I found something on google but it not working on C# Console Application
What I found:
string appPath = Path.GetDirectoryName(Application.ExecutablePath);
How I can get application directory using c# Console Application?
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5 Answers
Application is not available for Console Applications, it's for windows forms.
To get the working directory you can use
Environment.CurrentDirectory
Also to get the directory of the executable, you could use:
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory
Comments
If you still want to use Application.ExecutablePath in console application you need to:
- Add a reference to System.Windows.Forms namespace
Add System.Windows.Forms to your usings section
using System; using System.IO; using System.Windows.Forms; namespace ConsoleApplication1 { class Program { static void Main(string[] args) { string appDirectory = Path.GetDirectoryName(Application.ExecutablePath); Console.WriteLine(appDirectory); } } }
Also you can use Directory.GetCurrentDirectory() instead of Path.GetDirectoryName(Application.ExecutablePath) and thus you won't need a reference to System.Windows.Forms.
If you'd like not to include neither System.IO nor System.Windows.Forms namespaces then you should follow Reimeus's answer.
2 Comments
Sam
-1 because
Directory.GetCurrentDirectory() gets the current working directory rather than the directory containing the application.
Csaba Toth
@Sam but I still prefer that. I don't want to depend on Forms.
BEWARE, there are several methods and PITFALLS for paths.
What location are you after? The working directory, the .EXE directory, the DLLs directory?
Do you want code that also works in a service or console application?
Will your code break if the directory has inconsistent trailing slashes?
Lets look at some options:
Application.ExecutablePath
Requires adding a reference and loading the Application namespace.
Directory.GetCurrentDirectory
Environment.CurrentDirectory
If the program is run by shortcut, registry, task manager, these will give the 'Start In' folder, which can be different from the .EXE location.
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory
Depending on how it's run effects whether it includes a trailing slash. This can break things, for example GetDirectoryName() considers no slash to be a file, and will remove the last part.
Either of these are my recommendation, working in both Form and Console applications:
var AssemblyPath = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(System.Reflection.Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().Location);
or
var AssemblyPath = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location);
When used in a main program, both are indentical. If used within a DLL, the first returns the .EXE directory that loaded the DLL, the second returns the DLLs directory.
4 Comments
WhoIsRich
@Kilanny Why the downvote? Yes Path.Combine takes care of slashes, but what if you are not joining paths? For example passing the directory to a command line program where slashes can change the behaviour.
WhoIsRich
@Desolator sorry for late reply. Because of the inconsistent trailing slash, BaseDirectory may be treated as a file path by GetDirectoryName() which causes it to remove the last part of the path. I've updated my answer to be clearer.
1 Comment
Sam
-1 because
Directory.GetCurrentDirectory() gets the current working directory rather than the directory containing the application.I know it's been a long long time, but Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().CodeBase worked for me. You just have to replace Application.ExecutablePath with it.
Of course you have to add using System.Reflection;
I have tried using System.Windows.Forms but it gave me an exception
