We Keep Coding

Cannot move a file to another folder. Error returns on a wrong path

Here's my code in moving excel file to be specific..
if (Directory.GetFiles(destinationPath, "*.xls").Length != 0)
{
//Move files to history folder
string[] files = Directory.GetFiles(destinationPath); //value -- D://FS//
foreach (string s in files)
{
var fName = Path.GetFileName(s); //12232015.xls
var sourcePath = Path.Combine(destinationPath, fName);
var destFile = Path.Combine(historyPath, fName); // -- D://FS//History
File.Move(fName, destFile);
}
}
But it gets an error of
Could not find file 'D:\Project\ProjectService\bin\Debug\12232015.xls'.
Why it finds under my project not on the specific folder i set?
Thank you.

You're only using the name of the file:
var fName = Path.GetFileName(s); //12232015.xls
//...
File.Move(fName, destFile);
Without a complete path, the system will look in the current working directory. Which is the directory where the application is executing.
You should use the entire path for the source file:
File.Move(sourcePath, destFile);
Explicitly specifying the full path is almost always the best approach. Relative paths are notoriously difficult to manage.

There is an Logical error. Change
File.Move(fName, destFile);
to
File.Move(sourcePath, destFile);
as fName only contains file name and not fullpath. The file is checked in working directory.

Copying an image file to an empty folder in using WPF C#

After going through all the related stuff to copying files i am unable to find an answer to my
problem of an exception occurring while i was trying to copy a file to an empty folder in WPF application. Here is the code snippet.
public static void Copy()
{
string _finalPath;
foreach (var name in files) // name is the filename extracted using GetFileName in a list of strings
{
_finalPath = filePath; //it is the destination folder path e.g,C:\Users\Neha\Pictures\11-03-2014
if(System.IO.Directory.Exists(_finalPath))
{
_finalPath = System.IO.Path.Combine(_finalPath,name);
System.IO.File.Copy(name, _finalPath , true);
}
}
}
While debugging exception is occuring at file.copy() statement which says
"FileNotFoundException was unhandled" could not find file
i already know about the combining path and other aspects of copy but i dont know why this exception is being raised.
I am a noob to WPF please help.........

Use following code:
public static void Copy()
{
string _finalPath;
var files = System.IO.Directory.GetFiles(#"C:\"); // Here replace C:\ with your directory path.
foreach (var file in files)
{
var filename = file.Substring(file.LastIndexOf("\\") + 1); // Get the filename from absolute path
_finalPath = filePath; //it is the destination folder path e.g,C:\Users\Neha\Pictures\11-03-2014
if (System.IO.Directory.Exists(_finalPath))
{
_finalPath = System.IO.Path.Combine(_finalPath, filename);
System.IO.File.Copy(file, _finalPath, true);
}
}
}

The GetFileName ()
only returns the actual name of the file (drops the path) what you want is a full path to the file. So you getting an exception because the 'name' does not exist on your drive (path is unknown)

You're variable, name, is most likely just the file name (i.e. something.jpg). When you use the File.Copy(...) method, if you do not supply an absolute path the method assumes a path relative to the executable.
Basically, if you are running your app in, for example, C:\Projects\SomeProject\bin\Debug\SomeProject.exe, then it is assuming your file is C:\Projects\SomeProject\bin\Debug\something.jpg.

System.IO.File.Move error - Could not find a part of the path

I have a sync software, which loads CSV files from "Incoming" folder, processes them and then moves them to the "Archive" folder.
Today, I saw the following error with this sync software:
[23/06/2014 00:06:04 AM] : Failed to move file from
D:\IBI_ORDER_IMPORTER_FTP_SERVER\Template3\Fifty &
Dean\Incoming\5A040K___d6f1ca45937b4ceb98d29d0db4601bf4.csv to
D:\IBI_ORDER_IMPORTER_FTP_SERVER\Template3\Fifty &
Dean\Archive\5A040K___d6f1ca45937b4ceb98d29d0db4601bf4.csv - Could not
find a part of the path.
Here's a snippet taken out of the sync software, where the file is processed and moved:
public static void ProcessSingleUserFile(Int32 TemplateId, String ImportedBy, String FilePath)
{
// Always Rename File To Avoid Conflict
string FileName = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(FilePath);
String NewFilePath = FilePath.Replace(FileName, Utils.RandomString() + "___" + FileName);
File.Move(FilePath, NewFilePath);
FilePath = NewFilePath;
// Log
SyncUtils.ConsoleLog(String.Format("Processing [ {0} as {1} ] By [ {2} ] On Template [ #{3} ]",
FileName + ".csv",
Path.GetFileName(FilePath),
ImportedBy,
TemplateId));
// Init
List<OrderDraft> myOrderDrafts = new List<OrderDraft>();
// Parsed Based On Template Id
if (TemplateId == Settings.Default.Multi_Order_Template_Id)
{
// Try Parse File
myOrderDrafts = Utils.ParseMultiImportFile(TemplateId, ImportedBy, FilePath, true);
}
else
{
// Try Parse File
myOrderDrafts.Add(Utils.ParseImportFile(TemplateId, ImportedBy, FilePath, true));
}
// Process Orders
foreach (OrderDraft myOrderDraft in myOrderDrafts)
{
/* code snipped */
}
// Archive File
File.Move(FilePath, FilePath.Replace("Incoming", "Archive"));
}
Any idea what this error means? and how to circumvent it?
I wrote a cut down version of the above to test this in a controlled environment and I am not getting the error with this code:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
try
{
string baseDir = #"C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\FTP_SERVER\Template3\Fifty & Dean\Incoming\";
string[] filePaths = Directory.GetFiles(baseDir, "*.csv");
foreach (string filePath in filePaths)
{
// do some work here ...
// move file
string newFilePath = filePath.Replace("Incoming", "Archive");
File.Move(filePath, newFilePath);
Console.WriteLine("File successfully moved");
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine("Error: " + ex.Message);
}
Console.ReadKey();
}

You need to include the checks to make sure that the paths exist at runtime and check the output, something very simple like:
if(!Directory.Exists(Path.GetDirectoryName(filePath)))
{
Console.WriteLine("filePath does not exist: " + filePath);
}
if(!Directory.Exists(Path.GetDirectoryName(newFilePath)))
{
Console.WriteLine("newFilePath does not exist: " + newFilePath);
}
File.Move(filePath, newFilePath);
The reason I am suggesting this method is due to a possibility that the paths momentarily become available or not under the multi-tasking OSs depending on a multitude of factors: network connectivity, permissions (pushed down by GPO at any time), firewall rules, AV exclusions getting blown away etc. Even running low on CPU or RAM may create issues. In short, you never know what exactly occurred when your code was running if you are only checking the paths availability after the fact.
Or if your issue is intermittent, you can try and catch the error and write information to some sort of a log similarly to below:
try
{
File.Move(filePath, newFilePath);
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
if(!Directory.Exists(Path.GetDirectoryName(filePath)))
{
Console.WriteLine("filePath does not exist: " + filePath);
}
if(!Directory.Exists(Path.GetDirectoryName(newFilePath)))
{
Console.WriteLine("newFilePath does not exist: " + newFilePath);
}
}

"Could not find a part of the path" exception could also thrown from File.Move if argument used was longer than MAX_PATH (260) in .NET Framework.
So I prepend the path I used with long path syntax before passing to File.Move and it worked.
// Prepend long file path support
if( !packageFile.StartsWith( #"\\?\" ) )
packageFile = #"\\?\" + packageFile;
See:
How to deal with files with a name longer than 259 characters?

I have this
Could not find a part of the path
happened to me when I
File.Move(mapfile_path , Path.Combine(newPath, mapFile));
. After some testing, I find out our server administrator has blocked any user application from writing to that directory in that [newPath]!
So, right click on that directory to observe the rights matrix on Security tab to see anything that would block you.

Another cause of DirectoryNotFoundException "could not find a part of the path" thrown by File.Move can be spaces at the end of the directory name. Consider the following code:
string destinationPath = "C:\\Folder1 "; //note the space on the end
string destinationFileNameAndPath = Path.Combine(destinationPath, "file.txt");
if (!Directory.Exists(destinationPath))
Directory.CreateDirectory(destinationPath);
File.Move(sourceFileNameAndPath, destinationFileNameAndPath);
You may expect this code to succeed, since it creates the destination directory if it doesn't already exist, but Directory.CreateDirectory seems to trim the extra space on the end of the directory name, whereas File.Move does not and gives the above exception.
In this circumstance, you can workaround this by trimming the extra space yourself, e.g. (depending on how you load your path variable, the below is obviously overkill for a hard-coded string)
string destinationPath = "C:\\Folder1 ".Trim();

How to move txt file to other folder?

I try to write a console app C# to move my etxt files to another folder.
The functions just copies certain .txt files from folder A to folder AA
string source = "C:\\A\\ResultClassA.txt";
File.Move(Source, "C:\\AA");
But its always giving this error message:
Access to the path is denied.
Troubleshooting tips:
Make sure you have sufficient privileges to access this resource.
If you are attempting to access a file, make sure it is not ReadOnly.
Get general help for this exception.
Do i really need to set my folder A and folder B to "NOT ReadOnly" attribute before "File.move" code are execuse? and set to read only back after success moved?
Thanks.
By Hero .

You need to specify the full path and make sure the path C:\AA exists
string source = "C:\\A\\ResultClassA.txt";
File.Move(Source, "C:\\AA\\ResultClassA.txt");
See here for good sample
using System;
using System.IO;
class Test
{
public static void Main()
{
string path = #"c:\temp\MyTest.txt";
string path2 = #"c:\temp2\MyTest.txt";
try
{
if (!File.Exists(path))
{
// This statement ensures that the file is created,
// but the handle is not kept.
using (FileStream fs = File.Create(path)) {}
}
// Ensure that the target does not exist.
if (File.Exists(path2))
File.Delete(path2);
// Move the file.
File.Move(path, path2);
Console.WriteLine("{0} was moved to {1}.", path, path2);
// See if the original exists now.
if (File.Exists(path))
{
Console.WriteLine("The original file still exists, which is unexpected.");
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("The original file no longer exists, which is expected.");
}
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine("The process failed: {0}", e.ToString());
}
}
}

Hero, you are moving from a file name to a folder name, try to specify a file name with extension inside the C:\AA folder.
does AA exist already on C ?

How do I create a file AND any folders, if the folders don't exist?

Imagine I wish to create (or overwrite) the following file :- C:\Temp\Bar\Foo\Test.txt
Using the File.Create(..) method, this can do it.
BUT, if I don't have either one of the following folders (from that example path, above)
Temp
Bar
Foo
then I get an DirectoryNotFoundException thrown.
So .. given a path, how can we recursively create all the folders necessary to create the file .. for that path? If Temp or Bar folders exists, but Foo doesn't... then that is created also.
For simplicity, lets assume there's no Security concerns -- all permissions are fine, etc.

To summarize what has been commented in other answers:
//path = #"C:\Temp\Bar\Foo\Test.txt";
Directory.CreateDirectory(Path.GetDirectoryName(path));
Directory.CreateDirectory will create the directories recursively and if the directory already exist it will return without an error.
If there happened to be a file Foo at C:\Temp\Bar\Foo an exception will be thrown.

DirectoryInfo di = Directory.CreateDirectory(path);
Console.WriteLine("The directory was created successfully at {0}.",
Directory.GetCreationTime(path));
See this MSDN page.

Use Directory.CreateDirectory before you create the file. It creates the folder recursively for you.

. given a path, how can we recursively create all the folders necessary to create the file .. for that path
Creates all directories and subdirectories as specified by path.
Directory.CreateDirectory(path);
then you may create a file.

You will need to check both parts of the path (directory and filename) and create each if it does not exist.
Use File.Exists and Directory.Exists to find out whether they exist. Directory.CreateDirectory will create the whole path for you, so you only ever need to call that once if the directory does not exist, then simply create the file.

You should use Directory.CreateDirectory.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/54a0at6s.aspx

Assuming that your assembly/exe has FileIO permission is itself, well is not right. Your application may not run with admin rights. Its important to consider Code Access Security and requesting permissions
Sample code:
FileIOPermission f2 = new FileIOPermission(FileIOPermissionAccess.Read, "C:\\test_r");
f2.AddPathList(FileIOPermissionAccess.Write | FileIOPermissionAccess.Read, "C:\\example\\out.txt");
try
{
f2.Demand();
}
catch (SecurityException s)
{
Console.WriteLine(s.Message);
}
Understanding .NET Code Access Security
Is “Code Access Security” of any real world use?

You want Directory.CreateDirectory()
Here is a class I use (converted to C#) that if you pass it a source directory and a destination it will copy all of the files and sub-folders of that directory to your destination:
using System.IO;
public class copyTemplateFiles
{
public static bool Copy(string Source, string destination)
{
try {
string[] Files = null;
if (destination[destination.Length - 1] != Path.DirectorySeparatorChar) {
destination += Path.DirectorySeparatorChar;
}
if (!Directory.Exists(destination)) {
Directory.CreateDirectory(destination);
}
Files = Directory.GetFileSystemEntries(Source);
foreach (string Element in Files) {
// Sub directories
if (Directory.Exists(Element)) {
copyDirectory(Element, destination + Path.GetFileName(Element));
} else {
// Files in directory
File.Copy(Element, destination + Path.GetFileName(Element), true);
}
}
} catch (Exception ex) {
return false;
}
return true;
}
private static void copyDirectory(string Source, string destination)
{
string[] Files = null;
if (destination[destination.Length - 1] != Path.DirectorySeparatorChar) {
destination += Path.DirectorySeparatorChar;
}
if (!Directory.Exists(destination)) {
Directory.CreateDirectory(destination);
}
Files = Directory.GetFileSystemEntries(Source);
foreach (string Element in Files) {
// Sub directories
if (Directory.Exists(Element)) {
copyDirectory(Element, destination + Path.GetFileName(Element));
} else {
// Files in directory
File.Copy(Element, destination + Path.GetFileName(Element), true);
}
}
}
}

Following code will create directories (if not exists) & then copy files.
// using System.IO;
// for ex. if you want to copy files from D:\A\ to D:\B\
foreach (var f in Directory.GetFiles(#"D:\A\", "*.*", SearchOption.AllDirectories))
{
var fi = new FileInfo(f);
var di = new DirectoryInfo(fi.DirectoryName);
// you can filter files here
if (fi.Name.Contains("FILTER")
{
if (!Directory.Exists(di.FullName.Replace("A", "B"))
{
Directory.CreateDirectory(di.FullName.Replace("A", "B"));
File.Copy(fi.FullName, fi.FullName.Replace("A", "B"));
}
}
}