GetFiles(System.String)

Returns the names of files (including their paths) in the specified directory.

Syntax

public static string[] GetFiles (string path)

Parameters

path
The relative or absolute path to the directory to search. This string is not case-sensitive.

Returns

An array of the full names (including paths) for the files in the specified directory, or an empty array if no files are found.

Exceptions

Type Reason
ArgumentNullException path is null.
ArgumentException path is a zero-length string, contains only white space, or contains one or more implementation-specific invalid characters.
System.IO.DirectoryNotFoundException path was not found.
System.IO.IOException path is a file name.
System.IO.PathTooLongException The length of path or the absolute path information for path exceeds the system-defined maximum length.
System.Security.SecurityException The caller does not have the required permission.
UnauthorizedAccessException The caller does not have the required permission.

Type	Reason
ArgumentNullException	path is null.
ArgumentException	path is a zero-length string, contains only white space, or contains one or more implementation-specific invalid characters.
System.IO.DirectoryNotFoundException	path was not found.
System.IO.IOException	path is a file name.
System.IO.PathTooLongException	The length of path or the absolute path information for path exceeds the system-defined maximum length.
System.Security.SecurityException	The caller does not have the required permission.
UnauthorizedAccessException	The caller does not have the required permission.

Remarks

The erload:System.IO.Directory.EnumerateFiles and erload:System.IO.Directory.GetFiles methods differ as follows: When you use erload:System.IO.Directory.EnumerateFiles, you can start enumerating the collection of names before the whole collection is returned; when you use erload:System.IO.Directory.GetFiles, you must wait for the whole array of names to be returned before you can access the array. Therefore, when you are working with many files and directories, erload:System.IO.Directory.EnumerateFiles can be more efficient.

The returned file names are appended to the supplied path parameter.

This method is identical to Directory.GetFiles(string, string) with the asterisk (*) specified as the search pattern.

The path parameter can specify relative or absolute path information. Relative path information is interpreted as relative to the current working directory. To obtain the current working directory, see Directory.GetCurrentDirectory.

The order of the returned file names is not guaranteed; use the erload:System.Array.Sort method if a specific sort order is required.

The path parameter is not case-sensitive.

For a list of common I/O tasks, see Common I/O Tasks.

Permissions

Type	Reason
System.Security.Permissions.FileIOPermission	Requires permission to access path information for the specified directory and the files in that directory. See System.Security.Permissions.FileIOPermissionAccess.PathDiscovery.

Requirements

Namespace: System.IO
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
Assembly Versions: 1.0.5000.0, 2.0.0.0, 4.0.0.0