Directory.GetFiles vs. ListDatasets - Which is the tool for the job?

Question

I'm currently writing an arcobjects app that performs an arbitrary set of geoprocessing tasks on a group of shapefiles and/or dbf tables. My current implementation uses Directory.GetFiles to build an array of file paths which I feed to various GP execution functions. I'm wondering if ListDatasets can perform the same task. I need to search an entire directory tree starting at a given root folder for all files which match a given search string. I am not certain if ListDatasets will do this (I have a devil of a time deciphering the SDK documentation).

In short, which would prove more efficient and effective and recursively searching a directory tree for .shp and .dbf files, Directory.GetFiles, GP.ListDatasets, or some heretofore unmentioned method?

Answer 1

I would imagine using the built-in C# methods would be faster for using recursively, but of course you could only do it with files, not geodatabase feature classes/tables. Here's an example of a recursive file/directory processor: Directory.GetDirectories

If going the ArcObjects route I would look at the help topic "How to list data", which has all the keywords expected. Looks like you would want to use a combination of ListTables and ListFeatureClasses, and ListWorkspaces to recurse folder workspaces. Use ListDatasets if you are in a geodatabase and need to look in Feature Datasets.

If speed is not critical I would probably use the ArcObjects methods especially if there was a chance I would ever want to use geodatabases. I think they also check that each file they come upon is valid, i.e. they won't list shapefiles that are missing a critical file, or a file that happens to have a .shp extension but isn't actually a shapefile.

You could always do both and time it yourself.