What is the easiest way to check a string whether it is a represents File name with full path in a correct Format?

Question

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Figuring out whether string is valid file path?
In C# check that filename is *possibly* valid (not that it exists)

I have a method that expects a string which represents a file name with its full path.

I want to validate (Guard) this string in terms of its format to see whether it CAN really represent a file name (not the correctness of the path whether it exists or not)?

For example it should not be accepted if it is something like : "123C:\foo\"

What is the easiest way to do this check in C# ?

public void LoadFile(string fileName)
{
  var valid = Check if 'fileName' is in valid format.
  if(!valid)
      throw new ArgumentException(....
}

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 01 '12 at 17:25

From the documentation:

In members that accept a path as an input string, that path must be well-formed or an exception is raised.

So you can do something like this:

public void LoadFile(string fileName)
{
    try
    {
        var path = Path.GetFullPath(fileName);
    }
    catch (NotSupportedException e)
    {
        throw new ArgumentException(...);
    }
}

What is the easiest way to check a string whether it is a represents File name with full path in a correct Format?

1 Answers1