Get parent directory of parent directory

Question

I have a string relating to a location on a network and I need to get the directory that is 2 up from this location.

The string could be in the format:

string networkDir = "\\\\networkLocation\\staff\\users\\username";

In which case I would need the staff folder and could use the following logic:

string parentDir1 = Path.GetDirectoryName(networkDir);
string parentDir2 = Path.GetPathRoot(Path.GetDirectoryName(networkDir));

However, if the string is in the format:

string networkDir = "\\\\networkLocation\\users\\username";

I would just need the networkLocation part and parentDir2 returns null.

How can I do this?

Just to clarify: In the case that the root happens to be the directory 2 up from the given folder then this is what I need to return

Answer 1

You can use the System.IO.DirectoryInfo class:

DirectoryInfo networkDir=new DirectoryInfo(@"\\Path\here\now\username");
DirectoryInfo twoLevelsUp=networkDir.Parent.Parent;

Answer 2

DirectoryInfo d = new DirectoryInfo("\\\\networkLocation\\test\\test");
if (d.Parent.Parent != null) 
{ 
    string up2 = d.Parent.Parent.ToString(); 
}
else 
{ 
    string up2 = d.Root.ToString().Split(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar)[2]; 
}

Is what I was looking for. Apologies for any confusion caused!