c# - Modify path string to improve robustness

Question

I have a a string for a path for a file my program reads data from. I want to improve the robustness and I recall seeing someone do .lablalalbla but I'm finding it a bit hard to find a topic that explains how this work so I can implement it into my program.

My path (I'm aware that the naming isn't correct but it'd interfere with my property if I named it with a capital P)

private const string path = @"C:UserszainDesktopprogram_storageAccountDatabase.txt";

I'd like it to be something like .program_storageAccountDatabase.txt (this doesn't work unfortunately) as it'd mean I can move the program around without having to change the string in the constants class.

Any and all help is appreciated

Answer 1

You can use something like the following to store/read the file:

var dir = Path.Combine(Environment
    .GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData), "MyProgram");
if(!Directory.Exists(dir))
    Directory.CreateDirectory(dir);
var path = Path.Combine(dir, "AccountDatabase.txt");

This will use or create a folder in the App_Data of your user account and then return the path to a file in that folder. See the Environment.SpecialFolder enum for other locations possible.