Problem escaping path & filename 1

[jasonp45]

According to my C-Sharp book, I ought to be able to escape filenames in two ways:

string myFile = "C:\\MyDir\\MyFile.txt"
-or
string myFile = @"C:\MyDir\MyFile.txt"

However I've tried both of these in my current VS2008 project, and both evaluate to "C:\\MyDir\\MyFile.txt". I've checked by hovering over the variable at a breakpoint and also by printing in the Command Window. What am I doing wrong here???

 

[jmeckley]

the only thing i see missing is the semicolon ( to terminate the line.
yes the will both evaluate to C:\\MyDir\\MyFile.txt the @ symbol is simply a shortcut. are you recieving an exception, or jus trying to understand the language?

Jason Meckley
Programmer
Specialty Bakers, Inc.

 

[dseaver]

Also, if you are debugging and watching the strings, they will have the escaped characters in it.

 

[jasonp45]

Yes, sorry I left off the semi-colons; they exist in my code.

My question is, according to my C-Sharp book, those statements should both evaluate to single backslashes (i.e., valid paths). Thus both strings when printed in the Command Window should be:
"C:\MyDir\MyFile.txt"

I'm trying to open a file, but it's not working and I suspect that is because the string variables are outputting double-backslashes rather than single ones as they should be.

 

[jasonp45]

Thanks dseaver. So the extra backslashes display when I hover (or watch) over the variable during debugging, and also when I print the variable's value in the Command Window? How can I output or evaluate the variable in such a way as to see its actual value then?

 

[jasonp45]

Hm...nevermind - when I display the variable in a MessageBox it does indeed have the single backslashes. Seems odd to me that printing via the Command Window doesn't display the literal string.