I need a robust and simple way to remove illegal path and file characters from a simple string. I've used the below code but it doesn't seem to do anything, what am I missing?
using System;
using System.IO;
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string illegal = "\"M<>\"\\a/ry/ h**ad:>> a\\/:*?\"<>| li*tt|le|| la\"mb.?";
illegal = illegal.Trim(Path.GetInvalidFileNameChars());
illegal = illegal.Trim(Path.GetInvalidPathChars());
Console.WriteLine(illegal);
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
Try something like this instead;
string illegal = "\"M\"\\a/ry/ h**ad:>> a\\/:*?\"| li*tt|le|| la\"mb.?";
string invalid = new string(Path.GetInvalidFileNameChars()) + new string(Path.GetInvalidPathChars());
foreach (char c in invalid)
{
illegal = illegal.Replace(c.ToString(), "");
}
But I have to agree with the comments, I'd probably try to deal with the source of the illegal paths, rather than try to mangle an illegal path into a legitimate but probably unintended one.
Edit: Or a potentially 'better' solution, using Regex's.
string illegal = "\"M\"\\a/ry/ h**ad:>> a\\/:*?\"| li*tt|le|| la\"mb.?";
string regexSearch = new string(Path.GetInvalidFileNameChars()) + new string(Path.GetInvalidPathChars());
Regex r = new Regex(string.Format("[{0}]", Regex.Escape(regexSearch)));
illegal = r.Replace(illegal, "");
Still, the question begs to be asked, why you're doing this in the first place.