Get file name from URI string in C#

You can just make a System.Uri object, and use IsFile to verify it's a file, then Uri.LocalPath to extract the filename.

This is much safer, as it provides you a means to check the validity of the URI as well.


Edit in response to comment:

To get just the full filename, I'd use:

Uri uri = new Uri(hreflink);
if (uri.IsFile) {
    string filename = System.IO.Path.GetFileName(uri.LocalPath);
}

This does all of the error checking for you, and is platform-neutral. All of the special cases get handled for you quickly and easily.


Uri.IsFile doesn't work with http urls. It only works for "file://". From MSDN : "The IsFile property is true when the Scheme property equals UriSchemeFile." So you can't depend on that.

Uri uri = new Uri(hreflink);
string filename = System.IO.Path.GetFileName(uri.LocalPath);

Most other answers are either incomplete or don't deal with stuff coming after the path (query string/hash).

readonly static Uri SomeBaseUri = new Uri("http://canbeanything");

static string GetFileNameFromUrl(string url)
{
    Uri uri;
    if (!Uri.TryCreate(url, UriKind.Absolute, out uri))
        uri = new Uri(SomeBaseUri, url);

    return Path.GetFileName(uri.LocalPath);
}

Test results:

GetFileNameFromUrl("");                                         // ""
GetFileNameFromUrl("test");                                     // "test"
GetFileNameFromUrl("test.xml");                                 // "test.xml"
GetFileNameFromUrl("/test.xml");                                // "test.xml"
GetFileNameFromUrl("/test.xml?q=1");                            // "test.xml"
GetFileNameFromUrl("/test.xml?q=1&x=3");                        // "test.xml"
GetFileNameFromUrl("test.xml?q=1&x=3");                         // "test.xml"
GetFileNameFromUrl("http://www.a.com/test.xml?q=1&x=3");        // "test.xml"
GetFileNameFromUrl("http://www.a.com/test.xml?q=1&x=3#aidjsf"); // "test.xml"
GetFileNameFromUrl("http://www.a.com/a/b/c/d");                 // "d"
GetFileNameFromUrl("http://www.a.com/a/b/c/d/e/");              // ""