C# Path

Summary: in this tutorial, you’ll learn how to use the C# Path class to interact with the file and directory paths.

Introduction to the C# Path class

The Path class is a part of the System.IO namespace in .NET. The Path class provides you with a set of useful static methods for working with the file and directory Path.

Getting the file name

To get the file name from a path, you use the GetFileName() method:

using static System.Console;

string path = @"C:\temp\readme.txt";
string fileName = Path.GetFileName(path);

WriteLine(fileName);Code language: C# (cs)

Output:

readme.txtCode language: C# (cs)

Getting the directory name

To get the directory name of the path, you use the GetDirectoryName() method :

using static System.Console;

string path = @"C:\temp\readme.txt";
string dirname = Path.GetDirectoryName(path);

WriteLine(dirname);Code language: C# (cs)

Output:

C:\tempCode language: C# (cs)

Getting the absolute path

To get the absolute path of a specified path, you use the GetFullPath() method:

using static System.Console;

string relativePath = @"..\..\readme.txt";
string fullPath = Path.GetFullPath(relativePath);

WriteLine(fullPath);Code language: C# (cs)

Output:

C:\project\bin\readme.txtCode language: C# (cs)

Combining paths

To combines two or more strings into a path, you use the Combine() method:

using static System.Console;

string directory = @"C:\temp";
string fileName = "readme.txt";
string fullPath = Path.Combine(directory, fileName);

WriteLine(fullPath);Code language: C# (cs)

Output:

C:\temp\readme.txtCode language: C# (cs)

Getting file extension

To get the file extension of a path, you use the GetExtension() method:

using static System.Console;

string path = @"C:\temp\readme.txt";
string extension = Path.GetExtension(path);

WriteLine(extension);Code language: C# (cs)

Output:

.txtCode language: CSS (css)

Creating a unique temporary file name

To create a temporary file with a .tmp file extension and returns the path to it, you use the GetTempFileName() method. For example:

using static System.Console;

string tempFileName = Path.GetTempFileName();

WriteLine(tempFileName);Code language: C# (cs)

The method creates a unique temporary file in the current user’s temporary directory. For example, on Windows, it outputs the following:

C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Temp\tmpC430.tmpCode language: C# (cs)

The username is your current Windows user.

Getting a temporary directory path of the current user

To get the temporary path of the current user, you use the GetTempPath() method. For example:

using static System.Console;

string tempDir = Path.GetTempPath();
WriteLine(tempDir);Code language: C# (cs)

Example output on Windows:

C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Temp\Code language: C# (cs)

Changing the extension of the path

The ChangeExtension() method changes the file extension of a path. The following program uses the ChangExtension() method to change the .txt to .csv:

using static System.Console;

string path = @"C:\temp\readme.txt";
string newExtension = ".csv";
string newPath = Path.ChangeExtension(path, newExtension);

WriteLine(newPath);Code language: C# (cs)

Checking if a path contains a file extension

The HasExtension method returns true if a path contains a file extension or false otherwise:

using static System.Console;

string path = @"C:\temp\readme.txt";
bool hasExtension = Path.HasExtension(path);

WriteLine(hasExtension);Code language: C# (cs)

Output:

TrueCode language: C# (cs)

Summary