Ignore folders/files when Directory.GetFiles() is denied access

Row_2493 0
Viewed 98729

I am trying to display a list of all files found in the selected directory (and optionally any subdirectories). The problem I am having is that when the GetFiles() method comes across a folder that it cannot access, it throws an exception and the process stops.

How do I ignore this exception (and ignore the protected folder/file) and continue adding accessible files to the list?

try
{
    if (cbSubFolders.Checked == false)
    {
        string[] files = Directory.GetFiles(folderBrowserDialog1.SelectedPath);
        foreach (string fileName in files)
            ProcessFile(fileName);
    }
    else
    {
        string[] files = Directory.GetFiles(folderBrowserDialog1.SelectedPath, "*.*", SearchOption.AllDirectories);
        foreach (string fileName in files)
            ProcessFile(fileName);
    }
    lblNumberOfFilesDisplay.Enabled = true;
}
catch (UnauthorizedAccessException) { }
finally {}
getfiles c#
8 Answers

You will have to do the recursion manually; don't use AllDirectories - look one folder at a time, then try getting the files from sub-dirs. Untested, but something like below (note uses a delegate rather than building an array):

using System;
using System.IO;
static class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        string path = ""; // TODO
        ApplyAllFiles(path, ProcessFile);
    }
    static void ProcessFile(string path) {/* ... */}
    static void ApplyAllFiles(string folder, Action<string> fileAction)
    {
        foreach (string file in Directory.GetFiles(folder))
        {
            fileAction(file);
        }
        foreach (string subDir in Directory.GetDirectories(folder))
        {
            try
            {
                ApplyAllFiles(subDir, fileAction);
            }
            catch
            {
                // swallow, log, whatever
            }
        }
    }
}
Marc_Gravell_233540

Since .NET Standard 2.1, you can now just do:

var filePaths = Directory.EnumerateFiles(@"C:\my\files", "*.xml", new EnumerationOptions
{
    IgnoreInaccessible = true,
    RecurseSubdirectories = true
});

According to the MSDN docs about IgnoreInaccessible:

Gets or sets a value that indicates whether to skip files or directories when access is denied (for example, UnauthorizedAccessException or SecurityException). The default is true.

Default value is actually true, but I've kept it here just to show the property.

The same overload is available for DirectoryInfo as well.

user_14694940

This should answer the question. I've ignored the issue of going through subdirectories, I'm assuming you have that figured out.

Of course, you don't need to have a seperate method for this, but you might find it a useful place to also verify the path is valid, and deal with the other exceptions that you could encounter when calling GetFiles().

Hope this helps.

private string[] GetFiles(string path)
{
    string[] files = null;
    try
    {
       files = Directory.GetFiles(path);
    }
    catch (UnauthorizedAccessException)
    {
       // might be nice to log this, or something ...
    }

    return files;
}

private void Processor(string path, bool recursive)
{
    // leaving the recursive directory navigation out.
    string[] files = this.GetFiles(path);
    if (null != files)
    {
        foreach (string file in files)
        {
           this.Process(file);
        }
    }
    else
    {
       // again, might want to do something when you can't access the path?
    }
}
user_253060

I prefer using c# framework functions, but the function i need will be included in .net framework 5.0, so i have to write it.

// search file in every subdirectory ignoring access errors
    static List<string> list_files(string path)
    {
        List<string> files = new List<string>();

        // add the files in the current directory
        try
        {
            string[] entries = Directory.GetFiles(path);

            foreach (string entry in entries)
                files.Add(System.IO.Path.Combine(path,entry));
        }
        catch 
        { 
        // an exception in directory.getfiles is not recoverable: the directory is not accessible
        }

        // follow the subdirectories
        try
        {
            string[] entries = Directory.GetDirectories(path);

            foreach (string entry in entries)
            {
                string current_path = System.IO.Path.Combine(path, entry);
                List<string> files_in_subdir = list_files(current_path);

                foreach (string current_file in files_in_subdir)
                    files.Add(current_file);
            }
        }
        catch
        {
            // an exception in directory.getdirectories is not recoverable: the directory is not accessible
        }

        return files;
    }
user_43754100
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