How can I get the last folder from a path string?

Question

I have a directory that looks something like this:

C:\Users\me\Projects\

In my application, I append to that path a given project name:

C:\Users\me\Projects\myProject

After, I want to be able to pass that into a method. Inside this method I would also like to use the project name. What is the best way to parse the path string to get the last folder name?

I know a work-around would be to pass the path and the project name into the function, but I was hoping I could limit it to one parameter.

Cockroach

have you tried anything? – Onym

Barely. I've searched around and found some similar questions but couldn't find one that did what I needed. My best assumption is that the Path class has a method for this, but I don't know what. – Cockroach

Using one parameter only is not necessarily the better solution. – Ecg

What is your workaround? – Ecg

My answer uses the Path Method @McAdam331 – Inexorable

You can check similar question in this post #6018793 – Urine

@ThomasW. I think my work around would have been to just pass in two parameters, if I couldn't find a quick and nice way to get the last folder. – Cockroach

Answer 1

You can do:

string dirName = new DirectoryInfo(@"C:\Users\me\Projects\myProject\").Name;

Or use Path.GetFileName like (with a bit of hack):

string dirName2 = Path.GetFileName(
              @"C:\Users\me\Projects\myProject".TrimEnd(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar));

Path.GetFileName returns the file name from the path, if the path is terminating with \ then it would return an empty string, that is why I have used TrimEnd(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar)

Buckshee

DirectoryInfo method worked. I would think that's the preferred method? Thanks! – Cockroach

Both of them should work, but IMO, yes DirectoryInfo is more clean and convey the intent more clearly. – Buckshee

I like DirectoryInfo because I see that it works regardless of whether or not it is terminated with a `\`. It shouldn't be, in my application, but I tested it both ways just in case. It looks cleaner, too. – Cockroach

And, I should add that yes both worked, but I think I will use the first. – Cockroach

Answer 2

string path = @"C:\Users\me\Projects\myProject";
string result = System.IO.Path.GetFileName(path);

result = myProject

Inexorable

This will not work if the path ends with a back slash like "C:\Users\me\Projects\myProject\" – Buckshee

Answer 3

If you're a Linq addict like me, you may enjoy this. Works regardless of the termination of the path string.

public static class PathExtensions
{
    public static string GetLastPathSegment(this string path)
    {
        string lastPathSegment = path
            .Split(new string[] {@"\"}, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)
            .LastOrDefault();

        return lastPathSegment;
    }
}

Example Usage:

lastSegment = Paths.GetLastPathSegment(@"C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc");
lastSegment = Paths.GetLastPathSegment(@"C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\");

Output: etc

Demonstrative

Maybe consider using 'Path.DirectorySeparatorChar' instead of "\" – Serinaserine

Answer 4

Simplest way is

dirName = Path.GetFileName(Path.GetDirectoryName(path))

Thithia