Path.DirectorySeparatorChar Field

public: static initonly char DirectorySeparatorChar;

public static readonly char DirectorySeparatorChar;

 staticval mutable DirectorySeparatorChar : char

Public Shared ReadOnly DirectorySeparatorChar As Char 

Field Value

Examples

The following example displays Path field values on Windows and on Unix-based systems. Note that Windows supports either the forward slash (which is returned by the AltDirectorySeparatorChar field) or the backslash (which is returned by the DirectorySeparatorChar field) as path separator characters, while Unix-based systems support only the forward slash.

using System;
using System.IO;

class Program
{
 static void Main()
 {
 Console.WriteLine($"Path.DirectorySeparatorChar: '{Path.DirectorySeparatorChar}'");
 Console.WriteLine($"Path.AltDirectorySeparatorChar: '{Path.AltDirectorySeparatorChar}'");
 Console.WriteLine($"Path.PathSeparator: '{Path.PathSeparator}'");
 Console.WriteLine($"Path.VolumeSeparatorChar: '{Path.VolumeSeparatorChar}'");
 var invalidChars = Path.GetInvalidPathChars();
 Console.WriteLine($"Path.GetInvalidPathChars:");
 for (int ctr = 0; ctr < invalidChars.Length; ctr++) 
 {
 Console.Write($" U+{Convert.ToUInt16(invalidChars[ctr]):X4} ");
 if ((ctr + 1) % 10 == 0) Console.WriteLine();
 }
 Console.WriteLine();
 }
}
// The example displays the following output when run on a Windows system:
// Path.DirectorySeparatorChar: '\'
// Path.AltDirectorySeparatorChar: '/'
// Path.PathSeparator: ';'
// Path.VolumeSeparatorChar: ':'
// Path.GetInvalidPathChars:
// U+007C) U+0000) U+0001) U+0002) U+0003) U+0004) U+0005) U+0006) U+0007) U+0008)
// U+0009) U+000A) U+000B) U+000C) U+000D) U+000E) U+000F) U+0010) U+0011) U+0012)
// U+0013) U+0014) U+0015) U+0016) U+0017) U+0018) U+0019) U+001A) U+001B) U+001C)
// U+001D) U+001E) U+001F)
//
// The example displays the following output when run on a Linux system:
// Path.DirectorySeparatorChar: '/'
// Path.AltDirectorySeparatorChar: '/'
// Path.PathSeparator: ':'
// Path.VolumeSeparatorChar: '/'
// Path.GetInvalidPathChars:
// U+0000

Imports System.IO

Module Program
 Sub Main()
 Console.WriteLine($"Path.DirectorySeparatorChar: '{Path.DirectorySeparatorChar}'")
 Console.WriteLine($"Path.AltDirectorySeparatorChar: '{Path.AltDirectorySeparatorChar}'")
 Console.WriteLine($"Path.PathSeparator: '{Path.PathSeparator}'")
 Console.WriteLine($"Path.VolumeSeparatorChar: '{Path.VolumeSeparatorChar}'")
 Dim invalidChars = Path.GetInvalidPathChars()
 Console.WriteLine($"Path.GetInvalidPathChars:")
 For ctr As Integer = 0 To invalidChars.Length - 1 
 Console.Write($" U+{Convert.ToUInt16(invalidChars(ctr)):X4} ")
 if (ctr + 1) Mod 10 = 0 Then Console.WriteLine()
 Next
 Console.WriteLine()
 Console.WriteLine("Hello World!")
 End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output when run on a Windows system:
' Path.DirectorySeparatorChar: '\'
' Path.AltDirectorySeparatorChar: '/'
' Path.PathSeparator: ';'
' Path.VolumeSeparatorChar: ':'
' Path.GetInvalidPathChars:
' U+007C) U+0000) U+0001) U+0002) U+0003) U+0004) U+0005) U+0006) U+0007) U+0008)
' U+0009) U+000A) U+000B) U+000C) U+000D) U+000E) U+000F) U+0010) U+0011) U+0012)
' U+0013) U+0014) U+0015) U+0016) U+0017) U+0018) U+0019) U+001A) U+001B) U+001C)
' U+001D) U+001E) U+001F)
'
' The example displays the following output when run on a Linux system:
' Path.DirectorySeparatorChar: '/'
' Path.AltDirectorySeparatorChar: '/'
' Path.PathSeparator: ':'
' Path.VolumeSeparatorChar: '/'
' Path.GetInvalidPathChars:
' U+0000

Remarks

AltDirectorySeparatorChar and DirectorySeparatorChar are both valid for separating directory levels in a path string.

When you are using .NET Core to develop applications that run on multiple platforms:

• If you prefer to hard-code the directory separator character, you should use the forward slash (/) character. It is the only recognized directory separator character on Unix systems, as the output from the example shows, and is the AltDirectorySeparatorChar on Windows.

• Use string concatenation to dynamically retrieve the path separator character at runtime and incorporate it into file system paths. For example,

  separator = Path.DirectorySeparatorChar;
  path = $"{separator}users{separator}user1{separator}";
  

  separator = Path.DirectorySeparatorChar
  path = $"{separator}users{separator}user1{separator}"
  

  You can also retrieve the value from the AltDirectorySeparatorChar property, since it is the same on both Windows and Unix-based systems.

• Retrieve the AltDirectorySeparatorChar property

If your application is not cross-platform, you can use the separator appropriate for your system.

See also

• File and Stream I/O
• File path formats on Windows systems
• How to: Read Text from a File
• How to: Write Text to a File