Simple how to make a application directory path

Question

Ok I know it is simple but I have forgotten how to do it. I want to create a folder in a directory but if I do "C:\\Users\\George\\AppData\\Roaming\\myprogram" this only woks for me it will not work with everybody that I send it to

I tried "C:\\Users\\[User]\\AppData\\Roaming\\Myprogram" but it says access denied so what can I use to make this work for everyone?

Here is the segment of code I am using to do this if it helps :

public Form2()
{
    InitializeComponent();

    Directory.CreateDirectory(@"C:\Users\[User]\AppData\Roaming\SkypeAdmin");
    Directory.CreateDirectory(@"C:\Users\[User]\AppData\Roaming\SkypeAdmin\mem");
}

and I tried :

public Form2()
{
    InitializeComponent();

    Directory.CreateDirectory(@"C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\SkypeAdmin");
    Directory.CreateDirectory(@"C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\SkypeAdmin\mem");
}

Answer 1

Your approach predefines a path for the folder so the location would only be valid for you and anyone else who has the specified loacation.

You can try this instead:

public Form1()
{
    InitializeComponent();
    DirectoryInfo di  =  Directory.CreateDirectory(skypeAdminPath);
    DirectoryInfo di2  =  Directory.CreateDirectory(skypeMemPath);
}

string skypeAdminPath = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData) + "SkypeAdmin\\";

string skypeMemPath = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData) + "SkypeAdmin\\mem\\";

Using Path.Combine :

string skypeAdminPath = Path.Combine(Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData), "SkypeAdmin\\");
string skypeMemPath = Path.Combine(Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData), "SkypeAdmin\\mem\\");

Answer 2

You can use CommonAppDataPath

string path = Application.CommonAppDataPath;//for folder with version

this may change every version of your application, if you dont want this behavior and you want Same Directory for all the version of your App you can use this

string path = Directory.GetParent(Application.CommonAppDataPath);

the directory will be readily available when your code executes above line, this is created on demand.

Note: I assume that you want to create some directory for all users and use it. instead of doing so you can used shared Directory and access it from any user.

This is how a sample CommonAppData path look like C:\\ProgramData\\MyCompany\\WindowsFormsApplicationTest\\1.0.0.0

Typically CommonAppDataBase\\CompanyName\\ProductName\\Version

Answer 3

You need to use Enviroment.GetFolderPath for that:

Directory.CreateDirectory(Path.Combine(
        Enviroment.GetFolderPath(Enviroment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData),
        @"\SkypeAdmin\"));
Directory.CreateDirectory(Path.Combine(
        Enviroment.GetFolderPath(Enviroment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData),
        @"\SkypeAdmin\mem\"));

That does exactly what (I think) you mean to do. Your solution doesn't work because there is no folder called [User] or User in the system, so you can't create a folder in there, and Directory.CreateDirectory doesn't replace that for the user path for you.