Using Server.MapPath to locate the correct directory

Question

I'm building a webapp using ASP.NET.

On my physical hard drive:

The path for my text file is: D:\Users\(MyName)\Documents\Visual Studio 2013\Projects\(ProjectName)\(ProjectName)\Data\TextFiles\someFile.txt

The .cs file is located in: D:\Users\(MyName)\Documents\Visual Studio 2013\Projects\(ProjectName)\(ProjectName)\Account\someCSFile.cs

In my code, I have the followings:

string fileName= Server.MapPath("TextFile/someFile.txt");

The code throws an exception saying that Could not find a part of the path 'D:\Users\(MyName)\Documents\Visual Studio 2013\Projects\(ProjectName)\(ProjectName)\Account\TextFile\someCSFile.cs

How am I going to use Server.MapPath to make it "go up one level", then find the "Data" folder > "TextFiles" > finally the "someFile.txt" WITHOUT hardcoding the entire file path?

score 3 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:13

3

This should do the trick

string fileName= Server.MapPath(@"..\Data\TextFile\someFile.txt");

take a look at this: StackOverflow Post about Server.MapPath

edited May 23 '17 at 12:13

Community

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answered Jun 12 '14 at 20:41

Brent

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A virtual path uses `/` as path separator, not `\\`. – Guffa Jun 12 '14 at 20:42
@Guffa It does not matter, it will handle both. – Scott Chamberlain Jun 12 '14 at 20:51

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 12 '14 at 20:41

2

You can use .. to go up one level:

string fileName= Server.MapPath("../Data/TextFile/someFile.txt");

You can also start from the application root by starting the path with a slash:

string fileName= Server.MapPath("/Data/TextFile/someFile.txt");

answered Jun 12 '14 at 20:41

Guffa

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Thank you, I didn't know you can actually use `..` to go up one level – C.J. Jun 12 '14 at 20:44

Using Server.MapPath to locate the correct directory

2 Answers2