Directory.Move bug when using closing backslash?

[ngposter]

Try the following code snippet:

Directory.CreateDirectory(@"C:\Folder1\");
Directory.Move(@"C:\Folder1\", @"C:\Folder2\");
Directory.Delete(@"C:\Folder2\");

After executing, a C:\Folder1 still exists!

Stranger yet, place a breakpoint on "Directory.Delete(@"C:\Folder2\");" and
run the code. Have Windows Explorer open in the background.

At the breakpoint, you will see that (1) Folder1 is deleted and (2) Folder2
exists.
Now step through the "Directory.Delete(@"C:\Folder2\");" line.
Folder2 is deleted, but somehow Folder1 comes back!

The problem has to do with the closing backslash in the target parameter of
the .Move function.
The following will work as expected.

Directory.Move(@"C:\Folder1\", @"C:\Folder2");

Can someone confirm the same behavior?
If this is the case, I'd like to know: Is it bad practice to use a closing
backslash to differentiate folder paths from file paths?

Thanks.

btw: I have version 1.1.4322 of the framework.

[Michael Culley]

"ngposter" <ng******@earthlink.net> wrote in message news:uq*************@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...

Can someone confirm the same behavior?
If this is the case, I'd like to know: Is it bad practice to use a closing
backslash to differentiate folder paths from file paths?

You can't have a folder and file of the same name so there is no need to differentiate. Generally I wouldn't use a trailing slash
because it would indicated to me the next level eg "C:\Folder1\" seems to indicate something in folder1, not folder1 itself.

--
Michael Culley

[Morten Wennevik]

Hm,

Rather strange. As Michael said you do not normally deal with directories using trailing \, but using one shouldn't do any harm either. The problem is with Directory.Move which not only moves a directory, but also the contents, and having a trailing \ in the destination directory confuses it. However, I have no idea how or why it manages to recreate Folder1 after removing Folder2. It would be interesting if someone could shed any light on that.

--
Happy coding!
Morten Wennevik [C# MVP]