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C# get Files from directory with specific CreationTime

i am writing a short code to move files from one directory to another. My code is simple, working fine and looks like this:
public void copy()
{
string sourcePath = #"/Users/philip/Desktop/start";
string destinationPath = #"/Users/philip/Desktop/Ziel";
string[] files = Directory.GetFiles(sourcePath)
foreach (string s in files)
{
string fileName = System.IO.Path.GetFileName(s);
string destFile = System.IO.Path.Combine(destinationPath, fileName);
System.IO.File.Copy(s, destFile, true);
}
}
The Programm gets all files from the sourcepath and combines the targetpath in the foreach loop vor every file, containing of target path and filename. Then it moves it. Everything works fine.
My aim is now, not to store all files from my directory into the string array. I only want to get the files that have CreationTime after 01.07.2021. Is there an easy and quick way to do it?
I already used this to get the files, but it specifies a singular date and not all files after a specific date:
var files = Directory.GetFiles(sourcePath).Where(x => new FileInfo(x).CreationTime.Date == DateTime.Today.Date);
I would be glad if you could help me out.
Best regards,
Liam

If you want to avoid having to check the creation date on every single FileInfo you can order your files. Like so:
var directory = new DirectoryInfo(sourcePath);
var fileInfos = directory.GetFiles().OrderByDescending(fileInfo => fileInfo.CreationDate);
var result = new List<FileInfo>();
foreach (var fileInfo in fileInfos)
{
if (fileInfo.CreationDate >= DateTime.Today)
result.Add(fileInfo);
else
break; // We can break early, because we ordered our dates descending
// meaning every date after this one is smaller
}
This has upsides and downsides, ordering a huge collection of files could take longer than "just" simply iterating over all and comparing the dates, but you'll need to benchmark it on your own

You could use FileInfo
FileInfo fileInfo = new(s);
if (fileInfo.CreationTime >= DateTime.Parse("01/07/2021"))
{
...
}

How to Remove Directories From EnumerateFiles?

So I'm working on a program that will list all the files in a directory. Pretty simple. Basically, when I do this: List<string> dirs = new List<string>(Directory.EnumerateFiles(target));, I don't want it to include the directory and all. Just the file name. When I run my code;
List<string> dirs = new List<string>(Directory.EnumerateFiles(target));
Console.WriteLine($"Folders and files in this directory:\n");
foreach (string i in dirs) {
Console.WriteLine($"> {i}");
}
it gives me the following:
C:\Users\Camden\Desktop\Programming\Visual Studio\C#\DirectoryManager\DirectoryManager\bin\Debug\DirectoryManager.exe
I just want the DirectoryManager.exe part, so I looked it up and I found that you can replace strings inside of strings. Like so: i.Replace(target, "");. However, this isn't doing anything, and it's just running like normal. Why isn't it replacing, and how should I instead do this?

Use methods from the System.IO.Path class.
var fullfile = #"C:\Users\Camden\Desktop\Programming\Visual Studio\C#\DirectoryManager\DirectoryManager\bin\Debug\DirectoryManager.exe";
var fileName = Path.GetFileName(fullfile); // DirectoryManager.exe
var name = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(fullfile); // DirectoryManager

The simplest way is to use the Select IEnumerable extension
(you need to have a using Linq; at the top of your source code file)
List<string> files = new List<string>(Directory.EnumerateFiles(target)
.Select(x => Path.GetFileName(x)));
In this way the sequence of files retrieved by Directory.EnumerateFiles is passed, one by one, to the Select method where each fullfile name (x) is passed to Path.GetFileName to produce a new sequence of just filenames.
This sequence is then returned as a parameter to the List constructor.
And about your question on the Replace method. Remember that the Replace method doesn't change the string that you use to call the method, but returns a new string with the replacement executed. In NET strings are immutable.
So if you want to look at the replacement you need
string justFileName = i.Replace(target, "");

An alternative to using Directory.EnumerateFiles, would be DirectoryInfo.EnumerateFiles. This method returns an IEnumerable<FileInfo>. You can then make use of the FileInfo.Name property of each of the returned objects. Your code would then become:
var files = new DirectoryInfo(target).EnumerateFiles();
Console.WriteLine("Files in this directory:\n");
foreach (FileInfo i in files) {
Console.WriteLine($"> {i.Name}");
}
For just the list of file names:
List<string> fileNames = new DirectoryInfo(target).EnumerateFiles().Select(f => f.Name).ToList();
Alternatively, if you want both files and directories, you can use EnumerateFileSystemInfos. If you need to know if you have a file vs a directory you can query the Attributes property and compare it to the FileAttributes flags enumeration.
var dirsAndFiles = new DirectoryInfo(target).EnumerateFileSystemInfos();
Console.WriteLine("Folders and files in this directory:\n");
foreach (var i in dirsAndFiles) {
var type = (i.Attributes & FileAttributes.Directory) == FileAttributes.Directory ? "Directory" : "File";
Console.WriteLine($"{type} > {i.Name}");
}
The FileSystemInfo.Name property will return either the file's name (in case of a file) or the last directory in the hierarchy (for a directory)--so just the subdirectory name and not the full path ("sub" instead of "c:\sub").

Searching with System.IO.Directory.GetFiles and wildcards in path

I have a curious problem in a C#-program.
I have some local folderpaths like
"C:\test\AB_Systems\ELEGANCE\CB-DOC\live\M7-091.249.99.XX.01\extobjects".
Now i want to search for PDF-files in the subfolder called "extobjects".
Unfortunately there are many subfolders in the folder "live", which got a subfolder called "extobjects", so i thought it would be better to use a wildcard in the searchpath like that:
"C:\test\AB_Systems\ELEGANCE\CB-DOC\live\*\extobjects"
But this doesn't work.
Is there a way do do this?

public static FileInfo[] findFile(String whereToSearch, String searchFor , String mode)
{
IEnumerable<FileInfo> files = null;
if (mode.Equals(""))
mode = "s";
if (searchFor.Equals(""))
searchFor = "*";
if (mode.Equals("r") || mode.Equals("recursive"))
{
DirectoryInfo dir = new DirectoryInfo(whereToSearch);
files = dir.EnumerateFiles(searchFor, searchOption: SearchOption.AllDirectories);
}
if (mode.Equals("s") || mode.Equals("specific"))
{
DirectoryInfo dir = new DirectoryInfo(whereToSearch);
files = dir.EnumerateFiles(searchFor, searchOption: SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly);
}
if (files != null) return files.ToArray<FileInfo>();
else return null;
}
That's an example how to do it.
It's important to say that only the filename can contain a wildcard pattern like *. The Path can be given as where to start the search and by giving searchOption: searchOption.AllDirectories as an argument it will go through all sub-directories of the entry path.
You will receive an Array of FileInfo which objects that contain the the path and more information.

You can use Linq like this:
var files = Directory
.EnumerateDirectories(#"C:\test\AB_Systems\ELEGANCE\CB-DOC\live", "extobjects", SearchOption.AllDirectories)
.SelectMany(x => Directory.EnumerateFiles(x, "*pdf", SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly))
.ToArray();

I'd choose a solution exactly what BugFinder proposed, you could optimize the following foreach-loop into a LINQ query if your .NET target supports it.
// Itterate subdirectories of the live folder
foreach (var subDir in Directory.GetDirectories(#"C:\test\AB_Systems\ELEGANCE\CB-DOC\live"))
{
// Check if path to extobjects exists
var extObjects = Path.Combine(subDir, "extobjects");
if (Directory.Exists(extObjects))
{
var pdfFiles = Directory.GetFiles(extObjects, "*").Where(x=>x.EndsWith(".pdf"));
// Do something with the pdf file paths
}
}

how to convert FileInfo object to string

i am picking txt files from a folder in that i am ordering those file according to their respective modify date after ordering these files i've to read contents of each one by one. what will be the possible solution for this. cause i am not able convert FileInfo object to string following is the snippet.
in output : i want all files sorted according to modified date and want to read it one by one.
thanks
string sourcePath = #"C:\sample\*.log";
DirectoryInfo dir = new DirectoryInfo(sourcePath);
FileInfo[] files = dir.GetFiles(sourcePath).OrderBy(order => order.LastWriteTime).ToArray();
foreach (var item in files)
{
listBox1.items.Add(item)
}

Use File.ReadAllText and FileInfo.FullName property to get the path :
listBox1.items.Add(File.ReadAllText(item.FullName));
If you are only looking to get FileName of the file then use FileInfo.Name property like:
listBox1.items.Add(item.Name);
If you are looking to get file path then use FileInfo.FullName like:
listBox1.items.Add(item.FullName);

use the method File.ReadAllText to read each file.
string sourcePath = #"C:\sample\*.log";
DirectoryInfo dir = new DirectoryInfo(sourcePath);
FileInfo[] files = dir.GetFiles(sourcePath).OrderBy(order => order.LastWriteTime).ToArray();
foreach (var item in files)
{
string filecontent = File.ReadAllText(item.FullName);
//do your job here
......
listBox1.items.Add(item.Name);
}

How to search for Files using GetFiles method (multiple criteria..)

The code below obviously searches a directory for Files that contain the word "FINAL" but what I'm wondering is can I add to its search criteria? I have a Well_Name and Actual_Date strings that I would like to search for in the File names in addition to the "FINAL" word. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.
DirectoryInfo myDir = new DirectoryInfo("C://DWGs");
var files = myDir.GetFiles("FINAL");
//Can I do something like this to add to my search criteria?
var files = myDir.GetFiles("FINAL" +
drow["Well_Name"].ToString() +
drow["Actual_Date"]);

var files = myDir.GetFileInfo()
.Where(f => f.FileName.Contains("FINAL") ||
f.FileName.Contains(drow["Well_Name"].ToString()) ||
f.FileName.Contains(drow["Actual_Date"]));
Since GetFiles() returns an Enumerable Collection of FileInfo you can just check all of the file names for the criteria that you want.
If you want to get really generic on this you could write a function that looks like this
public IEnumerable<FileInfo> addCriteria(IEnumerable<FileInfo> FileList,
List<String> searchCriteria)
{
var newFileList = FileList;
foreach(String criteria in searchCriteria)
{
newFileList = newFileList.Where(f => f.FileName.Contains(criteria).AsQueryable();
}
return newFileList.AsEnumerable();
}

GetFiles method does not support multiple search criteria, but there is a simple way around this limitation. Run a getFile for each file extension, and then "merge" returned arrays into a List<>. Then use a List's ToArray method to "convert" a List back to an Array.
I used this approach, and it works for me
The code is below (do not forget to reference "using System.Collections.Generic;" namespace):
// Get the DirectoryInfo and FileInfo objects for aspx and html files.
FileInfo[] files_aspx = dir.GetFiles("*.aspx");
FileInfo[] files_html = dir.GetFiles("*.html");
List<FileInfo> files = new List<FileInfo>();
files.AddRange(files_aspx);
files.AddRange(files_html);
files.ToArray();