Day 10 of 30-Day .NET Challenge: File Paths
Tags: beginners, webdev, dotnet, programming
Published: 2024-03-29 07:33:49


## Introduction

The article demonstrates the built-in functions while working with file system paths. It makes it easier to handle file paths.

### Learning Objectives

* Learn about constants and functions in the System.IO namespace

### Prerequisites for Developers

* How to use Visual Studio or Visual Studio Code

* Handling variables, employing string interpolation, and displaying output.

## Getting Started

### How to determine the current directory?

The System.IO contains a method to expose the full path of the current directory. To begin, create a static class file called “FilePath.cs” within the console application. Insert the provided code snippet into this file.

```csharp
    public static class FilePath
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Outputs
        /// D:\Workspace\30DayChallenge.Net\30DayChallenge.Net\bin\Debug\net8.0
        /// </summary>
        public static void DisplayCurrentDirectory()
        {
            Console.WriteLine(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory());
        }
    }
```
Execute the code from the main method as follows
```csharp
    #region Day 10 - File Path
    
    FilePath.DisplayCurrentDirectory();
    
    #endregion
```
### Console Output

```
D:\Workspace\30DayChallenge.Net\30DayChallenge.Net\bin\Debug\net8.0
```
### How to work with special directories?

The code below provides the path to the Windows My Documents folder equivalent or the user’s HOME directory, regardless of the operating system, including Linux. To do that add another method into the same static class as shown below
```csharp
    /// <summary>
    /// Outputs
    /// C:\Users\admin\Documents
    /// </summary>
    public static void DisplaySpecialDirectory()
    {
        Console.WriteLine(Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.MyDocuments));
    }
```
Execute the code from the main method as follows
```csharp
    #region Day 10 - File Path
    
    FilePath.DisplaySpecialDirectory();
    
   #endregion
```
### Console Output
```
    C:\Users\admin\Documents
```
### How to get OS path characters?

Various operating systems utilize distinct characters for separating directory levels. The framework automatically interprets the separator character relevant to the operating system being used.

To do that add another method into the same static class as shown below
```csharp
    /// <summary>
    /// Outputs
    /// For windows: \sample        
    /// </summary>
    public static void DisplayOSPathCharacters()
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"For windows: {Path.DirectorySeparatorChar}sample");
    }
```
Execute the code from the main method as follows
```csharp
    #region Day 10 - File Path
    
    FilePath.DisplayOSPathCharacters();
    
    #endregion
```
### Console Output
```
    For windows: \sample 
```
### How to get filename extensions?

The Path class also exposes a method to get an extension of any filename passed as a parameter. To do that add another method into the same static class as shown below
```csharp
    /// <summary>
    /// Outputs
    /// .json
    /// </summary>
    public static void DisplayFileExtension()
    {
        Console.WriteLine(Path.GetExtension("sample.json"));
    }
```
Execute the code from the main method as follows
```csharp
    #region Day 10 - File Path
    
    FilePath.DisplayFileExtension();
    
    #endregion
```
### Console Output
```
    .json
```
## Complete Code on GitHub
[GitHub — ssukhpinder/30DayChallenge.Net](https://github.com/ssukhpinder/30DayChallenge.Net/tree/main)

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