62

I am working on a media player in C# but when I want to make my test I have a problem.

I have to create a new object song with the following path:

@"C:\Users\Jesus Antonio\Desktop\JukeboxV2.0\JukeboxV2.0\Datos\ich will.mp3"

It works but when I change the computer I have to rewrite the entire path, My project is called JukeboxV2.0

In java I remember you can just write the path for example

@"JukeboxV2.0\JukeboxV2.0\Datos\ich will.mp3"

This will save a lot of time because I can take my project to different computers and it works, but here I don't known how to do that, anyone know?

abatishchev
  • 98,240
  • 88
  • 296
  • 433
OscarLeif
  • 894
  • 1
  • 9
  • 17
  • 2
    "What Have You Tried"? What happens when you try the relative path like in Java? – Kirk Broadhurst Sep 09 '12 at 00:40
  • To clarify are you packaging your tests with your application? If so you should store the install path in the registry and use that key to find the path of the installed file. Or for testing purposes in a test lab, put the Mp3 as a project resource independent of a file directory or save the mp3 resource to a know file location. – Jeremy Thompson Sep 09 '12 at 01:13
  • possible duplicate of [How to use relative path to Resources folder in C# Window Form application?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5608684/how-to-use-relative-path-to-resources-folder-in-c-sharp-window-form-application) – Jeremy Thompson Sep 09 '12 at 01:19
  • @Jeremy: That question is about embedded resources but this is about root directory resolving. – abatishchev Sep 09 '12 at 08:59
  • this is maybe a good other solution: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5608684/how-to-use-relative-path-to-resources-folder-in-c-sharp-window-form-application – gok han Mar 16 '19 at 16:34

3 Answers3

88

You would do something like this to get the path "Data\ich_will.mp3" inside your application environments folder.

string fileName = "ich_will.mp3";
string path = Path.Combine(Environment.CurrentDirectory, @"Data\", fileName);

In my case it would return the following:

C:\MyProjects\Music\MusicApp\bin\Debug\Data\ich_will.mp3

I use Path.Combine and Environment.CurrentDirectory in my example. These are very useful and allows you to build a path based on the current location of your application. Path.Combine combines two or more strings to create a location, and Environment.CurrentDirectory provides you with the working directory of your application.

The working directory is not necessarily the same path as where your executable is located, but in most cases it should be, unless specified otherwise.

eandersson
  • 25,781
  • 8
  • 89
  • 110
43
Path.Combine(AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory, @"JukeboxV2.0\JukeboxV2.0\Datos\ich will.mp3")

base directory + your filename

abatishchev
  • 98,240
  • 88
  • 296
  • 433
jack.li
  • 973
  • 1
  • 9
  • 20
  • Assuming that the application is stored in a folder called "Jukebox" this would automatically refer to `"C:\Users\Jesus Antonio\Desktop\JukeboxV2.0\JukeboxV2.0\JukeboxV2.0\Datos\ich will.mp3"` – eandersson Sep 10 '12 at 12:59
15

I was facing a similar issue, I had a file on my project, and wanted to test a class which had to deal with loading files from the FS and process them some way. What I did was:

  • added the file test.txt to my test project
  • on the solution explorer hit alt-enter (file properties)
  • there I set BuildAction to Content and Copy to Output Directory to Copy if newer, I guess Copy always would have done it as well

then on my tests I just had to Path.Combine(Environment.CurrentDirectory, "test.txt") and that's it. Whenever the project is compiled it will copy the file (and all it's parent path, in case it was in, say, a folder) to the bin\Debug (or whatever configuration you are using) folder.

Hopes this helps someone

Luiso
  • 4,173
  • 2
  • 37
  • 60
  • 5
    I recommend using Copy if newer instead of Copy Always unless you have a good reason to. We had a project with hundreds of JS files set to copy always that forced all the files to be copied whenever any change was detected. The operation caused considerable dev churn until it was resolved. – Valchris Jun 17 '16 at 16:44
  • 1
    Another reason to use Copy if newer instead of Copy Always is that if you are keeping the files in TFS Version Control, TFS VC will set the files to read only when you check them in. Upon your next build, the files will be copied into your output folder as read-only, and subsequently re-copying the same files to output folder will cause an error on trying to copy over read-only files, and may cause a build failure. You can work around this with build event commands to disable the read-only attribute on those selected files in the output folder. Copy if Newer results in fewer hassles. – Developer63 Apr 24 '19 at 18:02