[harryad2010]

Hello,
last year i started programming on my own, so far all i have been is simple, but i hit a problem with the code to look for a file in a location.

what i want the code to do is give all the files that meet the requirements in the given directory and subdirectory's.
but all i get is the results of the main folder and the first subdirectory. What i am doing wrong.

using System;
using System.IO;
public class FileSearch
{
    public static void Main()

    {
        Console.WriteLine("input name or part of the name.");
        string userinput1 = Console.ReadLine();
        Console.WriteLine("input location to search");
        string userinput2 = Console.ReadLine();
        String searchName = userinput1;
        DirectoryInfo myDir = new DirectoryInfo(@userinput2);
        SearchDirectories(myDir, searchName);
    }

    public static void SearchDirectories(DirectoryInfo dir, String target)
    {
        FileInfo[] files = dir.GetFiles();
        foreach (FileInfo file in files)
        {
            if (file.Name.IndexOf(target) > -1)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(file.Name);
            }
        }

        DirectoryInfo[] dirs = dir.GetDirectories();
        foreach (DirectoryInfo subDir in dirs)
        {
            SearchDirectories(subDir, target);
        }
            Console.WriteLine("if you want to exit the program type close.");
            string close = Console.ReadLine();
            if (close.ToLower() == "close") { return; }
            else { Main();
            Console.Clear();
                    }
    }
}

[mavarazo]

Why do you have the console handling in the recursive method?
I would place it in the Main-Method.

[Zunera]

The SearchDirectories functionality already exists within the .NET framework:

public static void Main()
{
  ...
  System.IO.DirectoryInfo myDir = new System.IO.DirectoryInfo(@userinput2);
  System.IO.FileInfo[] result = myDir.GetFiles("*" + searchName + "*", System.IO.SearchOption.AllDirectories);
  foreach (System.IO.FileInfo fileInfo in result) Console.WriteLine(fileInfo.FullName);
  ...
}

[harryad2010]

Zunera, on 10 December 2010 - 05:42 AM, said:

The SearchDirectories functionality already exists within the .NET framework:

public static void Main()
{
  ...
  System.IO.DirectoryInfo myDir = new System.IO.DirectoryInfo(@userinput2);
  System.IO.FileInfo[] result = myDir.GetFiles("*" + searchName + "*", System.IO.SearchOption.AllDirectories);
  foreach (System.IO.FileInfo fileInfo in result) Console.WriteLine(fileInfo.FullName);
  ...
}

Thanks alot got it working now.

[CodeGrappler]

*EDIT* I see you posted while I was writing this up. I do realize the .NET framework has built in functionality to accomplish this however wheres the fun in not learning how to do it yourself?

You need to remove the console stuff from the SearchDirectories function. You should never ever call Main anywhere ever, It's just bad joojoo.

The real problem is since you are asking for input and calling Main in your recursive function whenever those foreach's finish for each directory. If you were to type close enough times you would eventually see the final output of your program.

This is my proposed solution that keeps your intended functionality in the order you had it.

using System;
using System.IO;
public class FileSearch
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        while(true)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("input name or part of the name.");
            string userinput1 = Console.ReadLine();
            Console.WriteLine("input location to search");
            string userinput2 = Console.ReadLine();
            String searchName = userinput1;
            DirectoryInfo myDir = new DirectoryInfo(@userinput2);
            SearchDirectories(myDir, searchName);

            Console.WriteLine("if you want to exit the program type close.");
            string close = Console.ReadLine();
            if (close.ToLower() == "close")
                break;
            
            Console.Clear();
        }
    }

    public static void SearchDirectories(DirectoryInfo dir, String target)
    {
        FileInfo[] files = dir.GetFiles();
        foreach (FileInfo file in files)
        {
            if (file.Name.IndexOf(target) > -1)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(file.Name);
            }
        }

        DirectoryInfo[] dirs = dir.GetDirectories();
        foreach (DirectoryInfo subDir in dirs)
        {
            SearchDirectories(subDir, target);
        }
    }
}

This post has been edited by CodeGrappler: 10 December 2010 - 07:25 AM

[harryad2010]

CodeGrappler, on 10 December 2010 - 06:24 AM, said:

*EDIT* I see you posted while I was writing this up. I do realize the .NET framework has built in functionality to accomplish this however wheres the fun in not learning how to do it yourself?

You need to remove the console stuff from the SearchDirectories function. You should never ever call Main anywhere ever, It's just bad joojoo.

The real problem is since you are asking for input and calling Main in your recursive function whenever those foreach's finish for each directory. If you were to type close enough times you would eventually see the final output of your program.

This is my proposed solution that keeps your intended functionality in the order you had it.

using System;
using System.IO;
public class FileSearch
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        while(true)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("input name or part of the name.");
            string userinput1 = Console.ReadLine();
            Console.WriteLine("input location to search");
            string userinput2 = Console.ReadLine();
            String searchName = userinput1;
            DirectoryInfo myDir = new DirectoryInfo(@userinput2);
            SearchDirectories(myDir, searchName);

            Console.WriteLine("if you want to exit the program type close.");
            string close = Console.ReadLine();
            if (close.ToLower() == "close")
                break;
            
            Console.Clear();
        }
    }

    public static void SearchDirectories(DirectoryInfo dir, String target)
    {
        FileInfo[] files = dir.GetFiles();
        foreach (FileInfo file in files)
        {
            if (file.Name.IndexOf(target) > -1)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(file.Name);
            }
        }

        DirectoryInfo[] dirs = dir.GetDirectories();
        foreach (DirectoryInfo subDir in dirs)
        {
            SearchDirectories(subDir, target);
        }
    }
}

Ty for this, this helped me understand what i did wrong.
no more console handeling in the search function

[mavarazo]

As I said in the first response

[CodeGrappler]

mavarazo, on 10 December 2010 - 07:21 AM, said:

As I said in the first response

Indirectly, yes you did. But you didn't explain to him why it was a problem.