Returns the names of subdirectories (including their paths) that match the specified search pattern in the specified directory.
Syntax
Parameters
- path
- searchPattern
Returns
An array of the full names (including paths) of the subdirectories that match the search pattern in the specified directory, or an empty array if no directories are found.
Exceptions
Type Reason ArgumentNullException path or searchPattern is null. System.Security.SecurityException The caller does not have permission to access the requested information. ArgumentException path is a zero-length string, contains only white space, or contains implementation-specific invalid characters.
searchPattern does not contain a valid pattern.
System.IO.DirectoryNotFoundException path was not found. System.IO.PathTooLongException The length of path or the absolute path information for path exceeds the system-defined maximum length. System.IO.IOException path is a file name. UnauthorizedAccessException The caller does not have permission to access the requested information.
Remarks
This method returns all subdirectories directly under the specified directory that match the specified search pattern. If the specified directory has no subdirectories, or no subdirectories match the searchPattern parameter, this method returns an empty array. Only the top directory is searched. If you want to search the subdirectories as well, use the Directory.GetDirectories(string, string, SearchOption) method and specify SearchOption.AllDirectories in the searchOption parameter.
searchPattern can be a combination of literal and wildcard characters, but doesn't support regular expressions. The following wildcard specifiers are permitted in searchPattern.
| * (asterisk) |
Zero or more characters in that position. |
| ? (question mark) |
Zero or one character in that position. |
Characters other than the wildcard are literal characters. For example, the searchPattern string "*t" searches for all names in path ending with the letter "t". The searchPattern string "s*" searches for all names in path beginning with the letter "s".
searchPattern cannot end in two periods ("..") or contain two periods ("..") followed by Path.DirectorySeparatorChar or Path.AltDirectorySeparatorChar, nor can it contain any invalid characters. You can query for invalid characters by using the Path.GetInvalidPathChars method.
The path parameter can specify relative or absolute path information, and is not case-sensitive. Relative path information is interpreted as relative to the current working directory. To obtain the current working directory, see Directory.GetCurrentDirectory.
The erload:System.IO.Directory.EnumerateDirectories and erload:System.IO.Directory.GetDirectories methods differ as follows: When you use erload:System.IO.Directory.EnumerateDirectories, you can start enumerating the collection of names before the whole collection is returned; when you use erload:System.IO.Directory.GetDirectories, 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.EnumerateDirectories can be more efficient.
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 its subdirectories. See System.Security.Permissions.FileIOPermissionAccess.PathDiscovery. |
Requirements
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
Assembly Versions: 1.0.5000.0, 2.0.0.0, 4.0.0.0