Basic FileWatcher

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The following example creates a FileSystemWatcher to watch the directory specified at run time. The component is set to watch for changes in LastWrite and LastAccess time, the creation, deletion, or renaming of text files in the directory. If a file is changed, created, or deleted, the path to the file prints to the console. When a file is renamed, the old and new paths print to the console.

Use the System.Diagnostics and System.IO namespaces for this example.

FileSystemWatcher watcher;

private void watch()
{
  // Create a new FileSystemWatcher and set its properties.
  watcher = new FileSystemWatcher();
  watcher.Path = path;

 /* Watch for changes in LastAccess and LastWrite times, and
       the renaming of files or directories. */
  watcher.NotifyFilter = NotifyFilters.LastAccess | NotifyFilters.LastWrite
                         | NotifyFilters.FileName | NotifyFilters.DirectoryName;

  // Only watch text files.      
  watcher.Filter = "*.txt*";

  // Add event handler.
  watcher.Changed += new FileSystemEventHandler(OnChanged);
  // Begin watching.      
  watcher.EnableRaisingEvents = true;
}

// Define the event handler.
private void OnChanged(object source, FileSystemEventArgs e)
{
  //Copies file to another directory or another action.
  Console.WriteLine("File: " +  e.FullPath + " " + e.ChangeType);
}

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