File name has two backslashes C#

Question

There is probably an easy answer for this, but when I added DateTime.Now.ToString() to my fileName it adds an extra \ for every \ I have so C:\Temp becomes C:\\Temp which causes the file not to save.

This is the code in question

String fileName = @"C:\Temp\data_" + DateTime.Now.ToString() + ".txt";

For example the output could be C:\\Temp\\data_12/04/2012 20:08:40.txt

It should be C:\Temp\data_12/04/2012 20:08:40.txt

Answer 1

It is actually the forward slashes that are illegal in filename. Replace the forward slashes with something legal and try again.

Answer 2

Try setting a format:

String fileName = @"C:\Temp\data_" + DateTime.Now.ToString("MM d HH mm yyyy") + ".txt";

Answer 3

Nope, that string really has single backslashes in. Print it out to the console and you'll see that.

If you look at it in the debugger, you'll see the backslashes escaped - but the string itself has single backslashes. This bites lots of people :(

Answer 4

Actually, it shows two backslashes in the variable value because the ­\ is escaped. If you print the variable value, you should see that it only have one backslash.

Answer 5

String fileName = String.Format(@"C:\Temp\data_{0}.txt",DateTime.Now.ToString("ddMMyyyyHHmmss"));

Output: C:\Temp\data_12042012214358.txt

or use

String fileName = String.Format(@"C:\Temp\data_{0}.txt", DateTime.Now.ToString("dd.MM.yyyy HH-mm-ss"));

Output: C:\Temp\data_12.04.2012 21-45-03.txt