Basics Operations of File and Directory in C#

In this article, we are going to cover how to create, delete and rename directory and also how to delete and rename the file. 

Creating a Directory

We can create Directory using CreateDirectory() method present in the Directory class.

csharp

// C# program to create a directory
using System;
using System.IO;

class Program {

    // Main Method
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Please enter a name for the new directory:");

        string DirName = Console.ReadLine();

        // Checking if string is empty or not
        if (DirName != String.Empty)
        {
            // Creating the Directory
            Directory.CreateDirectory(DirName);

            // Checking Directory is created
            // Successfully or not
            if (Directory.Exists(DirName))
            {
                Console.WriteLine("The directory was created!");
                Console.ReadKey();
            }
        }
    }
}

Output:

You will find the Directory with a given name at the specific location. 

Renaming a Directory

csharp

using System;
using System.IO;

class GFG {

    // Main Method
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Please enter a  name of the directory to renamed:");
        string DirName = Console.ReadLine();

        // checking directory exist or not
        if (Directory.Exists(DirName))
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Please enter a new name for this directory:");
            string newDirName = Console.ReadLine();

            if (newDirName != String.Empty) {

                // to rename directory
                Directory.Move(DirName, newDirName);

                // checking directory has
                // been renamed or not
                if (Directory.Exists(newDirName))
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("The directory was renamed to " + newDirName);
                    Console.ReadKey();
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Output:

You will find the updated Directory’s name at the specific location. There is no such method called Rename() so we are using the Move() method to rename a directory. Moving and renaming are the same operations in C#.

Deleting a Directory

csharp

using System;
using System.IO;

class GFG {

    // Main Method
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Enter the directory name you want to delete:");

        string DirName = Console.ReadLine();

        // Checking if Directory Exist or not
        if (Directory.Exists(DirName))
        {

            // This will delete the
            // Directory if it is empty
            Directory.Delete(DirName);

            // checking if directory if
            // deleted successfully or not
            if (Directory.Exists(DirName) == false)
                Console.WriteLine("Directory deleted successfully...");
        }
        else
            Console.WriteLine("Directory {0} does not exist!", DirName);
        Console.ReadKey();
    }
}

Output:

You will find the Directory with a given name does not exist anymore at the specified location. If Directory is not empty, then Delete() will throw an exception because it deletes an only empty directory.

Directory.Delete(DirName, true);

If we pass the extra parameters then the Delete() method is recursive. First, all the files and subdirectories of the specified directory are deleted before deleting the directory. 

Renaming a File

csharp

// C# Program for Renaming a file
using System;
using System.IO;

class GFG {

    // Main Method
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Please enter a  name of the file to renamed:");
        string FileName = Console.ReadLine();

        // Checking File exist or not
        if (File.Exists(FileName))
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Please enter a new name for this file:");
            string newFilename = Console.ReadLine();

            // Checking if string is null or not
            if (newFilename != String.Empty)
            {

                // Renaming the file
                File.Move(FileName, newFilename);

                // checking if the file has been
                // renamed successfully or not
                if (File.Exists(newFilename))
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("The file was renamed to " + newFilename);
                    Console.ReadKey();
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Output:

You will find the changed file name at the specific location.

Deleting a File

csharp

using System;
using System.IO;

class GFG {

    // Main Method
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Enter the file name you want to delete:");
        string FileName = Console.ReadLine();

        // Checking file exists or not
        if (File.Exists(FileName))
        {

            // Deleting the file
            File.Delete(FileName);

            // Checking if the file is deleted
            // successfully or not
            if (File.Exists(FileName) == false)
                Console.WriteLine("File deleted successfully...");
        }
        else
            Console.WriteLine("File {0} does not exist!", FileName);
        Console.ReadKey();
    }
}

Output:

You will find there is no such file exists with a given name at the specific location.