Copy a folders files xcopy(ish) style (Q&A)

Question

I want to do a few things

1. copy files like xcopy source target /d
2. copy files like xcopy source target /d /s
3. copy any above files using an optional mask
4. copy all files from source and sub-folders to the target folder

Giga

Just use robocopy, it works great – Nefarious

So you suggest we tell all our clients to buy a 3rd party product because we cant add the 20 some lines below. Really? – Giga

Robocopy comes with Windows – Nefarious

We could debate the pros and cons of the wisdom of basing the success of our product on the availability and continued feature support of a freebie or the ability of the average user to choose the right files/folders but I don't think this is the venue. Suffice to say that I wrote this in the context of coders not end users. Thanks for reading. I hope you got some value out of the code. – Giga

Answer 1

If the target does not exist the code is clearer to read using "|| !destFile.Exists". Technically, creating a fileinfo for a non existent file will have a LastWriteTime of DateTime.Min so it would copy but falls a little short on readability. A more robust error handler would be ideal but that's another topic. :) I hope this tested code helps someone.

copy files like xcopy source target /d

CopyFolderContents(sourceFolder, destinationFolder);

copy files like xcopy source target /d /s

CopyFolderContents(sourceFolder, destinationFolder, "*.*", true, true);

copy any above files using an optional mask

CopyFolderContents(sourceFolder, destinationFolder, "*.png", true, true);

copy all files from source and sub-folders to the target folder

CopyFolderContents(sourceFolder, destinationFolder, "*.*", false, true);

that wraps up the questions here is the code with overloads for your convenience.

public void CopyFolderContents(string sourceFolder, string destinationFolder)
{
    CopyFolderContents(sourceFolder, destinationFolder, "*.*", false, false);
}

public void CopyFolderContents(string sourceFolder, string destinationFolder, string mask)
{
    CopyFolderContents(sourceFolder, destinationFolder, mask, false, false);
}

public void CopyFolderContents(string sourceFolder, string destinationFolder, string mask, Boolean createFolders, Boolean recurseFolders)
{
    try
    {
        if (!sourceFolder.EndsWith(@"\")){ sourceFolder += @"\"; }
        if (!destinationFolder.EndsWith(@"\")){ destinationFolder += @"\"; }

        var exDir = sourceFolder;
        var dir = new DirectoryInfo(exDir);
        SearchOption so = (recurseFolders ? SearchOption.AllDirectories : SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly);

        foreach (string sourceFile in Directory.GetFiles(dir.ToString(), mask, so))
        {
            FileInfo srcFile = new FileInfo(sourceFile);
            string srcFileName = srcFile.Name;

            // Create a destination that matches the source structure
            FileInfo destFile = new FileInfo(destinationFolder + srcFile.FullName.Replace(sourceFolder, ""));

            if (!Directory.Exists(destFile.DirectoryName ) && createFolders)
            {
                Directory.CreateDirectory(destFile.DirectoryName);
            }

            if (srcFile.LastWriteTime > destFile.LastWriteTime || !destFile.Exists)
            {
                File.Copy(srcFile.FullName, destFile.FullName, true);
            }
        }
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine(ex.Message + Environment.NewLine + Environment.NewLine + ex.StackTrace);
    }
}

Giga