Working folder in ASP.NET

Question

We have a web application written in ASP.NET 3.5. In it we get access to the file in the code. (The usual access to C # files that is performed on the server during the life of the page, this has nothing to do with URLs or web browsers).

In our production systems, we specify the full path to the file in question in the web.config file. We would like to include a local copy of the file in the project in version control, and then use the relative path in the managed version of web.config to point to it so that the cut-out copy of the application can be launched from the Visual Studio debugger without having to perform any configuration.

The problem is that when a web application is in debug mode, its working directory is neither a project nor a solution directory. In a window or console application on the project properties page, I can set the working directory. But in a web application I can’t.

Any ideas on how I can get this to work?

Answer 1

To get the path to the root of the application:

//equivalent to Server.MapPath("/"); if at domain root, eg Http://mysite.com/ string path = Server.MapPath("~"); 

This answer provides a summary of several different common Server.MapPath() uses that you might also find useful.

Answer 2

In the code behind: HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath ("~")

Answer 3

Using:

 Server.MapPath("~");