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Is it possible for a program to in a sense 'autocomplete' the name of a folder from what it starts with?

I've got a program that digs inside the Local App Data folder of another program, pulls out some files, and then pushes them to Azure Blob Storage. I've already developed the rest of the program, but the intent of the application is to be as brainless as possible for the user- just a simple double click and the files have been uploaded.
At the moment the program requires manual input to find the correct folder in Local App Data. The Problem lies in that the name of the folder isn't always completely constant.
The folder's name always starts with com.company.propelics, followed by a series of randomized numbers and characters. I've already checked and there's no way to reproduce the randomization for each user. Within that folder, the folder structure is always constant- so the program would never have an issue finding the files once the original folder is found.
Is there a way to either scan the folders in Local App Data for the subfolders that will always exist, or take what is constant (com.company.propelics) and select the folder with that in the name?
Thanks for the help

IEnumerable<string> candidates = Directory
.EnumerateDirectories(
Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.LocalApplicationData),
"com.company.propelics*");
Then
var folderPath = candidates.FirstOrDefault();
or something more complicated if there's disambiguation to perform...

VSTS Load Testing - How to read runsettings dynamically of currently running load test file

I am running a load test from some xxx.loadtest file and would like read the active run settings section of this xxx.loadtest load test file dynamically for various properties such as Description, Test Iterations, Run Duration etc. Please note that the file name xxx.loadtest keep on changing as I run different set of load tests. So I cannot hardcode that in my code. Is there a easy way to get the full file path of this load test file without having to hardcode the file name ?

Many of the values in the run settings are available via a load test plugin, see here for more about creating them. The code below is an extract from a plugin I wrote, it shows how to access two of the values in the run settings.
public class LoadTestPluginExample : ILoadTestPlugin
{
private LoadTest m_loadTest;
private int warmUpPlusRunDuration;
public void Initialize(LoadTest loadTest)
{
m_loadTest = loadTest;
warmUpPlusRunDuration = m_loadTest.RunSettings.WarmupTime + m_loadTest.RunSettings.RunDuration;
}
... other plugin methods that use warmUpPlusRunDuration
}
I regularly use the intelisense of Visual Studio to explore the values etc that are available in web tests and in load tests.
If you really want to read the .loadtest file itself then the original full filename and file path are probably not available at run time, because the load test is deployed to the execution computer(s). As the original and execution computers may be different then the original path may not be valid during the execution. However, I believe (but I cannot check at the moment) that the .loadtest file is deployed into the (by default) ...\TestResults\{{name+date+time}}\... folders along with the other files for the test. One of those folders is the current directory when the test runs so it should be simple to do a search for .loadtest files in the relevant directory.
The number of agents is available in the AgentCount property from the LoadTestContext and it is one of the named entries the context of a web test when it is executed as part of a load test. That means it can only be accessed via the code of a plugin (or similar) and makes debugging and testing the plugin harder as the LoadTestContext is only available within a load test.

Why am I getting a "Could not find a part of the path" exception?

I am developing website using Visual Studio 2010. I am trying to save a file in a path. It works fine localhost.
But the same code is not working in IIS. It shows the following error
Exception Details: System.IO.DirectoryNotFoundException: Could not
find a part of the path 'C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\Vendor\cn.jpg'.
Could not find a part of the path 'C:\Users\shashank\Desktop\ab.csv'.
Here is the code:
protected void btnImportFile_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
sArReportText = File.ReadAllText(txtFilePath.Text.Trim());
// Set the report Properties to insert Report information
SetProperties();
}

You might also be experiencing what I am: that the directory name contains some unusual characters. In my case,
Could not find a part of the path 'C:\Web\metBoot\wild iis\DigiCert© Certificate Utility for Windows_files'.
That copyright sign is the issue.
So using concepts drawn from Obtaining the short 8.3 filename from a long filename, I convert my paths to short form first, then use that to get my list of files.
StringBuilder sf = new StringBuilder(300);
int n = GetShortPathName(sourceFolder, sf, 300);
if (0 == n)
{
tk.write(Marshal.GetLastWin32Error().ToString());
continue;
}
...
IEnumerable<string> fileGroup = Directory.EnumerateFiles(sf.ToString(), ext);

Consider how you're launching VS too. Counter-intuitively I run into this problem only when I'm running VS in Administrator mode. Possibly a group policies thing.

This may be because, you are not having the specified file in web server, or you may be used an incorrect path. Specify the exact folder and filename as how it is stored in the web server. use HttpContext.Current.Request.ApplicationPath or Server.MapPath to specify the correct location where your desired file lies. And also make sure that you have given read and write permissions for this specific file and its folder.

You need to have permissions set in iis to allow files to be saved in the folder. Basically your uploaded files should be saved inside a separate folder present inside your root directory.

In order to access, create and delete files on the server, must have rights.
Like in my project I am using Impersonator class to access various files and folder from the server.
Otherwise it will throw an exception.

You could use code impersonation:
http://csharptuning.blogspot.com/2007/06/impersonation-in-c.html
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/14358/User-Impersonation-in-NET
regardless, whomever you use as the impersonation must be able to read/write to the location that is being saved to. We use this method in applications for delete/create folders across network. Even if App_Data is best practice, it may be a business requirement to access the documents outside of that folder.
You can also set impersonation on IIS.
I also notice that your function is called btnImportFile. You may want to look into FileUpload control if you are uploading a file, which allows you to get the byte array of the file and save as needed. https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.ui.webcontrols.fileupload%28v=vs.110%29.aspx. You might still need to use Server.MapPath or HttpContext.Current.Request.ApplicationPath depending on your needs.

It's usually best practice to use the App_Data folder to save files to.
Take a look here, Working with files, for a tutorial.

Finding Install path of a program

I am new to C# and I have made a simple Windows Forms Application that basically updates the persons files for a game.
They have to manually move and delete certain folders just to change version every time. I have successfully accomplished this.
However before I start giving it out I really should improve it. I know I need to change the name of the processes and remove my descriptions ETC.
I have stumbled onto an error and instead of me taking a guess I think it is best to get an opinion from a more experienced person about how to do this.
I am going to use Inno Setup to make the installer for my application, this way I can be sure it will go into their program files 32 and 64 bit. So I know this will be in program files.
So now I am wondering if I have done this the correct way or not? I was using this format to find their program files:
string programFilesFolder = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PROGRAMFILES(X86)") ?? Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ProgramFiles);
However, would this work on all windows systems(XP, Vista, Win7, Win8) and is it completely accurate? I was going to use the above, and then use this:
string PATCHSELECTOR = Path.Combine(programFiles, #"PATCH SELECTOR");
if (Directory.Exists(PATCHSELECTOR))
{
string GamereliteFolder = Path.Combine(programFiles, #"GAMERELITE~1");
if (Directory.Exists(GamereliteFolder))
And then I move the files using the string method. If the file exists it is deleted before I copy the file over from PATCH SELECTOR to GAMERELITE.
Also will windows XP support using the .exe with an assembly resource embedded which is making the program need to be ran as administrator? I previously was making the assembly work through UAC however that wouldnt always work if they have UAC off or if it is XP so I thought I would try the admin assembly instead.
Can anyone possibly give me some insight, ideas or links?

For executables (not sure for websites & web application) this returns the directory where the executable lives (it's actually the base path where the framework will probe for Assemblies to load, 99% of the the that's the same thing).
System.AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory

This method works for any executable located in a folder which is defined in the windows PATH variable:
private string LocateEXE(String fileName)
{
string path = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("path");
string[] folders = path.Split(';');
foreach (var folder in folders)
{
if (File.Exists(Path.Combine(folder, fileName)))
{
return Path.Combine(folder, fileName);
}
}
return String.Empty;
}
Usage:
string pathToEXE = LocateEXE("Example.exe");
Reference:
how to find the execution path of a installed software
How can I get another application's installation path programmatically?

Couple things:
Among the already stated answers, Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location will also give you the full file path of the currently "executing" Assembly. (Alternatively, GetCurrentAssembly)
If I'm reading your question correctly, you're trying to find both your own location as well as another application's. I would highly recommend seeing if the other application has a registry key that specifies the exact location - it'll make your copy step WAY more stable.

ASP.NET Relative Paths in Referenced Libraries

I have an ASP.NET website in which I am loading some validation rules from an xml file. This xml file name, with no path info, is hard coded in a library. (I know that the hard coded name is not good, but let's just go with it for this example).
When I run the website, ASP.NET tries to find the xml file in the source path, where the C# file in which name is hard coded is. This is completely mind boggling to me, as I can't fathom how, at runtime, we are even considering a source path as a possibility for resolving an unqualified filename.
// the config class, in C:\temp\Project.Core\Config.cs
public static string ValidationRulesFile {
get { return m_validationRulesFile; }
} private static string m_validationRulesFile = "validation_rules.xml";
// using the file name
m_validationRules.LoadRulesFromXml( Config.ValidationRulesFile, "Call" );
Here is the exception showing the path we are looking in is the same as Config.cs:
Exception Details: System.IO.FileNotFoundException:
Could not find file 'C:\temp\Project.Core\validation_rules.xml'.
Can anyone explain this to me? I already know how you are supposed to handle paths in general in ASP.NET so please don't respond with solutions. I just really want to understand this, since it really surprised me, and It is going to bother me to no end.
UPDATE
Here is the relevant code for LoadRulesFromXml
public void LoadRulesFromXml( string in_xmlFileName, string in_type )
{
XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();
xmlDoc.Load( in_xmlFileName );
...
UPDATE2
It looks like the Cassini web server gets its current directory set by VS, and indeed it is set to the path of my library project. I'm not sure exactly how VS determines which project to use for the path, but this at least explains what is happening. Thanks Joe.

If you don't supply a path, then file access will normally use the current working directory as the default. In ASP.NET this is probably your web application directory.
It's not usually a good idea to rely on the current working directory, so you can use Path.Combine to specify a different default directory, e.g. one relative to AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory, which is also the web application directory for an ASP.NET app.
You should add the path explicitly to the name of the file you're opening. You could also try tracing the current working directory.
When running Cassini from Visual Studio, the current directory is inherited from whatever happens to be Visual Studio's working directory: this seems to be your case.
I.e.:
public void LoadRulesFromXml( string in_xmlFileName, string in_type )
{
// To see what's going on
Debug.WriteLine("Current directory is " +
System.Environment.CurrentDirectory);
XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();
// Use an explicit path
xmlDoc.Load(
System.IO.Path.Combine(AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory,
in_xmlFileName)
);
...

At a complete guess I would say that the Method LoadRulesFromXml() is looking at the path of the Application Root URL for where the site is hosted... which is C:\temp\Project.Core\
probably by doing a Server.MapPath("~")
Can you post the code for LoadRulesFromXML or do you have that code ?