I cant remember where I found this code but its an alternative to using pInvoke which I think is a bit overkill for this task. Use the FileSystemWatcher
to watch the folder and when an event fires you can work out which user made the file change using this code:
private string GetSpecificFileProperties(string file, params int[] indexes)
{
string fileName = Path.GetFileName(file);
string folderName = Path.GetDirectoryName(file);
Shell32.Shell shell = new Shell32.Shell();
Shell32.Folder objFolder;
objFolder = shell.NameSpace(folderName);
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
foreach (Shell32.FolderItem2 item in objFolder.Items())
{
if (fileName == item.Name)
{
for (int i = 0; i < indexes.Length; i++)
{
sb.Append(objFolder.GetDetailsOf(item, indexes[i]) + ",");
}
break;
}
}
string result = sb.ToString().Trim();
//Protection for no results causing an exception on the `SubString` method
if (result.Length == 0)
{
return string.Empty;
}
return result.Substring(0, result.Length - 1);
}
Shell32 is a reference to the DLL: Microsoft Shell Controls And Automation – its a COM reference
Here is some example’s of how you call the method:
string Type = GetSpecificFileProperties(filePath, 2);
string ObjectKind = GetSpecificFileProperties(filePath, 11);
DateTime CreatedDate = Convert.ToDateTime(GetSpecificFileProperties(filePath, 4));
DateTime LastModifiedDate = Convert.ToDateTime(GetSpecificFileProperties(filePath, 3));
DateTime LastAccessDate = Convert.ToDateTime(GetSpecificFileProperties(filePath, 5));
string LastUser = GetSpecificFileProperties(filePath, 10);
string ComputerName = GetSpecificFileProperties(filePath, 53);
string FileSize = GetSpecificFileProperties(filePath, 1);
Or get multiple comma separated properties together:
string SizeTypeAndLastModDate = GetSpecificFileProperties(filePath, new int[] {1, 2, 3});
Note: This solution has been tested on Windows 7 and Windows 10. It wont work unless running in a STA as per Exception when using Shell32 to get File extended properties and you will see the following error:
Unable to cast COM object of type ‘Shell32.ShellClass’ to interface type ‘Shell32.IShellDispatch6’