Using Directory.Delete() and Directory.CreateDirectory() to overwrite a folder

Question

In my WebApi action method, I want to create/over-write a folder using this code:

string myDir = \"...\";
if(Directory.Exists(myDir)) 
{
    Dir         


        

Answer 1

I wrote myself a little C# method for synchronous folder deletion using Directory.Delete(). Feel free to copy:

private bool DeleteDirectorySync(string directory, int timeoutInMilliseconds = 5000)
{
    if (!Directory.Exists(directory))
    {
        return true;
    }

    var watcher = new FileSystemWatcher
    {
        Path = Path.Combine(directory, ".."),
        NotifyFilter = NotifyFilters.DirectoryName,
        Filter = directory,
    };
    var task = Task.Run(() => watcher.WaitForChanged(WatcherChangeTypes.Deleted, timeoutInMilliseconds));

    // we must not start deleting before the watcher is running
    while (task.Status != TaskStatus.Running)
    {
        Thread.Sleep(100);
    }

    try
    {
        Directory.Delete(directory, true);
    }
    catch
    {
        return false;
    }

    return !task.Result.TimedOut;
}

Note that getting task.Result will block the thread until the task is finished, keeping the CPU load of this thread idle. So that is the point where it gets synchronous.