FileSystemInfo.CreationTime Property

Reference

Definition

Namespace:: System.IO

Assemblies:: mscorlib.dll, System.IO.FileSystem.dll

Assembly:: System.IO.FileSystem.dll

Assembly:: System.Runtime.dll

Assembly:: mscorlib.dll

Assembly:: netstandard.dll

Source:: FileSystemInfo.cs

Source:: FileSystemInfo.cs

Source:: FileSystemInfo.cs

Important

Some information relates to prerelease product that may be substantially modified before it’s released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.

Gets or sets the creation time of the current file or directory.

public:
 property DateTime CreationTime { DateTime get(); void set(DateTime value); };

public DateTime CreationTime { get; set; }

member this.CreationTime : DateTime with get, set

Public Property CreationTime As DateTime

Property Value

DateTime

The creation date and time of the current FileSystemInfo object.

Exceptions

IOException

Refresh() cannot initialize the data.

DirectoryNotFoundException

The specified path is invalid; for example, it is on an unmapped drive.

PlatformNotSupportedException

The current operating system is not Windows NT or later.

ArgumentOutOfRangeException

The caller attempts to set an invalid creation time.

Examples

The following example demonstrates the CreationTime property. This code example is part of a larger example provided for the FileSystemInfo class.

static void DisplayFileSystemInfoAttributes(FileSystemInfo^ fsi)
{
    //  Assume that this entry is a file.
    String^ entryType = "File";

    // Determine if entry is really a directory
    if ((fsi->Attributes & FileAttributes::Directory) == FileAttributes::Directory)
    {
        entryType = "Directory";
    }
    //  Show this entry's type, name, and creation date.
    Console::WriteLine("{0} entry {1} was created on {2:D}", entryType, fsi->FullName, fsi->CreationTime);
}

static void DisplayFileSystemInfoAttributes(FileSystemInfo fsi)
{
    //  Assume that this entry is a file.
    string entryType = "File";

    // Determine if entry is really a directory
    if ((fsi.Attributes & FileAttributes.Directory) == FileAttributes.Directory )
    {
        entryType = "Directory";
    }
    //  Show this entry's type, name, and creation date.
    Console.WriteLine("{0} entry {1} was created on {2:D}", entryType, fsi.FullName, fsi.CreationTime);
}

Sub DisplayFileSystemInfoAttributes(ByVal fsi As IO.FileSystemInfo)
    ' Assume that this entry is a file.
    Dim entryType As String = "File"

    ' Determine if this entry is really a directory.
    If (fsi.Attributes And FileAttributes.Directory) = FileAttributes.Directory Then
        entryType = "Directory"
    End If

    ' Show this entry's type, name, and creation date.
    Console.WriteLine("{0} entry {1} was created on {2:D}", _
        entryType, fsi.FullName, fsi.CreationTime)
End Sub

Remarks

Note

This method may return an inaccurate value because it uses native functions whose values may not be continuously updated by the operating system.

The value of the CreationTime property is pre-cached if the current instance of the FileSystemInfo object was returned from any of the following DirectoryInfo methods:

To get the latest value, call the Refresh method.

If the file described in the FileSystemInfo object does not exist, this property returns 12:00 midnight, January 1, 1601 A.D. (C.E.) Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), adjusted to local time.

On Unix platforms that do not support creation or birth time, this property returns the older of the time of the last status change and the time of the last modification. On other platforms, it returns 12:00 midnight, January 1, 1601 A.D. (C.E.) Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), adjusted to local time.

NTFS-formatted drives may cache file meta-info, such as file creation time, for a short period of time. This process is known as file tunneling. As a result, it may be necessary to explicitly set the creation time of a file if you are overwriting or replacing an existing file.

Applies to

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