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Is there a method to manage relative paths in C#? [duplicate]

I have xml files that contain href file paths to images (e.g. "....\images\image.jpg"). The hrefs contain relative paths. Now, I need to extract the hrefs to the images and turn them into absolute paths in the file system.
I know about the GetFullPath method, but I tried it and it only seems to work from the CurrentDirectory set, which appears to be C: so I don't see how I could use that. And still, I have the absolute path of the file containing the hrefs, and the href relative paths, so since it is a simple task for me to count back the number of "....\" parts based on the absolute path of the containing file, it seems there must be a way to do this programmatically as well.
I'm hoping there's some simple method I just don't know about! Any ideas?

string exactPath = Path.GetFullPath(yourRelativePath);
works

Assuming you know the real directory the XML file lives in use Path.Combine, e.g.
var absolute_path = Path.Combine(directoryXmlLivesIn, "..\images\image.jpg");
If you want to get back the full path with any ..'s collapsed then you can use:
Path.GetFullPath((new Uri(absolute_path)).LocalPath);

This worked.
var s = Path.Combine(#"C:\some\location", #"..\other\file.txt");
s = Path.GetFullPath(s);

It`s best way for convert the Relative path to the absolute path!
string absolutePath = System.IO.Path.GetFullPath(relativePath);

You can use Path.Combine with the "base" path, then GetFullPath on the results.
string absPathContainingHrefs = GetAbsolutePath(); // Get the "base" path
string fullPath = Path.Combine(absPathContainingHrefs, #"..\..\images\image.jpg");
fullPath = Path.GetFullPath(fullPath); // Will turn the above into a proper abs path

Have you tried Server.MapPath method. Here is an example
string relative_path = "/Content/img/Upload/Reports/59/44A0446_59-1.jpg";
string absolute_path = Server.MapPath(relative_path);
//will be c:\users\.....\Content\img\Upload\Reports\59\44A0446_59-1.jpg

This worked for me.
//used in an ASP.NET MVC app
private const string BatchFilePath = "/MyBatchFileDirectory/Mybatchfiles.bat";
var batchFile = HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath(BatchFilePath);

Take a look at Path.Combine
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/fyy7a5kt.aspx

C# Application Relative Paths

I just started learning C# and it looks like when you are writing an output file or reading an input file, you need to provide the absolute path such as follows:
string[] words = { "Hello", "World", "to", "a", "file", "test" };
using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(#"C:\Users\jackf_000\Projects\C#\First\First\output.txt"))
{
foreach (string word in words)
{
sw.WriteLine(word);
}
sw.Close();
}
MSDN's examples make it look like you need to provide the absolute directory when instantiating a StreamWriter:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/8bh11f1k.aspx
I have written in both C++ and Python and you do not need to provide the absolute directory when accessing files in those languages, just the path from the executable/script. It seems like an inconvenience to have to specify an absolute path every time you want to read or write a file.
Is there any quick way to grab the current directory and convert it to a string, combining it with the outfile string name? And is it good style to use the absolute directory or is it preferred to, if it's possible, quickly combine it with the "current directory" string?
Thanks.

You don't need to specify full directory everytime, relative directory also work for C#, you can get current directory using following way-
Gets the current working directory of the application.
string directory = Directory.GetCurrentDirectory();
Gets or sets the fully qualified path of the current working directory.
string directory = Environment.CurrentDirectory;
Get program executable path
string directory = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().Location);
Resource Link 1 Resource Link 2

defiantly, you no need specify full path , what is the good way you perform this type of criteria?
should use relative path #p.s.w.g mention already by comment to use Directory.GetCurrentDirectory and Path.Combine
some more specify by flowing way
You can get the .exe location of your app with System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location.
string exePath = System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location;
string exeDir = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(exePath);
DirectoryInfo binDir = System.IO.Directory.GetParent(exeDir);
on the other hand
Internally, when getting Environment.CurrentDirectory it will call Directory.GetCurrentDirectory and when setting Environment.CurrentDirectory it will call Directory.SetCurrentDirectory.
Just pick a favorite and go with it.
thank you welcome C# i hope it will help you to move forward

How do I remove version number from file path? - Winforms c#

I am wondering how to remove the version number from a file path in a Windows Form Application.
Currently I wish to save some users application data to a .xml file located in the roaming user profile settings.
To do this I use:
get
{
return Application.UserAppDataPath + "\\FileName.xml";
}
However this returns the following string:
C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\folder\subfolder\1.0.0.0\FileName.xml
and I was wondering if there is a non-hack way to remove the version number from the file path so the file path looks like this:
C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\folder\subfolder\FileName.xml
Besides parsing the string looking for the last "\", I do not know what to do.
Thanks

Use Directory.GetParent method for this purpose.
get
{
var dir = Directory.GetParent(Application.UserAppDataPath);
return Path.Combine(dir.FullName, "FileName.xml");
}
Also note that I've used Path.Combine instead of concatenating paths, this method helps you to avoid so many problems. Never concatenate strings to create path.

How to read existing text files without defining path

Most of the examples shows how to read text file from exact location (f.e. "C:\Users\Owner\Documents\test1.txt"). But, how to read text files without writing full path, so my code would work when copied to other computers. With visual studio I added 2 text files to project (console project) and don't know best way to read those files. Hope I described my problem clearly. Maybe I needed to add those txt files differentely (like directly to same folder as .exe file)?

You could use Directory.GetCurrentDirectory:
var path = Path.Combine(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(), "\\fileName.txt");
Which will look for the file fileName.txt in the current directory of the application.

If your application is a web service, Directory.CurrentDirectory doesn't work.
Use System.IO.Path.Combine(System.AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory, "yourFileName.txt")) instead.

When you provide a path, it can be absolute/rooted, or relative. If you provide a relative path, it will be resolved by taking the working directory of the running process.
Example:
string text = File.ReadAllText("Some\\Path.txt"); // relative path
The above code has the same effect as the following:
string text = File.ReadAllText(
Path.Combine(Environment.CurrentDirectory, "Some\\Path.txt"));
If you have files that are always going to be in the same location relative to your application, just include a relative path to them, and they should resolve correctly on different computers.

You need to decide which directory you want the file to be relative to. Once you have done that, you construct the full path like this:
string fullPathToFile = Path.Combine(dir, fileName);
If you don't supply the base directory dir then you will be at the total mercy of whatever happens to the working directory of your process. That is something that can be out of your control. For example, shortcuts to your application may specify it. Using file dialogs can change it.
For a console application it is reasonable to use relative files directly because console applications are designed so that the working directory is a critical input and is a well-defined part of the execution environment. However, for a GUI app that is not the case which is why I recommend you explicitly convert your relative file name to a full absolute path using some well-defined base directory.
Now, since you have a console application, it is reasonable for you to use a relative path, provided that the expectation is that the files in question will be located in the working directory. But it would be very common for that not to be the case. Normally the working directory is used to specify where the user's input and output files are to be stored. It does not typically point to the location where the program's files are.
One final option is that you don't attempt to deploy these program files as external text files. Perhaps a better option is to link them to the executable as resources. That way they are bound up with the executable and you can completely side-step this issue.

You absolutely need to know where the files to be read can be located. However, this information can be relative of course so it may be well adapted to other systems.
So it could relate to the current directory (get it from Directory.GetCurrentDirectory()) or to the application executable path (eg. Application.ExecutablePath comes to mind if using Windows Forms or via Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().Location) or to some special Windows directory like "Documents and Settings" (you should use Environment.GetFolderPath() with one element of the Environment.SpecialFolder enumeration).
Note that the "current directory" and the path of the executable are not necessarily identical. You need to know where to look!
In either case, if you need to manipulate a path use the Path class to split or combine parts of the path.

As your project is a console project you can pass the path to the text files that you want to read via the string[] args
static void Main(string[] args)
{
}
Within Main you can check if arguments are passed
if (args.Length == 0){ System.Console.WriteLine("Please enter a parameter");}
Extract an argument
string fileToRead = args[0];
Nearly all languages support the concept of argument passing and follow similar patterns to C#.
For more C# specific see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/cb20e19t.aspx

This will load a file in working directory:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string fileName = System.IO.Path.GetFullPath(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory() + #"\Yourfile.txt");
Console.WriteLine("Your file content is:");
using (StreamReader sr = File.OpenText(fileName))
{
string s = "";
while ((s = sr.ReadLine()) != null)
{
Console.WriteLine(s);
}
}
Console.ReadKey();
}
If your using console you can also do this.It will prompt the user to write the path of the file(including filename with extension).
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine("****please enter path to your file****");
Console.Write("Path: ");
string pth = Console.ReadLine();
Console.WriteLine();
Console.WriteLine("Your file content is:");
using (StreamReader sr = File.OpenText(pth))
{
string s = "";
while ((s = sr.ReadLine()) != null)
{
Console.WriteLine(s);
}
}
Console.ReadKey();
}
If you use winforms for example try this simple example:
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
string pth = "";
OpenFileDialog ofd = new OpenFileDialog();
if (ofd.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
{
pth = ofd.FileName;
textBox1.Text = File.ReadAllText(pth);
}
}

There are many ways to get a path. See CurrentDirrectory mentioned. Also, you can get the full file name of your application by using
Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location
and then use Path class to get a directory name.

Be careful about the leading \\
string path2 = "\\folderName\\fileName.json";
string text = File.ReadAllText(Path.Combine(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(), path2));
If path2 does not include a root (for example, if path2 does not start with a separator character \\ or a drive specification), the result is a concatenation of the two paths, with an intervening separator character. If path2 includes a root, path2 is returned.
Path.Combine Method (System.IO) | Microsoft Learn

Silverlight file path separator issue

I find when reading from a local file from Silverlight, we have to use special path separator "/" other than normal path separator "\" or else Silverlight can not get related local file, for example we need to write as c:/test/abc.wmv, other than write as c:\test\abc.wmv.
Two more questions,
Any simple solution to use normal file separator?
C# File/FileInfo class will use normal path separator to represent a file name (full path name), how to change all the normal path separator into this special path separator so that Silverlight could recognize?
I am using VSTS 2008 + C# + .Net 2.0.
thanks in advance,
George

You could use an Extension Method:
public string ToSilverlightPath(this string s)
{
return s.Replace("\\", "/");
}
or
public string ToSilverlightPath(this Path p)
{
return p.GetFullPath().Replace("\\", "/");
}
Edit:
After thinking about it some more Silverlight probably works with URIs'.
That is, all paths in Silverlight are URIs'.
So instead of using Path you should probably use Uri, like:
Uri mySilverlightPath = new Uri(myPathString);
or
Uri mySilverlightPath = new Uri(myPath.GetFullPath());
Not sure about this though but I guess it would make sense.