Question

Here are the simple two lines of code:

public static void RemoveCoverImageForProduct(int productId)
{
    using (var productRepository = new EfProductRepository())
    {
        var product = productRepository.FindById(productId);
        var coverFolderPath = HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath(@"~/");
        var filePath = Path.Combine(coverFolderPath, product.CoverImagePath);
        if (File.Exists(filePath))
            File.Delete(filePath);
    }
}

---

Server.MapPath() is returning:

C:\Users\Sergio\Desktop\MyApp\MyApp.WebUI\

product.CoverImagePath is returning:

/Public/products/buscar.jpg

The result of running Path.Combine on both of them, meaning the value of filePath after running is:

/Public/products/buscar.jpg

What I’m expecting is this:

C:\Users\Sergio\Desktop\MyApp\MyApp.WebUI\Public\products\buscar.jpg

---

Any ideas why this isn’t working as I expect it to?

Answer 1

The rules for the second argument of Path.Combine are

If path2 does not include a root (for example, if path2 does not start with a separator character or a drive specification), the result is a concatenation of the two paths, with an intervening separator character. If path2 includes a root, path2 is returned.

The slash in product.CoverImagePath is a root, which is why Path.Combine is returning

/Public/products/buscar.jpg

Assuming you know that it begins with a slash, you can remove it and pass that into Path.Combine:

var filePath = Path.Combine(coverFolderPath, product.CoverImagePath.Substring(1));

If you’re unsure, use a conditional:

var relativeFilename = Path.IsPathRooted(product.CoverImagePath) 
    ? product.CoverImagePath.Substring(1)
    : product.CoverImagePath;
var filePath = Path.Combine(coverFolderPath, relativeFilename);