Path.GetFullPath unexpected behavior on “DriveLetter:SomeDirectory”

Question

I am trying to get whether a directory path is valid or not using the Path class as suggested in this answer.

However, while I expect Path.GetFullName("C:SomeDirectory") (without any slashes) to throw an exception, it returns C:\\Windows\\system32\\SomeDirectory .

Also, if I write Directory.Create("C:SomeDirectory") it tries to create the directory again under C:\\Windows\\system32 .

When I try to enter C:drivers , for example, to address bar in windows explorer I get error Windows cannot find file. Check the spelling and try again. Windows cannot find file. Check the spelling and try again.

Command line gives an error on cd C:drivers , too.

Is this an expected behaviour?

Answer 1

Yes, C: just tells it which drive. The rest of the path must start with root '\\' if you want the path to run from root - otherwise it'll just be appended to the current directory.

The Path and Uri methods are very specific about these things.

All Paths are relative to the current working directory - but starting the path with \\ makes it relative to the root (of that drive) - its the same on the command line too