch depends entirely on the specific task 
            // you are intending to perform and also on how much you know with certainty 
            // about the systems on which this code will run.
            catch (UnauthorizedAccessException e)
            {                    
                Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
                continue;
            }
            catch (System.IO.DirectoryNotFoundException e)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
                continue;
            }

            string[] files = null;
            try
            {
                files = System.IO.Directory.EnumerateFiles(currentDir);
            }

            catch (UnauthorizedAccessException e)
            {

                Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
                continue;
            }

            catch (System.IO.DirectoryNotFoundException e)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
                continue;
            }
            // Perform the required action on each file here.
            // Modify this block to perform your required task.
            foreach (string file in files)
            {
                try
                {
                    // Perform whatever action is required in your scenario.
                    System.IO.FileInfo fi = new System.IO.FileInfo(file);
                    Console.WriteLine("{0}: {1}, {2}", fi.Name, fi.Length, fi.CreationTime);
                }
                catch (System.IO.FileNotFoundException e)
                {
                    // If file was deleted by a separate application
                    //  or thread since the call to TraverseTree()
                    // then just continue.
                    Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
                    continue;
                }
                catch (UnauthorizedAccessException e)
                {                    
                    Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
                    continue;
                }
            }

            // Push the subdirectories onto the stack for traversal.
            // This could also be done before handing the files.
            foreach (string str in subDirs)
                dirs.Push(str);
        }
    }
}

Answer 5

Use the GetDirectories and GetFiles methods to get the folders and files.

Use the SearchOption AllDirectories to get the folders and files in the subfolders also.

Answer 6

using System.IO;
using System.Text;
string[] filePaths = Directory.GetFiles(@"path", "*.*", SearchOption.AllDirectories);