Directory.SetCurrentDirectory(String) Method
Definition
Important
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Sets the application's current working directory to the specified directory.
public:
static void SetCurrentDirectory(System::String ^ path);public static void SetCurrentDirectory (string path);static member SetCurrentDirectory : string -> unitPublic Shared Sub SetCurrentDirectory (path As String)Parameters
- path
- String
The path to which the current working directory is set.
Exceptions
An I/O error occurred.
.NET Framework and .NET Core versions older than 2.1: path is a zero-length string, contains only white space, or contains one or more invalid characters. You can query for invalid characters with the GetInvalidPathChars() method.
path is null.
The specified path, file name, or both exceed the system-defined maximum length.
The caller does not have the required permission to access unmanaged code.
The specified path was not found.
The specified directory was not found.
Examples
The following example illustrates how to set the current directory and display the directory root.
// This sample shows how to set the current directory and how to determine
// the root directory.
using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
int main()
{
// Create string for a directory. This value should be an existing directory
// or the sample will throw a DirectoryNotFoundException.
String^ dir = "C:\\test";
try
{
//Set the current directory.
Directory::SetCurrentDirectory( dir );
}
catch ( DirectoryNotFoundException^ e )
{
Console::WriteLine( "The specified directory does not exist. {0}", e );
}
// Print to console the results.
Console::WriteLine( "Root directory: {0}", Directory::GetDirectoryRoot( dir ) );
Console::WriteLine( "Current directory: {0}", Directory::GetCurrentDirectory() );
}
// The output of this sample depends on what value you assign to the variable dir.
// If the directory c:\test exists, the output for this sample is:
// Root directory: C:\
// Current directory: C:\test
// This sample shows how to set the current directory and how to determine
// the root directory.
using System;
using System.IO;
namespace IOSamples
{
public class DirectoryRoot
{
public static void Main()
{
// Create string for a directory. This value should be an existing directory
// or the sample will throw a DirectoryNotFoundException.
string dir = @"C:\test";
try
{
//Set the current directory.
Directory.SetCurrentDirectory(dir);
}
catch (DirectoryNotFoundException e)
{
Console.WriteLine("The specified directory does not exist. {0}", e);
}
// Print to console the results.
Console.WriteLine("Root directory: {0}", Directory.GetDirectoryRoot(dir));
Console.WriteLine("Current directory: {0}", Directory.GetCurrentDirectory());
}
}
}
// The output of this sample depends on what value you assign to the variable dir.
// If the directory c:\test exists, the output for this sample is:
// Root directory: C:\
// Current directory: C:\test
// This sample shows how to set the current directory and how to determine
// the root directory.
open System.IO
// Create string for a directory. This value should be an existing directory
// or the sample will throw a DirectoryNotFoundException.
let dir = @"C:\test"
try
//Set the current directory.
Directory.SetCurrentDirectory dir
with :? DirectoryNotFoundException as e ->
printfn $"The specified directory does not exist. {e}"
// Print to console the results.
printfn $"Root directory: {Directory.GetDirectoryRoot dir}"
printfn $"Current directory: {Directory.GetCurrentDirectory()}"
// The output of this sample depends on what value you assign to the variable dir.
// If the directory c:\test exists, the output for this sample is:
// Root directory: C:\
// Current directory: C:\test
' This sample shows how to set the current directory and how to determine
' the root directory.
Imports System.IO
Public Class DirectoryRoot
Public Shared Sub Main()
' Create string for a directory. This value should be an existing directory
' or the sample will throw a DirectoryNotFoundException.
Dim dir As String = "C:\test"
Try
'Set the current directory.
Directory.SetCurrentDirectory(dir)
Catch e As DirectoryNotFoundException
Console.WriteLine("The specified directory does not exist. {0}", e)
End Try
' Print to console the results.
Console.WriteLine("Root directory: {0}", Directory.GetDirectoryRoot(dir))
Console.WriteLine("Current directory: {0}", Directory.GetCurrentDirectory())
End Sub
End Class
' The output of this sample depends on what value you assign to the variable dir.
' If the directory c:\test exists, the output for this sample is:
' Root directory: C:\
' Current directory: C:\test
Remarks
When the application terminates, the working directory is restored to its original location (the directory where the process was started).
The path parameter is permitted to specify relative or absolute path information. Relative path information is interpreted as relative to the current working directory. To obtain the current working directory, see GetCurrentDirectory.
Trailing spaces are removed from the end of the path parameter before setting the directory.
The case-sensitivity of the path parameter corresponds to that of the file system on which the code is running. For example, it's case-insensitive on NTFS (the default Windows file system) and case-sensitive on Linux file systems.
If you are setting the directory to a drive with removable media (for example, "E:" for a USB flash drive), you can determine whether the drive is ready by using the IsReady property.
