A reference to a directory (or folder) on the file system.
A Directory instance is an object holding a path on which operations can
be performed. The path to the directory can be absolute or relative
.
You can get the parent directory using the getter parent,
a property inherited from FileSystemEntity.
In addition to being used as an instance to access the file system, Directory has a number of static properties, such as systemTemp, which gets the system's temporary directory, and the getter and setter current, which you can use to access or change the current directory.
Create a new Directory object with a pathname to access the specified directory on the file system from your program.
var myDir = new Directory('myDir');
Most methods in this class occur in synchronous and asynchronous pairs, for example, create and createSync. Unless you have a specific reason for using the synchronous version of a method, prefer the asynchronous version to avoid blocking your program.
Create a directory
The following code sample creates a directory using the create method.
By setting the recursive
parameter to true, you can create the
named directory and all its necessary parent directories,
if they do not already exist.
import 'dart:io';
void main() {
// Creates dir/ and dir/subdir/.
new Directory('dir/subdir').create(recursive: true)
// The created directory is returned as a Future.
.then((Directory directory) {
print(directory.path);
});
}
List a directory
Use the list or listSync methods to get the files and directories
contained by a directory.
Set recursive
to true to recursively list all subdirectories.
Set followLinks
to true to follow symbolic links.
The list method returns a Stream that provides FileSystemEntity
objects. Use the listen callback function to process each object
as it become available.
import 'dart:io';
void main() {
// Get the system temp directory.
var systemTempDir = Directory.systemTemp;
// List directory contents, recursing into sub-directories,
// but not following symbolic links.
systemTempDir.list(recursive: true, followLinks: false)
.listen((FileSystemEntity entity) {
print(entity.path);
});
}
The use of Futures
I/O operations can block a program for some period of time while it waits for the operation to complete. To avoid this, all methods involving I/O have an asynchronous variant which returns a Future. This future completes when the I/O operation finishes. While the I/O operation is in progress, the Dart program is not blocked, and can perform other operations.
For example,
the exists method, which determines whether the directory exists,
returns a boolean value using a Future.
Use then
to register a callback function, which is called when
the value is ready.
import 'dart:io';
main() {
final myDir = new Directory('dir');
myDir.exists().then((isThere) {
isThere ? print('exists') : print('non-existent');
});
}
In addition to exists, the stat, rename, and other methods, return Futures.
Other resources
-
Dart by Example provides additional task-oriented code samples that show how to use various API from the Directory class and the related File class.
-
I/O for Command-Line Apps a section from A Tour of the Dart Libraries covers files and directories.
-
Write Command-Line Apps, a tutorial about writing command-line apps, includes information about files and directories.
- Implements
Static Properties
Constructors
Properties
- absolute → Directory
-
Returns a
Directory
instance whose path is the absolute path tothis
.…read-only - hashCode → int
-
Get a hash code for this object.…
read-only, inherited - isAbsolute → bool
-
Returns a
bool
indicating whether this object's path is absolute.…read-only, inherited - parent → Directory
-
The directory containing
this
. Ifthis
is a root directory, returnsthis
.read-only, inherited - path → String
-
Gets the path of this directory.
read-only - runtimeType → Type
-
A representation of the runtime type of the object.
read-only, inherited - uri → Uri
-
Returns a
Uri
representing the directory's location.…read-only
Operators
-
operator ==(
other) → bool -
The equality operator.…
inherited
Methods
-
create(
{bool recursive: false}) → Future<Directory> -
Creates the directory with this name.…
-
createSync(
{bool recursive: false}) → void -
Synchronously creates the directory with this name.…
-
createTemp(
[String prefix]) → Future<Directory> -
Creates a temporary directory in this directory. Additional random characters are appended to
prefix
to produce a unique directory name. Ifprefix
is missing or null, the empty string is used forprefix
.… -
createTempSync(
[String prefix]) → Directory -
Synchronously creates a temporary directory in this directory. Additional random characters are appended to
prefix
to produce a unique directory name. Ifprefix
is missing or null, the empty string is used forprefix
.… -
delete(
{bool recursive: false}) → Future<FileSystemEntity> -
Deletes this FileSystemEntity.…
inherited -
deleteSync(
{bool recursive: false}) → void -
Synchronously deletes this FileSystemEntity.…
inherited -
exists(
) → Future<bool> -
Checks whether the file system entity with this path exists. Returns a
Future<bool>
that completes with the result.…inherited -
existsSync(
) → bool -
Synchronously checks whether the file system entity with this path exists.…
inherited -
list(
{bool recursive: false, bool followLinks: true}) → Stream<FileSystemEntity> -
Lists the sub-directories and files of this Directory. Optionally recurses into sub-directories.…
-
listSync(
{bool recursive: false, bool followLinks: true}) → List<FileSystemEntity> -
Lists the sub-directories and files of this Directory. Optionally recurses into sub-directories.…
-
noSuchMethod(
Invocation invocation) → dynamic -
Invoked when a non-existent method or property is accessed.…
inherited -
rename(
String newPath) → Future<Directory> -
Renames this directory. Returns a
Future<Directory>
that completes with a Directory instance for the renamed directory.… -
renameSync(
String newPath) → Directory -
Synchronously renames this directory. Returns a Directory instance for the renamed directory.…
-
resolveSymbolicLinks(
) → Future<String> -
Resolves the path of a file system object relative to the current working directory, resolving all symbolic links on the path and resolving all
..
and.
path segments.… -
resolveSymbolicLinksSync(
) → String -
Resolves the path of a file system object relative to the current working directory, resolving all symbolic links on the path and resolving all
..
and.
path segments.… -
stat(
) → Future<FileStat> -
Calls the operating system's stat() function on the path of this FileSystemEntity. Identical to
FileStat.stat(this.path)
.…inherited -
statSync(
) → FileStat -
Synchronously calls the operating system's stat() function on the path of this FileSystemEntity. Identical to
FileStat.statSync(this.path)
.…inherited -
toString(
) → String -
Returns a human readable string for this Directory instance.
-
watch(
{int events: FileSystemEvent.ALL, bool recursive: false}) → Stream<FileSystemEvent> -
Start watching the FileSystemEntity for changes.…
inherited