Why I am getting "The given path's format is not supported" error

Question

I am unable to rename a file located in (D drive) using c#. I am getting the error

Exception Details: System.NotSupportedException: The given path's format is not supported.

every time.

I am using

string oldfilename = @"D:\abc\file.txt";
string newfilename = @"D:\abc\tree.txt";
System.IO.File.Move(oldfilename, newfilename);

but I am getting the error on the last line. I also tried changing the first 2 lines to

string oldfilename = "D:\\abc\\file.txt";
string newfilename = "D:\\abc\\tree.txt";

I also ensured that the file "file.txt" exists. Tried to use different location.

I also tried Reading contents of the file.txt, but I am getting same error. I searched all the Questions on SO, But with no luck I could get this issue resolved. I think there is some issue with the ":" that I am using after the drive letter while specifying the path. Please guide me.

@TomDoesCode that *might* be a duplicate, but hard to tell if this is the same problem. — crashmstr, Sep 18 '15 at 12:57
Is that *really* the code? Or did you post a modified version of the actual code? — Matthew Watson, Sep 18 '15 at 13:00
That's really the code! Even I am surprised why is it giving that error ! — Thundrstorm, Sep 18 '15 at 13:01
You are certain it's on that line? Is the application running on your system or a server/web site? — D Stanley, Sep 18 '15 at 13:07
ye its on that line. The application is running on my system not on any server. — Thundrstorm, Sep 18 '15 at 13:08
@RahulThundrstorm, are you sure that file `D:\abc\file.txt` is not open? — xZ6a33YaYEfmv, Sep 18 '15 at 13:11
Did you copy/paste the code from somewhere else? There may be invisible Unicode characters, although the text you posted doesn't seem to have anything strange when checked in a hex viewer — Panagiotis Kanavos, Sep 18 '15 at 13:12
Can you please check File.Exists(filename) for same and let me know what does it return? — Ubiquitous Developers, Sep 18 '15 at 13:15
I can't reproduce this (obviously). Is `D:` a CD or a mapped networked drive, something that *doesn't* allows renames? Still, that would return a different error — Panagiotis Kanavos, Sep 18 '15 at 13:18
Try to delete both lines and retype the paths. This should eliminate any unprintable weirdness — Panagiotis Kanavos, Sep 18 '15 at 13:20
What are the returned values for `oldfilename.IndexOf(':', 2);` and `newfilename.IndexOf(':', 2);` ? — Matteo Umili, Sep 18 '15 at 13:24
I have not copy pasted the lines. I have retyped them. Also No files are opened.D: drive is a Local Disk on my computer. — Thundrstorm, Sep 18 '15 at 13:35

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 18 '15 at 13:43

0

I tried this on another computer but still it didn't work!(Surprising). I have managed to solve this issue by moving "file.txt" to my project folder. Now I am using

string oldfilename = "file.txt";
string newfilename = "tree.txt";
System.IO.File.Move(oldfilename, newfilename);

And this Works! This doesn't seems to be an answer to this question(for me), but It has really worked for me.

answered Sep 18 '15 at 13:43

Thundrstorm

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This doesn't answer anything. Both relative and absolute paths work with File.Move. In fact, if *this* works, it would mean that there were invalid Unicode characters in the folder path (`D:\abc`) but not the file name – Panagiotis Kanavos Sep 18 '15 at 14:15

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 19 '15 at 01:45

0

Why don´t you utilize:

 My.Computer.Filesystem.RenameFile("D:\file.txt", "tree.txt")

answered Sep 19 '15 at 01:45

David BS

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score -2 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:01

-2

I try it by myself and these variants worked:

        string oldfilename = "C:\\Users\\User\\Downloads\\WorkTemp\\file.txt";
        string newfilename = "C:\\Users\\User\\Downloads\\WorkTemp\\file2.txt";
        System.IO.File.Move(oldfilename, newfilename);


        string oldfilename = @"C:\Users\User\Downloads\WorkTemp\file1.txt";
        string newfilename = @"C:\Users\User\Downloads\WorkTemp\file2.txt";
        System.IO.File.Move(oldfilename, newfilename);

According to the reference source: http://referencesource.microsoft.com/#mscorlib/system/io/filestream.cs#749

NotSupportedException will be thrown if the index of the : in your path is at the third position or later. (One would expect : to be the second character) Are you sure there are no zero-width combining characters or other similar Unicode shenanigans going on in your source? from that answer

edited May 23 '17 at 12:01

Community

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answered Sep 18 '15 at 13:01

Dima Adas

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OP already explained that he tried it as a literal ('@') and escaped backslashes. – LInsoDeTeh Sep 18 '15 at 13:01
Please read the question again. I have already tried this with no luck. – Thundrstorm Sep 18 '15 at 13:03
3

please mention reference from where you got [this](http://stackoverflow.com/a/24856870/1196295). – BhushanK Sep 18 '15 at 13:12
I have already seen this Question. The : is not at third position. – Thundrstorm Sep 18 '15 at 13:31
Ok, try to create the empty consolse C# project and new empty .txt file and write this code.Will it be working? – Dima Adas Sep 18 '15 at 13:38

Why I am getting "The given path's format is not supported" error

3 Answers3