Have a look at this pseudocode:
string exe_path = system.get_exe_path()
print "This executable is located in " + exe_path
If I build the above program and place the executable in C:/meow/, It would print out This executable is located in C:/meow/ each time it is run, regardless of the current working directory.
How could I easily accomplish this using C#?
MSDN has an article that says to use System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().CodeBase; if you need the directory, use System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName on that result.
Or, there's the shorter Application.ExecutablePath which "Gets the path for the executable file that started the application, including the executable name" so that might mean it's slightly less reliable depending on how the application was launched.
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory
using System.Reflection;
string myExeDir = new FileInfo(Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().Location).Directory.ToString();
var dir = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location);
I jumped in for the top rated answer and found myself not getting what I expected. I had to read the comments to find what I was looking for.
For that reason I am posting the answer listed in the comments to give it the exposure it deserves.
"Gets the path or UNC location of the loaded file that contains the manifest."
See: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.reflection.assembly.location.aspx
Application.ResourceAssembly.Location
Suppose i have .config file in console app and now am getting like below.
Directory.GetParent(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory()).Parent.FullName + "\\YourFolderName\\log4net.config";
On my side, I used, with a form application:
String Directory = System.Windows.Forms.Application.StartupPath;
it takes the application startup path.
The one that worked for me and isn't above was Process.GetCurrentProcess().MainModule.FileName.
If you are planning to build a console application to be used with Task Scheduler, I'd recommend using this approach:
var execDirectoryPath = Path.GetDirectoryName(System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().CodeBase)?.Replace("file:\\", "");
This way, the path will adapt to whatever location you place your executable file in.
Related
I wrote a program need to call an external exe using
Process proc = Process.Start(filepath).
I specify the absolute path of the exe and it works fine. However, I need to use this program in different computers. Each time the exe has a different absolute path and I need to change the code for this part. I would like to know is there a way that I don't need to change the code? Thanks in advance!
You are asking the wrong question. Is not how to modify the API to work with your fixed requirements ("launch process w/o knowing the path", ignoring for a moment what huge security problem that is). The question you should ask is How can I modify my code to match the API I use?
Since starting a process works better if a full path is given (it also works if the executable name is in %PATH%, but that is a different topic), have you app figure out the correct path and then launch the process. There are countless ways to achieve this. Probably the safest option is to use an App.Setting that points to the path. At deployment the app is properly configured with the location of the required program. there are (many) more ways to do this, it will all depend on what you're actually trying to solve, more details would be needed.
If both exe-files are in the same folder, then
winforms:
var filepath = Path.Combine(Path.GetDirectoryName(Application.ExecutablePath), otherexename);
Process.Start(filepath);
wpf:
var filepath = Path.Combine(AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory, otherexename)
Process.Start(filepath);
In a windows service, you can do the following to get the directory of the currently running assembly, then to generate the right path to your exe:
var directory = Path.GetDirectoryName(
new Uri(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().CodeBase).LocalPath);
var exeLocation = Path.Combine(directory,"myExe.exe");
A basic question:
I have a C# Windows application which runs fine when executed from its own directory, by typing
program1.exe
but when I execute it from another directory giving full path like
d:/progs/myprog/program1.exe
it crashes. And I really need to do it this way :)
I suppose it is connected to reading some files by the program which are in the same directory. My suspected line is:
using (XmlReader OdczytywaczXML = XmlReader.Create(#"config.xml"))
Can it be the problem? I wouldn't like to give full paths to files as I'd like my program to work anywhere just by copying the files.
Oh, and I have no idea how to simulate such condition (running from another directory) while debugging - is it possible?
You should detect your program location and construct full path to config.xml in this case, for example:
var filePath = Path.Combine(
Path.GetDirectoryName(Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().Location),
#"config.xml");
To simulate condition, go to project properties, page "Debug" and set Working Directory.
This is surely the problem. You can add directory information on that line. In WinForms you can use Application.StartupPath for example.
In General you can use System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location
The issue is that the Working Directory isn't the same when you just execute it from the command-line. You'll want to safeguard this:
var path = Path.Combine(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location, "config.xml");
using (XmlReader OdczytywaczXML = XmlReader.Create(path))
The Location property will do the following for you:
Gets the full path or UNC location of the loaded file that contains the manifest.
One thing to note here is that if you added a shortcut to the Desktop and set the Working Directory, before changing the code, you would find the application runs fine. Do that first to verify the fix worked.
I have an XML file I'm streaming as an XDocument. I need to be able to get the full path of the file (NOT the bin/Debug path) using reflection or the like (so this will be the path from the User's machine it lives on).
I have tried about a zillion different ways, including:
System.Reflection.Assembly.GetCallingAssembly().Location
System.Reflectin.Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().Location
System.Reflection.GetExecutingAssembly().Location
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory.
How do I look use System.IO to find the path on the User's machine to my file?? Quite suprised I haven't found the simple answer after googling all day.
::EDIT:: I've now found out that there is no way to "reflectively" locate a path dynamically based on whether the application is running in the debugger or not. My only option is to do some detection.
Thanks in advance!!
I'm assuming that the file is in a child directory of the executable?
You can get the full path of the current working directory (ie where your .exe was run from) by using the Environment class. You can then concatanate this with the child directory
Environment.CurrentDirectory + #"\folder\file.xml"
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.environment.aspx
Hope this helps!
EDIT: After reading up a little it turns out that CurrentDirectory can be changed rather easily. The accepted answer here Environment.CurrentDirectory is yielding unexpected results when running installed app offers a more reliable method.
Found my answer here (using path stripping and GetFullPath() ). It's a real bummer there's no way around just stripping the bin/debug part of the path. I used the third part of the question linked above.
so, i am building a new WinForms with update my program.
the thing is, i am not installing any-thing. so,when i give my freinds my program, that can put it where ever they want. how can i know where did they put it?
like, lets say my program called "MyProg".
so lets say my freind puted "MyProg" in C:\programs\install\SayHello.
and i want my program to know where she is and save it to xml(everytimes she loads).
so, i know how to use everything here, i just need to know how can i get the folder path i am in now. (for my explined the foldepath = "C:\programs\install\SayHello.")
Anyone?
Thanks again,
Alon. :)
From How do I get the name of the current executable in C#?, to find the name of the currently running assembly:
string file = object_of_type_in_application_assembly.GetType().Assembly.Location;
string app = System.IO.Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(file);
so to find the path of the currently running assembly
string file = object_of_type_in_application_assembly.GetType().Assembly.Location;
string path = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(file);
should do the job.
Environment.CurrentDirectory won't necessarily return what you want, as it's possible to run the program from a different folder at the console.
There are a few options, including:
Application.ExecutablePath
Search for "get exe location c#" for more variations on this.
Environment.CurrentDirectory contains the current directory.
Application.StartupPath
should do the same in your case.
i need to get the full folder path in a windows project using c#.I tried with path.getFulPath(filename).bt it returns the application path+filename.how can i get the actual path like "D:\eclipse_files\ads_data"?
A relative path such as myfile.txt is always resolved in relation to the current working directory.
In your case the current working directory seems to be D:\eclipse_files\ads_data so your relative file path gets resolved to D:\eclipse_files\ads_data\myfile.txt when you call Path.GetFullPath.
To solve the problem, either make sure that you start with an absolute path from the beginning, or, that your working directory is set correctly.
You can get/set the working directory using the Directory.GetCurrentDirectory and Directory.SetCurrentDirectory methods.
Your question is not very clear, but I think you're looking for this:
string path = Path.GetDirectoryName(filename);
If I have understood correctly, you have a filename, for example 'doc.txt', and you want to have a method to return the full path of this file regardless of where the application runs from?
If this is what you ask it is not possible. Have you considered that there might be several files called 'doc.txt' on your harddrives?
The best you can hope to do it to search all harddrives, and return a list of all files found with the same name, but that will just be ridicously slow.