Display all files in a folder (object) along with nested subdirectories part 2

Question

Previous post: Display all files in a folder (object) along with nested subdirectories

Task: Given a main directory/folder, list all the files from it and if this directory contains nested sub-directories, list their files as well.

Background: It was bought to my attention that the use of dummyCounter is considered bad practices. But, I still haven't managed to find a different approach that suits my needs. Currently, my dummyCounter is used to prevent duplicating the parentFolder, as well as allowing me to break my loop.

My previous approach: I have used folderStack.Any() as a condition for my while loop, but that resulted in the last nested sub-directory not getting shown. Then I tried using a "dept counter" but that proved too difficult to intercorporate while using a Stack approach to hold my data.

I would greatly appreciate community feedback. And should there be any problems with my post regarding community rules, let me know. - I tried not to repeat any of my previous issues.

_Folder Partial View

@{
string GlyphionFolderIcon = "glyphicon glyphicon-folder-open";
}
<div class="row">
<div class="col-sm-2">
 <a class="btn"
 role="button"
 data-toggle="collapse"
 href="#@Model.Id"
 aria-expanded="false"
 aria-controls="@Model.Id">
 <span class="@GlyphionFolderIcon"></span>
 </a>
</div>
<div class="col-sm-5">@Model.Id</div>
<div class="col-sm-5">@Model.Name</div>

_File Partial View

@{
string GlyphionModelIcon = "glyphicon glyphicon-paperclip";
}
<div class="row">
<div class="col-sm-2">
 <a class="btn"
 role="button"
 href="@[email protected]"
 target="_blank">
 <span class="@GlyphionModelIcon"></span>
 </a>
</div>
<div class="col-sm-5">@Model.Id</div>
<div class="col-sm-5">@Model.Name</div>
</div>

_Layout View

@foreach (var parentFolder in Model)
{
Stack<Folder> folderStack = new Stack<Folder>();
folderStack.Push(parentFolder);
var currentFolder = folderStack.Pop();
int dummyCounter = 1;
//Parent folder
@Html.Partial("_Folder", parentFolder);
<div class="collapse" id="@currentFolder.Id">
 @if (currentFolder.FoldersContained != 0)
 {
 do
 {
 //Prevents a copy of the parent folder 
 //otherwise, this display nested folders
 if (dummyCounter != 1)
 {
 @Html.Partial("_Folder", currentFolder);
 }
 <div class="collapse" id="@currentFolder.Id">
 @if (currentFolder.FoldersContained > 0)
 {
 for (int i = currentFolder.FoldersContained; i > 0; i--)
 {
 //Pushes all nested directories into my stack
 //in reverse inorder to display the top directory
 folderStack.Push(currentFolder.Folders[i - 1]);
 dummyCounter++;
 }
 }
 @if (currentFolder.FilesContained != 0)
 {
 // Should they contain any files, display them
 foreach (var file in currentFolder.Files)
 {
 @Html.Partial("_File", file);
 }
 }
 </div>
 //Ends the while loop
 if (folderStack.Count == 0)
 {
 dummyCounter = 0;
 }
 //Prepares the next nested folder object
 if (folderStack.Count != 0)
 {
 currentFolder = folderStack.Pop();
 }
 // I make use of a dummy counter inorder to break the loop
 // should there no longer be any nested directories and files
 // left to display
 } while (dummyCounter != 0);
 }
 <!-- //Finally, display all files in the parent folder, should there be any-->
 @if (parentFolder.FilesContained != 0)
 {
 foreach (var file in parentFolder.Files)
 {
 @Html.Partial("_File", file);
 }
 }
</div>
}

• t3chb0t: Oh yeah, this is much cooler now ;-)
• Alexander Lawaetz: @t3chb0t Thank you. I'm glad for the continuous support you provided so far. It has given me a good impression of code review while introducing me to some of its guidelines =)

Answer 1

You should remove

int dummyCounter = 1; 

and change the if's checking for folderStack.Count to an if..else like so

 //Ends the while loop
 if (folderStack.Count == 0)
 {
 break;
 } 
 else
 {
 currentFolder = folderStack.Pop();
 } 

While writing this I thought about this

if (dummyCounter != 1)
{
 @Html.Partial("_Folder", currentFolder);
}

as well and again checked the program-flow. If we assume that the parentFolder.FoldersContained != 0 we output the files of the parentFolder twice. One time inside the do..while loop and one time after the loop. We could remove this if and this

//Parent folder
@Html.Partial("_Folder", parentFolder); 

like so

@foreach (var parentFolder in Model)
{
 Stack<Folder> folderStack = new Stack<Folder>();
 folderStack.Push(parentFolder);
 @while (folderStack.Count > 0)
 {
 var currentFolder = folderStack.Pop();
 @Html.Partial("_Folder", currentFolder);
 <div class="collapse" id="@currentFolder.Id">
 @for (int i = currentFolder.FoldersContained; i > 0; i--)
 {
 //Pushes all nested directories into my stack
 //in reverse inorder to display the top directory
 folderStack.Push(currentFolder.Folders[i - 1]);
 }
 // Should they contain any files, display them
 @foreach (var file in currentFolder.Files)
 {
 @Html.Partial("_File", file);
 }
 </div>
 }
}

I know that this isn't exactly the same as you had before (the most outer <div class="collapse" id="@currentFolder.Id"> is missing) but it is much clearer and easier to read. If you need this div's I would suggest to just use a separate method to process the contained folders and files of the parentFolders.

• Alexander Lawaetz: Thanks for the advices, even if they didn't nessercary solve the issue. I will how ever use them for further improvements. I think you're right about finding a different approach. And also made me aware that, just like your code doesn't work with having subdirectories showned under my parent folder. Any subdirectories greater than 1 level down wouldn't be showned as expected either unfortunately. Wasn't aware of that mistakes giving the data I was working with didn't offer such a senario. Much appriciated.