Getting current directory in .NET web application

So I have a web project, and I’m trying to get the root directory of the website using the c# method Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(). I don’t want to be using a static path as the file locations will be changing in the future. This method is running in my imageProcess.aspx.cs file, but where I thought it would return:

C:Userstcbldocumentsvisual studio 2010ProjectsModelMonitoringModelMonitoringimageProcess.aspx.cs

I’m instead getting:

C:Program FilesCommon FilesMicrosoft SharedDevServer10.0

Can anyone explain why this is happening and what a possible solution might be? Thanks a lot.

Answers:

Thank you for visiting the Q&A section on Magenaut. Please note that all the answers may not help you solve the issue immediately. So please treat them as advisements. If you found the post helpful (or not), leave a comment & I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Method 1

The current directory is a system-level feature; it returns the directory that the server was launched from. It has nothing to do with the website.

You want HttpRuntime.AppDomainAppPath.

If you’re in an HTTP request, you can also call Server.MapPath("~/Whatever").

Method 2

Use this code:

 HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("~")

Detailed Reference:

Server.MapPath specifies the relative or virtual path to map to a physical directory.

• Server.MapPath(".") returns the current physical directory of the
  file (e.g. aspx) being executed
• Server.MapPath("..") returns the parent directory
• Server.MapPath("~") returns the physical path to the root of the
  application
• Server.MapPath("/") returns the physical path to the root of the
  domain name (is not necessarily the same as the root of the
  application)

An example:

Let’s say you pointed a web site application (http://www.example.com/) to

C:Inetpubwwwroot

and installed your shop application (sub web as virtual directory in IIS, marked as application) in

D:WebAppsshop

For example, if you call Server.MapPath in following request:

http://www.example.com/shop/products/GetProduct.aspx?id=2342

then:

Server.MapPath(".") returns D:WebAppsshopproducts
Server.MapPath("..") returns D:WebAppsshop
Server.MapPath("~") returns D:WebAppsshop
Server.MapPath("/") returns C:Inetpubwwwroot
Server.MapPath("/shop") returns D:WebAppsshop

If Path starts with either a forward (/) or backward slash (), the MapPath method returns a path as if Path were a full, virtual path.

If Path doesn’t start with a slash, the MapPath method returns a path relative to the directory of the request being processed.

Note: in C#, @ is the verbatim literal string operator meaning that the string should be used “as is” and not be processed for escape sequences.

Footnotes

Server.MapPath(null) and Server.MapPath("") will produce this effect too.

Method 3

For dot net 6 I use:

AppContext.BaseDirectory

Cool thing about that is that it will be the same on asp.net and also on a console application.

All methods was sourced from stackoverflow.com or stackexchange.com, is licensed under cc by-sa 2.5, cc by-sa 3.0 and cc by-sa 4.0