Directory.Move throws invalid exception message

[nmoreaud]

When destination directory is invalid, Directory.Move() throws an exception claiming that parts of source directory does not exist.

Snippet:

using System.IO;

try
{
    // cleanup
    Directory.Delete("dst", true);
} catch {}
Directory.CreateDirectory("src");
Directory.Move("src", "dst/dst"); // dst/dst is nested and doesn't exist ; move failure

Current error message:

Unhandled exception. System.IO.DirectoryNotFoundException: Could not find a part of the path '/home/dev/projects/test/src'.
at System.IO.FileSystem.MoveDirectory(String sourceFullPath, String destFullPath)
at System.IO.Directory.Move(String sourceDirName, String destDirName)
at $.

$(String[] args) in /home/dev/projects/test/Program.cs:line 8

I think the exception message should be something like: System.IO.DirectoryNotFoundException: Could not find a part of the path '/home/dev/projects/test/dst/dst'.

I guess the error comes from here: https://github.com/microsoft/referencesource/blob/5697c29004a34d80acdaf5742d7e699022c64ecd/mscorlib/system/io/directory.cs#L1266

Configuration

.Net 5.0.102 - Ubuntu 20.4 - x64

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Issue Details

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When destination directory is invalid, Directory.Move() throws an exception claiming that parts of source directory does not exist.

Snippet:

using System.IO;

try
{
    // cleanup
    Directory.Delete("dst", true);
} catch {}
Directory.CreateDirectory("src");
Directory.Move("src", "dst/dst"); // dst/dst is nested and doesn't exist ; move failure

Current error message:

Unhandled exception. System.IO.DirectoryNotFoundException: Could not find a part of the path '/home/dev/projects/test/src'.
at System.IO.FileSystem.MoveDirectory(String sourceFullPath, String destFullPath)
at System.IO.Directory.Move(String sourceDirName, String destDirName)
at $.

$(String[] args) in /home/dev/projects/test/Program.cs:line 8

I think the exception message should be something like: System.IO.DirectoryNotFoundException: Could not find a part of the path '/home/dev/projects/test/dst/dst'.

Configuration

.Net 5.0.102 - Ubuntu 20.4, x64

Author:	nmoreaud
Assignees:	-
Labels:	area-System.IO, untriaged
Milestone:	-

[manandre]

Hello,
The current code targeting Unix assumes that the ENOENT error is due to the source parameter.
BTW, a similar approach is taken in the current code targeting Windows, but the thrown exception does not mention any path:

Unhandled exception. System.IO.DirectoryNotFoundException: Could not find a part of the path.
at System.IO.FileSystem.MoveDirectory(String sourceFullPath, String destFullPath)
at System.IO.Directory.Move(String sourceDirName, String destDirName)
at Runtime50833.Program.Main(String[] args) in C:\Users\manu\source\repos\Runtime50833\Runtime50833\Program.cs:line 18

Even the .Net documentation only refers to the sourceDirName parameter as root cause for the DirectoryNotFoundException.

DirectoryNotFoundException
The path specified by sourceDirName is invalid (for example, it is on an unmapped drive).

I see 2 possible solutions:

• Remove the path from the error message of the exception, as done on Windows side.
• Add extra checks (on Windows and Unix sides) to ensure the parent (destination) directory exists.

[ayousuf23]

If we remove the path from the error message, the isDirectory parameter in the exception would still be true, which may not be the case if the path is invalid. Is adding extra checks the better option?

[yvef]

@ayousuf23 hi, sorry, what do you mean: isDirectory parameter in the exception? in which exception? Have you had inconveniences with it on Windows side?

[steveberdy]

@yvef I think what @ayousuf23 means is here. Also, I would like to give this a go. I'll work on a PR.