FileInfo Class

Represents a file.

Overview

The FileInfo class provides properties and methods for accessing information about a file and for opening or creating files. It is an instance-based class, meaning you create an instance of FileInfo to represent a specific file.

This class is useful for retrieving file attributes such as size, creation time, modification time, and for performing operations like deleting, moving, or copying the file. For static operations that don't require an instance, consider using the static members of the File class.

Members

Constructor FileInfo(string fileName)

Initializes a new instance of the FileInfo class with the specified path to the file.

Parameters

fileName: The path to the file this instance represents.

Property long Length

Gets the size, in bytes, of the current file.

Returns

The size of the current file in bytes.

Property string FullName

Gets the fully qualified path that the current file belongs to.

Returns

The fully qualified name of the file.

Property DateTime CreationTime

Gets the creation time of the current file.

Returns

A DateTime structure that contains the date and time the current file was created.

Property DateTime LastWriteTime

Gets the date and time the current file was last written to.

Returns

A DateTime structure that contains the date and time the current file was last written to.

Method FileStream Create()

Creates or overwrites a file in the specified path.

Returns

A new FileStream object that provides read/write access to the file.

Method void Delete()

Deletes the current file.

Method void MoveTo(string destFileName)

Moves the current file to a different location.

Parameters

destFileName: The name of the destination location and file name.

Example

C# Example

using System;
using System.IO;

public class FileInfoExample
{
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        string filePath = "myDocument.txt";

        // Create a dummy file for demonstration
        File.WriteAllText(filePath, "This is a sample file for FileInfo demonstration.");

        try
        {
            // Create a FileInfo object
            FileInfo fileInfo = new FileInfo(filePath);

            // Display file properties
            Console.WriteLine($"File Name: {fileInfo.Name}");
            Console.WriteLine($"Full Path: {fileInfo.FullName}");
            Console.WriteLine($"Size: {fileInfo.Length} bytes");
            Console.WriteLine($"Creation Time: {fileInfo.CreationTime}");
            Console.WriteLine($"Last Write Time: {fileInfo.LastWriteTime}");

            // Example of deleting the file
            // Console.WriteLine($"Deleting file: {filePath}");
            // fileInfo.Delete();
            // Console.WriteLine("File deleted.");
        }
        catch (FileNotFoundException)
        {
            Console.WriteLine($"Error: The file '{filePath}' was not found.");
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            Console.WriteLine($"An error occurred: {ex.Message}");
        }
        finally
        {
            // Clean up the dummy file if it exists
            if (File.Exists(filePath))
            {
                File.Delete(filePath);
            }
        }
    }
}