How to make a valid Windows filename from an arbitrary string?

Question

I\'ve got a string like \"Foo: Bar\" that I want to use as a filename, but on Windows the \":\" char isn\'t allowed in a filename.

Is there a method that will turn \

Answer 1

In case anyone wants an optimized version based on StringBuilder, use this. Includes rkagerer's trick as an option.

static char[] _invalids;

/// 
Replaces characters in text that are not allowed in 
/// file names with the specified replacement character.
/// Text to make into a valid filename. The same string is returned if it is valid already.
/// Replacement character, or null to simply remove bad characters.
/// Whether to replace quotes and slashes with the non-ASCII characters ” and ⁄.
/// A string that can be used as a filename. If the output string would otherwise be empty, returns "_".
public static string MakeValidFileName(string text, char? replacement = '_', bool fancy = true)
{
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(text.Length);
    var invalids = _invalids ?? (_invalids = Path.GetInvalidFileNameChars());
    bool changed = false;
    for (int i = 0; i < text.Length; i++) {
        char c = text[i];
        if (invalids.Contains(c)) {
            changed = true;
            var repl = replacement ?? '\0';
            if (fancy) {
                if (c == '"')       repl = '”'; // U+201D right double quotation mark
                else if (c == '\'') repl = '’'; // U+2019 right single quotation mark
                else if (c == '/')  repl = '⁄'; // U+2044 fraction slash
            }
            if (repl != '\0')
                sb.Append(repl);
        } else
            sb.Append(c);
    }
    if (sb.Length == 0)
        return "_";
    return changed ? sb.ToString() : text;
}