Question

So I have an HTML form where a user can upload an image. This posts to my action, image gets put in a directory unique to the user’s id (and creates that directory if it doesn’t already exist).

This has been working just fine since I implemented it about two months ago, and I haven’t had to touch it since. Initially I was getting UnauthorizedAccessExceptions but solved that by going into the security settings of my uploads directory and granting full control to ‘Everyone.’

Well out of the blue, I can no longer save images anymore. I started getting the UnauthorizedAccessExceptions again, despite changing the folder’s security settings again and again to try to fix it. Finally read about doing account impersonation in ASP.net.

So, now I am not getting the UnauthorizedAccessExceptions and am instead running into the issue of my site thinking the directory already exists.

Here is a snippet from my form action:

if (Directory.Exists(Path.GetDirectoryName(Server.MapPath("../uploads/" + currentUser.UserId))) == false)
{
   Directory.CreateDirectory(Path.GetDirectoryName("../uploads/" + currentUser.UserId));
}
if (Directory.Exists(Path.GetDirectoryName(Server.MapPath("../uploads/" + currentUser.UserId + "/" + newEntry.EntryId))) == false)
{
   Directory.CreateDirectory(Path.GetDirectoryName("../uploads/" + currentUser.UserId + "/" + newEntry.EntryId));
}

ImageFile.SaveAs(Server.MapPath("../" + savedFileName));

The code within the if statements never executes. So, I removed them and simply tried:

Directory.CreateDirectory(Path.GetDirectoryName("../uploads/" + currentUser.UserId));

Nothing happens! Then when it’s time to save the image, I get an exception thrown because the directory doesn’t exist! Can anyone tell me why Directory.Exists() is returning true, or why Directory.CreateDirectory() is doing absolutely nothing?

Or why this code has been untouched and working fine for months and suddenly decided to throw a fit?

Note: if I go to the folder and create the directories manually, the file saves just fine

Answer 1

Path.GetDirectoryName just returns the directory name not the fully qualified path of the directory. Directory.Exists will take a fully qualified path of the directory and then check whether the directory exists or not.

Your condition will fail if as Directory.Exists will check in the root of the web application whether the folder exists or not instead of looking inside the uploads folder.

Your condition should be like this:

if (Directory.Exists(Server.MapPath("/uploads/" + currentUser.UserId)) == false)
{
    Directory.CreateDirectory(Server.MapPath("/uploads/" + currentUser.UserId));
}

NOTE: Removed the leading “..” from the path and it worked!!