Directory Constants

These string constants refer to special directories on the user's system. Not all constants are guaranteed to be available, in which case they will simply return a blank string. All of the constants are guaranteed never to end with a backslash or slash character so you should always append one if you wish to create a file in one of these directories for instance.

• DIRECTORY_APPDATA - The file system directory that serves as a common repository for application-specific data. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data.
• DIRECTORY_COMMON_APPDATA - The file system directory that contains application data for all users. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data. This folder is used for application data that is not user specific. For example, an application can store a spell-check dictionary, a database of clip art, or a log file in this folder. This information will not roam and is available to anyone using the computer.
• DIRECTORY_DESKTOP_VIRTUAL - The virtual folder that represents the Windows desktop, the root of the namespace.
• DIRECTORY_DESKTOP - The file system directory used to physically store file objects on the desktop (not to be confused with the desktop folder itself). A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\Desktop.
• DIRECTORY_LOCAL_APPDATA - The file system directory that serves as a data repository for local (nonroaming) applications. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data.
• DIRECTORY_MY_DOCUMENTS - The virtual folder that represents the My Documents desktop item.
• DIRECTORY_TEMP - The directory where temporary files are stored.