How do i check if a file exists ?

[adrianT]

Hi

Is it possible to check if a file (not a vi)  that I have created in my application exists or not?

Thank you.

[CoastalMaineBird]

1... Use GET FILE INFO and look at the error returned. If it returns a FILE NOT FOUND error, that means it does not exist. If it returns NO ERROR, the file does exist.

2... Open the file for reading, then close it. If you get a FILE NOT FOUND error....

3... Do a LIST FILES for the directory in question, and search the returnedd list for the file you want.

All of these assume you know where the file should be, if it does exist.

[djs_at_eaton]

This  works for me.  I made it insensitive to case as well.

[AntGate]

FYI,

several vis don't work with UNC paths (unless the UNC path is also mounted as a drive path),

the vis I used in this example (Get Permissions and File/Directory info) do work with UNC paths.

the Get Permissions vi is about 1 tickcount faster than the File/Directory info vi on average.

I tested it with a Novell mounted volume, 8 levels deep on 2700 files.

Get Permissions averages to 1.8ms

File/Directory Info averages to 2.8ms 

[wildcatherder]

For other searchers out there:

in LabVIEW 2010 there is a Check if File or Folder Exists.vi 

It is found under the functions palette  Programming - File I/O - Adv File Functions

Not sure if this has UNC functionality.

[elset191]

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@wildcatherder wrote:

For other searchers out there:

in LabVIEW 2010 there is a Check if File or Folder Exists.vi 

It is found under the functions palette  Programming - File I/O - Adv File Functions

Not sure if this has UNC functionality.

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This is available at least as early as 8.6

[kikemart]

Post has been dead for a few years so I will ask a question of my own, for the sake of not creating more threads on the discussion boards. Hope this is okay with the Original Post Author an everyone else. I have a system going that checks if a file already exists, if it does then it prompts the user to enter the time and date and appends that to the path. However, the group I work with would like it so that if the file already exists it will simply add a "_1" or "_2" etc. 

I imagine I would take the file name, create a substring with only the file name and not all of the directories, and append a string with the "_number" to it. This sounds time consuming and somewhat inneffficient. Does anyone know of a better way to do it? Thanks a ton in advance!

[mistercat]

There is no advantage to tacking a different question onto an old thread.  I strongly suggest you re-post as a new thread.

[Todd_Lesher]

Agreed about the new thread.

However, you don't need to do much for your problem. Just use one "Strip Path", change the string, then "Join Path".