Check if a file/directory exists: is there a better way?

Question

I find myself doing this a lot just to ensure the filename is not in use. Is there a better way?

Directory.Exists(name) || File.Exists(name)

Answer 1

You can use following function:

[DllImport("shlwapi", EntryPoint = "PathFileExists", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
public static extern bool PathExists(string path);