[c#] Getting current directory in .NET web application

So I have a web project, and I'm trying to get the root directory of the website using the c# method Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(). I don't want to be using a static path as the file locations will be changing in the future. This method is running in my imageProcess.aspx.cs file, but where I thought it would return:

C:\Users\tcbl\documents\visual studio 2010\Projects\ModelMonitoring\ModelMonitoring\imageProcess.aspx.cs

I'm instead getting:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\DevServer\10.0\

Can anyone explain why this is happening and what a possible solution might be? Thanks a lot.

Use this code:

 HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("~")

Detailed Reference:

Server.MapPath specifies the relative or virtual path to map to a physical directory.

• Server.MapPath(".") returns the current physical directory of the file (e.g. aspx) being executed
• Server.MapPath("..") returns the parent directory
• Server.MapPath("~") returns the physical path to the root of the application
• Server.MapPath("/") returns the physical path to the root of the domain name (is not necessarily the same as the root of the application)

An example:

Let's say you pointed a web site application (http://www.example.com/) to

C:\Inetpub\wwwroot

and installed your shop application (sub web as virtual directory in IIS, marked as application) in

D:\WebApps\shop

For example, if you call Server.MapPath in following request:

http://www.example.com/shop/products/GetProduct.aspx?id=2342

then:

Server.MapPath(".") returns D:\WebApps\shop\products
Server.MapPath("..") returns D:\WebApps\shop
Server.MapPath("~") returns D:\WebApps\shop
Server.MapPath("/") returns C:\Inetpub\wwwroot
Server.MapPath("/shop") returns D:\WebApps\shop

If Path starts with either a forward (/) or backward slash (), the MapPath method returns a path as if Path were a full, virtual path.

If Path doesn't start with a slash, the MapPath method returns a path relative to the directory of the request being processed.

Note: in C#, @ is the verbatim literal string operator meaning that the string should be used "as is" and not be processed for escape sequences.

Footnotes

Server.MapPath(null) and Server.MapPath("") will produce this effect too.