Copy file, overwrite if newer - c#

In C#.NET, How to copy a file to another location, overwriting the existing file if the source file is newer than the existing file (have a later "Modified date"), and doing noting if the source file is older?


You can use the FileInfo class and it's properties and methods:
FileInfo file = new FileInfo(path);
string destDir = #"C:\SomeDirectory";
FileInfo destFile = new FileInfo(Path.Combine(destDir, file.Name));
if (destFile.Exists)
{
if (file.LastWriteTime > destFile.LastWriteTime)
{
// now you can safely overwrite it
file.CopyTo(destFile.FullName, true);
}
}


You can use the FileInfo class:
FileInfo infoOld = new FileInfo("C:\\old.txt");
FileInfo infoNew = new FileInfo("C:\\new.txt");
if (infoNew.LastWriteTime > infoOld.LastWriteTime)
{
File.Copy(source path,destination path, true) ;
}


Here is my take on the answer: Copies not moves folder contents. If the target does not exist the code is clearer to read. Technically, creating a fileinfo for a non existent file will have a LastWriteTime of DateTime.Min so it would copy but falls a little short on readability. I hope this tested code helps someone.
**EDIT: I have updated my source to be much more flexable. Because it was based on this thread I have posted the update here. When using masks subdirs are not created if the subfolder does not contain matched files. Certainly a more robust error handler is in your future. :)
public void CopyFolderContents(string sourceFolder, string destinationFolder)
{
CopyFolderContents(sourceFolder, destinationFolder, "*.*", false, false);
}
public void CopyFolderContents(string sourceFolder, string destinationFolder, string mask)
{
CopyFolderContents(sourceFolder, destinationFolder, mask, false, false);
}
public void CopyFolderContents(string sourceFolder, string destinationFolder, string mask, Boolean createFolders, Boolean recurseFolders)
{
try
{
if (!sourceFolder.EndsWith(#"\")){ sourceFolder += #"\"; }
if (!destinationFolder.EndsWith(#"\")){ destinationFolder += #"\"; }
var exDir = sourceFolder;
var dir = new DirectoryInfo(exDir);
SearchOption so = (recurseFolders ? SearchOption.AllDirectories : SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly);
foreach (string sourceFile in Directory.GetFiles(dir.ToString(), mask, so))
{
FileInfo srcFile = new FileInfo(sourceFile);
string srcFileName = srcFile.Name;
// Create a destination that matches the source structure
FileInfo destFile = new FileInfo(destinationFolder + srcFile.FullName.Replace(sourceFolder, ""));
if (!Directory.Exists(destFile.DirectoryName ) && createFolders)
{
Directory.CreateDirectory(destFile.DirectoryName);
}
if (srcFile.LastWriteTime > destFile.LastWriteTime || !destFile.Exists)
{
File.Copy(srcFile.FullName, destFile.FullName, true);
}
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine(ex.Message + Environment.NewLine + Environment.NewLine + ex.StackTrace);
}
}


In a batch file, this will work:
XCopy "c:\my directory\source.ext" "c:\my other directory\dest.ext" /d

Related

Copy files from folder A to folder B

I want to copy some of the content of a folder (recursively). only files that contain a specific pattern.
Here there's a method that copies the entire content. no matter what files inside.
https://stackoverflow.com/a/3822913/7028967
Do you have any ideas on how can I copy a specific file inside some subfolder with a given pattern?
for example:
-- rootFolder
---- filename.txt
CopyContent(src, dest, *.txt)

Below sample code to copy all the files from the source directory to destination folder in exact same folder structure :
public static void Copy()
{
string sourceDir = #"C:\test\source\";
string destination = #"C:\test\destination\";
string[] textFiles = Directory.GetFiles(sourceDir, "*.txt", SearchOption.AllDirectories);
foreach (string textFile in textFiles)
{
string fileName = textFile.Substring(sourceDir.Length);
string directoryPath = Path.Combine(destination, Path.GetDirectoryName(fileName));
if (!Directory.Exists(directoryPath))
Directory.CreateDirectory(directoryPath);
File.Copy(textFile, Path.Combine(directoryPath, Path.GetFileName(textFile)), true);
}
}
Updated:

I used this solution. and it works for me!
private static void CopyContentFolder(string sourcePath, string targetPath, bool isFileOverridable, string pattern = "*.*")
{
string[] sourceFiles = Directory.GetFiles(sourcePath, pattern, SearchOption.AllDirectories);
foreach (string sourceFilePath in sourceFiles)
{
string destinationFilePath = string.Empty;
destinationFilePath = sourceFilePath.Replace(sourcePath, targetPath);
EvaluatePath(destinationFilePath);
File.Copy(sourceFilePath, destinationFilePath, isFileOverridable);
}
}
private static void EvaluatePath(string path)
{
try
{
string folder = Path.GetDirectoryName(path);
if (!Directory.Exists(folder))
{
DirectoryInfo di = Directory.CreateDirectory(folder);
}
}
catch (IOException ioex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ioex.Message);
}
}

How can I change the file name use c#? [duplicate]

How do I rename a file using C#?

Take a look at System.IO.File.Move, "move" the file to a new name.
System.IO.File.Move("oldfilename", "newfilename");

System.IO.File.Move(oldNameFullPath, newNameFullPath);

In the File.Move method, this won't overwrite the file if it is already exists. And it will throw an exception.
So we need to check whether the file exists or not.
/* Delete the file if exists, else no exception thrown. */
File.Delete(newFileName); // Delete the existing file if exists
File.Move(oldFileName,newFileName); // Rename the oldFileName into newFileName
Or surround it with a try catch to avoid an exception.

Just add:
namespace System.IO
{
public static class ExtendedMethod
{
public static void Rename(this FileInfo fileInfo, string newName)
{
fileInfo.MoveTo(fileInfo.Directory.FullName + "\\" + newName);
}
}
}
And then...
FileInfo file = new FileInfo("c:\test.txt");
file.Rename("test2.txt");

You can use File.Move to do it.

First solution
Avoid System.IO.File.Move solutions posted here (marked answer included).
It fails over networks. However, copy/delete pattern works locally and over networks. Follow one of the move solutions, but replace it with Copy instead. Then use File.Delete to delete the original file.
You can create a Rename method to simplify it.
Ease of use
Use the VB assembly in C#.
Add reference to Microsoft.VisualBasic
Then to rename the file:
Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.FileSystem.RenameFile(myfile, newName);
Both are strings. Note that myfile has the full path. newName does not.
For example:
a = "C:\whatever\a.txt";
b = "b.txt";
Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.FileSystem.RenameFile(a, b);
The C:\whatever\ folder will now contain b.txt.

You can copy it as a new file and then delete the old one using the System.IO.File class:
if (File.Exists(oldName))
{
File.Copy(oldName, newName, true);
File.Delete(oldName);
}

public void RenameFile(string filePath, string newName)
{
FileInfo fileInfo = new FileInfo(filePath);
fileInfo.MoveTo(fileInfo.Directory.FullName + "\\" + newName);
}

NOTE: In this example code we open a directory and search for PDF files with open and closed parenthesis in the name of the file. You can check and replace any character in the name you like or just specify a whole new name using replace functions.
There are other ways to work from this code to do more elaborate renames but my main intention was to show how to use File.Move to do a batch rename. This worked against 335 PDF files in 180 directories when I ran it on my laptop. This is spur of the moment code and there are more elaborate ways to do it.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
namespace BatchRenamer
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var dirnames = Directory.GetDirectories(#"C:\the full directory path of files to rename goes here");
int i = 0;
try
{
foreach (var dir in dirnames)
{
var fnames = Directory.GetFiles(dir, "*.pdf").Select(Path.GetFileName);
DirectoryInfo d = new DirectoryInfo(dir);
FileInfo[] finfo = d.GetFiles("*.pdf");
foreach (var f in fnames)
{
i++;
Console.WriteLine("The number of the file being renamed is: {0}", i);
if (!File.Exists(Path.Combine(dir, f.ToString().Replace("(", "").Replace(")", ""))))
{
File.Move(Path.Combine(dir, f), Path.Combine(dir, f.ToString().Replace("(", "").Replace(")", "")));
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("The file you are attempting to rename already exists! The file path is {0}.", dir);
foreach (FileInfo fi in finfo)
{
Console.WriteLine("The file modify date is: {0} ", File.GetLastWriteTime(dir));
}
}
}
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
}
Console.Read();
}
}
}

None of the answers mention writing a unit testable solution. You could use System.IO.Abstractions as it provides a testable wrapper around FileSystem operations, using which you can create a mocked file system objects and write unit tests.
using System.IO.Abstractions;
IFileInfo fileInfo = _fileSystem.FileInfo.FromFileName("filePathAndName");
fileInfo.MoveTo(Path.Combine(fileInfo.DirectoryName, newName));
It was tested, and it is working code to rename a file.

Use:
using System.IO;
string oldFilePath = #"C:\OldFile.txt"; // Full path of old file
string newFilePath = #"C:\NewFile.txt"; // Full path of new file
if (File.Exists(newFilePath))
{
File.Delete(newFilePath);
}
File.Move(oldFilePath, newFilePath);

Use:
public static class FileInfoExtensions
{
/// <summary>
/// Behavior when a new filename exists.
/// </summary>
public enum FileExistBehavior
{
/// <summary>
/// None: throw IOException "The destination file already exists."
/// </summary>
None = 0,
/// <summary>
/// Replace: replace the file in the destination.
/// </summary>
Replace = 1,
/// <summary>
/// Skip: skip this file.
/// </summary>
Skip = 2,
/// <summary>
/// Rename: rename the file (like a window behavior)
/// </summary>
Rename = 3
}
/// <summary>
/// Rename the file.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="fileInfo">the target file.</param>
/// <param name="newFileName">new filename with extension.</param>
/// <param name="fileExistBehavior">behavior when new filename is exist.</param>
public static void Rename(this System.IO.FileInfo fileInfo, string newFileName, FileExistBehavior fileExistBehavior = FileExistBehavior.None)
{
string newFileNameWithoutExtension = System.IO.Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(newFileName);
string newFileNameExtension = System.IO.Path.GetExtension(newFileName);
string newFilePath = System.IO.Path.Combine(fileInfo.Directory.FullName, newFileName);
if (System.IO.File.Exists(newFilePath))
{
switch (fileExistBehavior)
{
case FileExistBehavior.None:
throw new System.IO.IOException("The destination file already exists.");
case FileExistBehavior.Replace:
System.IO.File.Delete(newFilePath);
break;
case FileExistBehavior.Rename:
int dupplicate_count = 0;
string newFileNameWithDupplicateIndex;
string newFilePathWithDupplicateIndex;
do
{
dupplicate_count++;
newFileNameWithDupplicateIndex = newFileNameWithoutExtension + " (" + dupplicate_count + ")" + newFileNameExtension;
newFilePathWithDupplicateIndex = System.IO.Path.Combine(fileInfo.Directory.FullName, newFileNameWithDupplicateIndex);
}
while (System.IO.File.Exists(newFilePathWithDupplicateIndex));
newFilePath = newFilePathWithDupplicateIndex;
break;
case FileExistBehavior.Skip:
return;
}
}
System.IO.File.Move(fileInfo.FullName, newFilePath);
}
}
How to use this code
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string targetFile = System.IO.Path.Combine(#"D://test", "New Text Document.txt");
string newFileName = "Foo.txt";
// Full pattern
System.IO.FileInfo fileInfo = new System.IO.FileInfo(targetFile);
fileInfo.Rename(newFileName);
// Or short form
new System.IO.FileInfo(targetFile).Rename(newFileName);
}
}

I couldn't find an approach which suits me, so I propose my version. Of course, it needs input and error handling.
public void Rename(string filePath, string newFileName)
{
var newFilePath = Path.Combine(Path.GetDirectoryName(filePath), newFileName + Path.GetExtension(filePath));
System.IO.File.Move(filePath, newFilePath);
}

In my case, I want the name of the renamed file to be unique, so I add a date-time stamp to the name. This way, the filename of the 'old' log is always unique:
if (File.Exists(clogfile))
{
Int64 fileSizeInBytes = new FileInfo(clogfile).Length;
if (fileSizeInBytes > 5000000)
{
string path = Path.GetFullPath(clogfile);
string filename = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(clogfile);
System.IO.File.Move(clogfile, Path.Combine(path, string.Format("{0}{1}.log", filename, DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMdd_HHmmss"))));
}
}

Move is doing the same = copy and delete old one.
File.Move(#"C:\ScanPDF\Test.pdf", #"C:\BackupPDF\" + string.Format("backup-{0:yyyy-MM-dd_HH:mm:ss}.pdf", DateTime.Now));

// Source file to be renamed
string sourceFile = #"C:\Temp\MaheshChand.jpg";
// Create a FileInfo
System.IO.FileInfo fi = new System.IO.FileInfo(sourceFile);
// Check if file is there
if (fi.Exists)
{
// Move file with a new name. Hence renamed.
fi.MoveTo(#"C:\Temp\Mahesh.jpg");
Console.WriteLine("File Renamed.");
}

public static class ImageRename
{
public static void ApplyChanges(string fileUrl,
string temporaryImageName,
string permanentImageName)
{
var currentFileName = Path.Combine(fileUrl,
temporaryImageName);
if (!File.Exists(currentFileName))
throw new FileNotFoundException();
var extention = Path.GetExtension(temporaryImageName);
var newFileName = Path.Combine(fileUrl,
$"{permanentImageName}
{extention}");
if (File.Exists(newFileName))
File.Delete(newFileName);
File.Move(currentFileName, newFileName);
}
}

I've encountered a case when I had to rename the file inside the event handler, which was triggering for any file change, including rename, and to skip forever renaming of the file I had to rename it, with:
Making its copy
Removing the original
File.Copy(fileFullPath, destFileName); // Both have the format of "D:\..\..\myFile.ext"
Thread.Sleep(100); // Wait for the OS to unfocus the file
File.Delete(fileFullPath);

private static void Rename_File(string FileFullPath, string NewName) // nes name without directory actualy you can simply rename with fileinfo.MoveTo(Fullpathwithnameandextension);
{
FileInfo fileInfo = new FileInfo(FileFullPath);
string DirectoryRoot = Directory.GetParent(FileFullPath).FullName;
string filecreator = FileFullPath.Substring(DirectoryRoot.Length,FileFullPath.Length-DirectoryRoot.Length);
filecreator = DirectoryRoot + NewName;
try
{
fileInfo.MoveTo(filecreator);
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(filecreator);
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
Console.ReadKey();
}
enter code here
// string FileDirectory = Directory.GetDirectoryRoot()
}

When C# doesn't have some feature, I use C++ or C:
public partial class Program
{
[DllImport("msvcrt", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl, SetLastError = true)]
public static extern int rename(
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPStr)]
string oldpath,
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPStr)]
string newpath);
static void FileRename()
{
while (true)
{
Console.Clear();
Console.Write("Enter a folder name: ");
string dir = Console.ReadLine().Trim('\\') + "\\";
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(dir))
break;
if (!Directory.Exists(dir))
{
Console.WriteLine("{0} does not exist", dir);
continue;
}
string[] files = Directory.GetFiles(dir, "*.mp3");
for (int i = 0; i < files.Length; i++)
{
string oldName = Path.GetFileName(files[i]);
int pos = oldName.IndexOfAny(new char[] { '0', '1', '2' });
if (pos == 0)
continue;
string newName = oldName.Substring(pos);
int res = rename(files[i], dir + newName);
}
}
Console.WriteLine("\n\t\tPress any key to go to main menu\n");
Console.ReadKey(true);
}
}

Creating unique files in another directory

Currently i am taking in multiple .txt files from a directory i have specified (sourceDirectory). I am generating new .csv files with the same name as the .txt files - one .csv file for each .txt file.
However i want to generate these new files in another directory which i have specified (directoryPath). If i run my program once it creates these files in the initial directory, however if i run my program again it now generates the files in the destination directory.
The following is my code where i complete the above:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string sourceDirectory = #"C:directoryWhereTXTFilesAre";
var txtFiles = Directory.EnumerateFiles(sourceDirectory, "*.txt", SearchOption.AllDirectories);
foreach (string currentFile in txtFiles)
{
readFile(currentFile);
}
string directoryPath = #"C:\destinationForCSVFiles";
}
I then create the new .csv files name based on the original .txt file like this:
static FileStream CreateFileWithUniqueName(string folder, string fileName, int maxAttempts = 1024)
{
var fileBase = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(fileName);
var ext = Path.GetExtension(fileName);
// build hash set of filenames for performance
var files = new HashSet<string> (Directory.GetFiles(folder));
for (var index = 0; index < maxAttempts; index++)
{
// first try with the original filename, else try incrementally adding an index
var name = (index == 0)
? fileName
: String.Format("{0} ({1}){2}", fileBase, index, ext);
// check if exists
var fullPath = Path.Combine(folder, name);
string CSVfileName = Path.ChangeExtension(fullPath, ".csv");
if (files.Contains(CSVfileName))
continue;
// try to create the file
try
{
return new FileStream(CSVfileName, FileMode.CreateNew, FileAccess.Write);
}
catch (DirectoryNotFoundException) { throw; }
catch (DriveNotFoundException) { throw; }
catch (IOException)
{
}
}
I don't see why it's creating the .csv files initially in the same directory that the .txt files are in and then second time i run my code it creates them in the directoryPath.
Desired output: sourceDirectory left as it is with only .txt files and directoryPath to hold the .csv files.
The only other place i call CreateFileWithUniqueName is within my readFile method, the code is below:
using (var stream = CreateFileWithUniqueName(#"C:destinationFilePath", currentFile))
{
Console.WriteLine("Created \"" + stream.Name + "\"");
newFileName = stream.Name;
Globals.CleanedFileName = newFileName;
}

It seems that you are passing the full filename of the source file. This confuses the Path.Combine inside the CreateFileWithUniqueFilename because you are falling in this subtle remarks found on the documentation of Path.Combine
paths should be an array of the parts of the path to combine. If the
one of the subsequent paths is an absolute path, then the combine
operation resets starting with that absolute path, discarding all
previous combined paths.
You can fix it easily with
using (var stream = CreateFileWithUniqueName(#"C:\destinationFilePath",
Path.GetFileName(currentFile)))
{
Console.WriteLine("Created \"" + stream.Name + "\"");
newFileName = stream.Name;
Globals.CleanedFileName = newFileName;
}
Or better extract the filename without path inside the CreateFileWithUniqueName
static FileStream CreateFileWithUniqueName(string folder, string fileName, int maxAttempts = 1024)
{
var fileBase = Path.GetFileName(fileName);
fileBase = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(fileBase);
var ext = Path.GetExtension(fileBase);
also, you should build your CSVfileName using the cleaned filename
var name = (index == 0)
? String.Format("{0}{1}", fileBase, ext);
: String.Format("{0} ({1}){2}", fileBase, index, ext);
var fullPath = Path.Combine(folder, name);
string CSVfileName = Path.ChangeExtension(fullPath, ".csv");
if (files.Contains(CSVfileName))
continue;

Renaming Pinned Application [duplicate]

How do I rename a file using C#?

Take a look at System.IO.File.Move, "move" the file to a new name.
System.IO.File.Move("oldfilename", "newfilename");

System.IO.File.Move(oldNameFullPath, newNameFullPath);

In the File.Move method, this won't overwrite the file if it is already exists. And it will throw an exception.
So we need to check whether the file exists or not.
/* Delete the file if exists, else no exception thrown. */
File.Delete(newFileName); // Delete the existing file if exists
File.Move(oldFileName,newFileName); // Rename the oldFileName into newFileName
Or surround it with a try catch to avoid an exception.

Just add:
namespace System.IO
{
public static class ExtendedMethod
{
public static void Rename(this FileInfo fileInfo, string newName)
{
fileInfo.MoveTo(fileInfo.Directory.FullName + "\\" + newName);
}
}
}
And then...
FileInfo file = new FileInfo("c:\test.txt");
file.Rename("test2.txt");

You can use File.Move to do it.

First solution
Avoid System.IO.File.Move solutions posted here (marked answer included).
It fails over networks. However, copy/delete pattern works locally and over networks. Follow one of the move solutions, but replace it with Copy instead. Then use File.Delete to delete the original file.
You can create a Rename method to simplify it.
Ease of use
Use the VB assembly in C#.
Add reference to Microsoft.VisualBasic
Then to rename the file:
Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.FileSystem.RenameFile(myfile, newName);
Both are strings. Note that myfile has the full path. newName does not.
For example:
a = "C:\whatever\a.txt";
b = "b.txt";
Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.FileSystem.RenameFile(a, b);
The C:\whatever\ folder will now contain b.txt.

You can copy it as a new file and then delete the old one using the System.IO.File class:
if (File.Exists(oldName))
{
File.Copy(oldName, newName, true);
File.Delete(oldName);
}

public void RenameFile(string filePath, string newName)
{
FileInfo fileInfo = new FileInfo(filePath);
fileInfo.MoveTo(fileInfo.Directory.FullName + "\\" + newName);
}

NOTE: In this example code we open a directory and search for PDF files with open and closed parenthesis in the name of the file. You can check and replace any character in the name you like or just specify a whole new name using replace functions.
There are other ways to work from this code to do more elaborate renames but my main intention was to show how to use File.Move to do a batch rename. This worked against 335 PDF files in 180 directories when I ran it on my laptop. This is spur of the moment code and there are more elaborate ways to do it.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
namespace BatchRenamer
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var dirnames = Directory.GetDirectories(#"C:\the full directory path of files to rename goes here");
int i = 0;
try
{
foreach (var dir in dirnames)
{
var fnames = Directory.GetFiles(dir, "*.pdf").Select(Path.GetFileName);
DirectoryInfo d = new DirectoryInfo(dir);
FileInfo[] finfo = d.GetFiles("*.pdf");
foreach (var f in fnames)
{
i++;
Console.WriteLine("The number of the file being renamed is: {0}", i);
if (!File.Exists(Path.Combine(dir, f.ToString().Replace("(", "").Replace(")", ""))))
{
File.Move(Path.Combine(dir, f), Path.Combine(dir, f.ToString().Replace("(", "").Replace(")", "")));
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("The file you are attempting to rename already exists! The file path is {0}.", dir);
foreach (FileInfo fi in finfo)
{
Console.WriteLine("The file modify date is: {0} ", File.GetLastWriteTime(dir));
}
}
}
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
}
Console.Read();
}
}
}

None of the answers mention writing a unit testable solution. You could use System.IO.Abstractions as it provides a testable wrapper around FileSystem operations, using which you can create a mocked file system objects and write unit tests.
using System.IO.Abstractions;
IFileInfo fileInfo = _fileSystem.FileInfo.FromFileName("filePathAndName");
fileInfo.MoveTo(Path.Combine(fileInfo.DirectoryName, newName));
It was tested, and it is working code to rename a file.

Use:
using System.IO;
string oldFilePath = #"C:\OldFile.txt"; // Full path of old file
string newFilePath = #"C:\NewFile.txt"; // Full path of new file
if (File.Exists(newFilePath))
{
File.Delete(newFilePath);
}
File.Move(oldFilePath, newFilePath);

Use:
public static class FileInfoExtensions
{
/// <summary>
/// Behavior when a new filename exists.
/// </summary>
public enum FileExistBehavior
{
/// <summary>
/// None: throw IOException "The destination file already exists."
/// </summary>
None = 0,
/// <summary>
/// Replace: replace the file in the destination.
/// </summary>
Replace = 1,
/// <summary>
/// Skip: skip this file.
/// </summary>
Skip = 2,
/// <summary>
/// Rename: rename the file (like a window behavior)
/// </summary>
Rename = 3
}
/// <summary>
/// Rename the file.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="fileInfo">the target file.</param>
/// <param name="newFileName">new filename with extension.</param>
/// <param name="fileExistBehavior">behavior when new filename is exist.</param>
public static void Rename(this System.IO.FileInfo fileInfo, string newFileName, FileExistBehavior fileExistBehavior = FileExistBehavior.None)
{
string newFileNameWithoutExtension = System.IO.Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(newFileName);
string newFileNameExtension = System.IO.Path.GetExtension(newFileName);
string newFilePath = System.IO.Path.Combine(fileInfo.Directory.FullName, newFileName);
if (System.IO.File.Exists(newFilePath))
{
switch (fileExistBehavior)
{
case FileExistBehavior.None:
throw new System.IO.IOException("The destination file already exists.");
case FileExistBehavior.Replace:
System.IO.File.Delete(newFilePath);
break;
case FileExistBehavior.Rename:
int dupplicate_count = 0;
string newFileNameWithDupplicateIndex;
string newFilePathWithDupplicateIndex;
do
{
dupplicate_count++;
newFileNameWithDupplicateIndex = newFileNameWithoutExtension + " (" + dupplicate_count + ")" + newFileNameExtension;
newFilePathWithDupplicateIndex = System.IO.Path.Combine(fileInfo.Directory.FullName, newFileNameWithDupplicateIndex);
}
while (System.IO.File.Exists(newFilePathWithDupplicateIndex));
newFilePath = newFilePathWithDupplicateIndex;
break;
case FileExistBehavior.Skip:
return;
}
}
System.IO.File.Move(fileInfo.FullName, newFilePath);
}
}
How to use this code
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string targetFile = System.IO.Path.Combine(#"D://test", "New Text Document.txt");
string newFileName = "Foo.txt";
// Full pattern
System.IO.FileInfo fileInfo = new System.IO.FileInfo(targetFile);
fileInfo.Rename(newFileName);
// Or short form
new System.IO.FileInfo(targetFile).Rename(newFileName);
}
}

I couldn't find an approach which suits me, so I propose my version. Of course, it needs input and error handling.
public void Rename(string filePath, string newFileName)
{
var newFilePath = Path.Combine(Path.GetDirectoryName(filePath), newFileName + Path.GetExtension(filePath));
System.IO.File.Move(filePath, newFilePath);
}

In my case, I want the name of the renamed file to be unique, so I add a date-time stamp to the name. This way, the filename of the 'old' log is always unique:
if (File.Exists(clogfile))
{
Int64 fileSizeInBytes = new FileInfo(clogfile).Length;
if (fileSizeInBytes > 5000000)
{
string path = Path.GetFullPath(clogfile);
string filename = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(clogfile);
System.IO.File.Move(clogfile, Path.Combine(path, string.Format("{0}{1}.log", filename, DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMdd_HHmmss"))));
}
}

Move is doing the same = copy and delete old one.
File.Move(#"C:\ScanPDF\Test.pdf", #"C:\BackupPDF\" + string.Format("backup-{0:yyyy-MM-dd_HH:mm:ss}.pdf", DateTime.Now));

// Source file to be renamed
string sourceFile = #"C:\Temp\MaheshChand.jpg";
// Create a FileInfo
System.IO.FileInfo fi = new System.IO.FileInfo(sourceFile);
// Check if file is there
if (fi.Exists)
{
// Move file with a new name. Hence renamed.
fi.MoveTo(#"C:\Temp\Mahesh.jpg");
Console.WriteLine("File Renamed.");
}

public static class ImageRename
{
public static void ApplyChanges(string fileUrl,
string temporaryImageName,
string permanentImageName)
{
var currentFileName = Path.Combine(fileUrl,
temporaryImageName);
if (!File.Exists(currentFileName))
throw new FileNotFoundException();
var extention = Path.GetExtension(temporaryImageName);
var newFileName = Path.Combine(fileUrl,
$"{permanentImageName}
{extention}");
if (File.Exists(newFileName))
File.Delete(newFileName);
File.Move(currentFileName, newFileName);
}
}

I've encountered a case when I had to rename the file inside the event handler, which was triggering for any file change, including rename, and to skip forever renaming of the file I had to rename it, with:
Making its copy
Removing the original
File.Copy(fileFullPath, destFileName); // Both have the format of "D:\..\..\myFile.ext"
Thread.Sleep(100); // Wait for the OS to unfocus the file
File.Delete(fileFullPath);

private static void Rename_File(string FileFullPath, string NewName) // nes name without directory actualy you can simply rename with fileinfo.MoveTo(Fullpathwithnameandextension);
{
FileInfo fileInfo = new FileInfo(FileFullPath);
string DirectoryRoot = Directory.GetParent(FileFullPath).FullName;
string filecreator = FileFullPath.Substring(DirectoryRoot.Length,FileFullPath.Length-DirectoryRoot.Length);
filecreator = DirectoryRoot + NewName;
try
{
fileInfo.MoveTo(filecreator);
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(filecreator);
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
Console.ReadKey();
}
enter code here
// string FileDirectory = Directory.GetDirectoryRoot()
}

When C# doesn't have some feature, I use C++ or C:
public partial class Program
{
[DllImport("msvcrt", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl, SetLastError = true)]
public static extern int rename(
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPStr)]
string oldpath,
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPStr)]
string newpath);
static void FileRename()
{
while (true)
{
Console.Clear();
Console.Write("Enter a folder name: ");
string dir = Console.ReadLine().Trim('\\') + "\\";
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(dir))
break;
if (!Directory.Exists(dir))
{
Console.WriteLine("{0} does not exist", dir);
continue;
}
string[] files = Directory.GetFiles(dir, "*.mp3");
for (int i = 0; i < files.Length; i++)
{
string oldName = Path.GetFileName(files[i]);
int pos = oldName.IndexOfAny(new char[] { '0', '1', '2' });
if (pos == 0)
continue;
string newName = oldName.Substring(pos);
int res = rename(files[i], dir + newName);
}
}
Console.WriteLine("\n\t\tPress any key to go to main menu\n");
Console.ReadKey(true);
}
}

Rename a file in C#

How do I rename a file using C#?

Take a look at System.IO.File.Move, "move" the file to a new name.
System.IO.File.Move("oldfilename", "newfilename");

System.IO.File.Move(oldNameFullPath, newNameFullPath);

In the File.Move method, this won't overwrite the file if it is already exists. And it will throw an exception.
So we need to check whether the file exists or not.
/* Delete the file if exists, else no exception thrown. */
File.Delete(newFileName); // Delete the existing file if exists
File.Move(oldFileName,newFileName); // Rename the oldFileName into newFileName
Or surround it with a try catch to avoid an exception.

Just add:
namespace System.IO
{
public static class ExtendedMethod
{
public static void Rename(this FileInfo fileInfo, string newName)
{
fileInfo.MoveTo(fileInfo.Directory.FullName + "\\" + newName);
}
}
}
And then...
FileInfo file = new FileInfo("c:\test.txt");
file.Rename("test2.txt");

You can use File.Move to do it.

First solution
Avoid System.IO.File.Move solutions posted here (marked answer included).
It fails over networks. However, copy/delete pattern works locally and over networks. Follow one of the move solutions, but replace it with Copy instead. Then use File.Delete to delete the original file.
You can create a Rename method to simplify it.
Ease of use
Use the VB assembly in C#.
Add reference to Microsoft.VisualBasic
Then to rename the file:
Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.FileSystem.RenameFile(myfile, newName);
Both are strings. Note that myfile has the full path. newName does not.
For example:
a = "C:\whatever\a.txt";
b = "b.txt";
Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.FileSystem.RenameFile(a, b);
The C:\whatever\ folder will now contain b.txt.

You can copy it as a new file and then delete the old one using the System.IO.File class:
if (File.Exists(oldName))
{
File.Copy(oldName, newName, true);
File.Delete(oldName);
}

public void RenameFile(string filePath, string newName)
{
FileInfo fileInfo = new FileInfo(filePath);
fileInfo.MoveTo(fileInfo.Directory.FullName + "\\" + newName);
}

NOTE: In this example code we open a directory and search for PDF files with open and closed parenthesis in the name of the file. You can check and replace any character in the name you like or just specify a whole new name using replace functions.
There are other ways to work from this code to do more elaborate renames but my main intention was to show how to use File.Move to do a batch rename. This worked against 335 PDF files in 180 directories when I ran it on my laptop. This is spur of the moment code and there are more elaborate ways to do it.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
namespace BatchRenamer
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var dirnames = Directory.GetDirectories(#"C:\the full directory path of files to rename goes here");
int i = 0;
try
{
foreach (var dir in dirnames)
{
var fnames = Directory.GetFiles(dir, "*.pdf").Select(Path.GetFileName);
DirectoryInfo d = new DirectoryInfo(dir);
FileInfo[] finfo = d.GetFiles("*.pdf");
foreach (var f in fnames)
{
i++;
Console.WriteLine("The number of the file being renamed is: {0}", i);
if (!File.Exists(Path.Combine(dir, f.ToString().Replace("(", "").Replace(")", ""))))
{
File.Move(Path.Combine(dir, f), Path.Combine(dir, f.ToString().Replace("(", "").Replace(")", "")));
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("The file you are attempting to rename already exists! The file path is {0}.", dir);
foreach (FileInfo fi in finfo)
{
Console.WriteLine("The file modify date is: {0} ", File.GetLastWriteTime(dir));
}
}
}
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
}
Console.Read();
}
}
}

None of the answers mention writing a unit testable solution. You could use System.IO.Abstractions as it provides a testable wrapper around FileSystem operations, using which you can create a mocked file system objects and write unit tests.
using System.IO.Abstractions;
IFileInfo fileInfo = _fileSystem.FileInfo.FromFileName("filePathAndName");
fileInfo.MoveTo(Path.Combine(fileInfo.DirectoryName, newName));
It was tested, and it is working code to rename a file.

Use:
using System.IO;
string oldFilePath = #"C:\OldFile.txt"; // Full path of old file
string newFilePath = #"C:\NewFile.txt"; // Full path of new file
if (File.Exists(newFilePath))
{
File.Delete(newFilePath);
}
File.Move(oldFilePath, newFilePath);

Use:
public static class FileInfoExtensions
{
/// <summary>
/// Behavior when a new filename exists.
/// </summary>
public enum FileExistBehavior
{
/// <summary>
/// None: throw IOException "The destination file already exists."
/// </summary>
None = 0,
/// <summary>
/// Replace: replace the file in the destination.
/// </summary>
Replace = 1,
/// <summary>
/// Skip: skip this file.
/// </summary>
Skip = 2,
/// <summary>
/// Rename: rename the file (like a window behavior)
/// </summary>
Rename = 3
}
/// <summary>
/// Rename the file.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="fileInfo">the target file.</param>
/// <param name="newFileName">new filename with extension.</param>
/// <param name="fileExistBehavior">behavior when new filename is exist.</param>
public static void Rename(this System.IO.FileInfo fileInfo, string newFileName, FileExistBehavior fileExistBehavior = FileExistBehavior.None)
{
string newFileNameWithoutExtension = System.IO.Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(newFileName);
string newFileNameExtension = System.IO.Path.GetExtension(newFileName);
string newFilePath = System.IO.Path.Combine(fileInfo.Directory.FullName, newFileName);
if (System.IO.File.Exists(newFilePath))
{
switch (fileExistBehavior)
{
case FileExistBehavior.None:
throw new System.IO.IOException("The destination file already exists.");
case FileExistBehavior.Replace:
System.IO.File.Delete(newFilePath);
break;
case FileExistBehavior.Rename:
int dupplicate_count = 0;
string newFileNameWithDupplicateIndex;
string newFilePathWithDupplicateIndex;
do
{
dupplicate_count++;
newFileNameWithDupplicateIndex = newFileNameWithoutExtension + " (" + dupplicate_count + ")" + newFileNameExtension;
newFilePathWithDupplicateIndex = System.IO.Path.Combine(fileInfo.Directory.FullName, newFileNameWithDupplicateIndex);
}
while (System.IO.File.Exists(newFilePathWithDupplicateIndex));
newFilePath = newFilePathWithDupplicateIndex;
break;
case FileExistBehavior.Skip:
return;
}
}
System.IO.File.Move(fileInfo.FullName, newFilePath);
}
}
How to use this code
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string targetFile = System.IO.Path.Combine(#"D://test", "New Text Document.txt");
string newFileName = "Foo.txt";
// Full pattern
System.IO.FileInfo fileInfo = new System.IO.FileInfo(targetFile);
fileInfo.Rename(newFileName);
// Or short form
new System.IO.FileInfo(targetFile).Rename(newFileName);
}
}

I couldn't find an approach which suits me, so I propose my version. Of course, it needs input and error handling.
public void Rename(string filePath, string newFileName)
{
var newFilePath = Path.Combine(Path.GetDirectoryName(filePath), newFileName + Path.GetExtension(filePath));
System.IO.File.Move(filePath, newFilePath);
}

In my case, I want the name of the renamed file to be unique, so I add a date-time stamp to the name. This way, the filename of the 'old' log is always unique:
if (File.Exists(clogfile))
{
Int64 fileSizeInBytes = new FileInfo(clogfile).Length;
if (fileSizeInBytes > 5000000)
{
string path = Path.GetFullPath(clogfile);
string filename = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(clogfile);
System.IO.File.Move(clogfile, Path.Combine(path, string.Format("{0}{1}.log", filename, DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMdd_HHmmss"))));
}
}

Move is doing the same = copy and delete old one.
File.Move(#"C:\ScanPDF\Test.pdf", #"C:\BackupPDF\" + string.Format("backup-{0:yyyy-MM-dd_HH:mm:ss}.pdf", DateTime.Now));

// Source file to be renamed
string sourceFile = #"C:\Temp\MaheshChand.jpg";
// Create a FileInfo
System.IO.FileInfo fi = new System.IO.FileInfo(sourceFile);
// Check if file is there
if (fi.Exists)
{
// Move file with a new name. Hence renamed.
fi.MoveTo(#"C:\Temp\Mahesh.jpg");
Console.WriteLine("File Renamed.");
}

public static class ImageRename
{
public static void ApplyChanges(string fileUrl,
string temporaryImageName,
string permanentImageName)
{
var currentFileName = Path.Combine(fileUrl,
temporaryImageName);
if (!File.Exists(currentFileName))
throw new FileNotFoundException();
var extention = Path.GetExtension(temporaryImageName);
var newFileName = Path.Combine(fileUrl,
$"{permanentImageName}
{extention}");
if (File.Exists(newFileName))
File.Delete(newFileName);
File.Move(currentFileName, newFileName);
}
}

I've encountered a case when I had to rename the file inside the event handler, which was triggering for any file change, including rename, and to skip forever renaming of the file I had to rename it, with:
Making its copy
Removing the original
File.Copy(fileFullPath, destFileName); // Both have the format of "D:\..\..\myFile.ext"
Thread.Sleep(100); // Wait for the OS to unfocus the file
File.Delete(fileFullPath);

private static void Rename_File(string FileFullPath, string NewName) // nes name without directory actualy you can simply rename with fileinfo.MoveTo(Fullpathwithnameandextension);
{
FileInfo fileInfo = new FileInfo(FileFullPath);
string DirectoryRoot = Directory.GetParent(FileFullPath).FullName;
string filecreator = FileFullPath.Substring(DirectoryRoot.Length,FileFullPath.Length-DirectoryRoot.Length);
filecreator = DirectoryRoot + NewName;
try
{
fileInfo.MoveTo(filecreator);
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(filecreator);
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
Console.ReadKey();
}
enter code here
// string FileDirectory = Directory.GetDirectoryRoot()
}

When C# doesn't have some feature, I use C++ or C:
public partial class Program
{
[DllImport("msvcrt", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl, SetLastError = true)]
public static extern int rename(
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPStr)]
string oldpath,
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPStr)]
string newpath);
static void FileRename()
{
while (true)
{
Console.Clear();
Console.Write("Enter a folder name: ");
string dir = Console.ReadLine().Trim('\\') + "\\";
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(dir))
break;
if (!Directory.Exists(dir))
{
Console.WriteLine("{0} does not exist", dir);
continue;
}
string[] files = Directory.GetFiles(dir, "*.mp3");
for (int i = 0; i < files.Length; i++)
{
string oldName = Path.GetFileName(files[i]);
int pos = oldName.IndexOfAny(new char[] { '0', '1', '2' });
if (pos == 0)
continue;
string newName = oldName.Substring(pos);
int res = rename(files[i], dir + newName);
}
}
Console.WriteLine("\n\t\tPress any key to go to main menu\n");
Console.ReadKey(true);
}
}

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