Private Function FindFilePathUp(ByVal filepathtofind As String) As String
 
        Dim filepath As String = IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(filepathtofind)
        Dim filename As String = IO.Path.GetFileName(filepathtofind)
 
        Dim found As Boolean = False
 
        Do
            Dim f() As String = IO.Directory.GetFiles(filepath, filename)
            If f.Length > 0 Then
                Return f(0) 'Pfad/Dateiname zur gefundenen Datei
            Else
                filepath = IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(filepath) 'Pfad wird gekürzt
                found = String.IsNullOrEmpty(filepath)
            End If
        Loop While Not found
 
        Return Nothing 'nix gefunden
 
    End Function

 Private Function FindFilePathUp(ByVal filepathtofind As String, _
                        Optional ByVal direc As String = "") As String
 
        Dim filepath As String = IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(filepathtofind)
        If Not IO.Directory.Exists(filepath) Then
            Throw New ArgumentException("Ungültige Pfadangabe")
        End If
 
        If Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(direc) Then
            If Not filepath.ToLower.Contains(direc.ToLower) Then
                Throw New ArgumentException("Ungültiges Verzeichnis")
            End If
        End If
 
        Dim filename As String = IO.Path.GetFileName(filepathtofind)
 
        Dim found As Boolean = False
 
        Do
            Dim f() As String = IO.Directory.GetFiles(filepath, filename)
            If f.Length > 0 Then
                Return f(0)
            Else
                filepath = IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(filepath)
                If Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(direc) Then
                    If Not filepath.ToLower.Contains(direc.ToLower) Then
                        Return Nothing 'nicht zu beachtender Pfadabschnitt 
                        ' erreicht
                    End If
                End If
 
                'Sind die Pfadebenen vollständig durchsucht?
                found = String.IsNullOrEmpty(filepath)             
            End If
        Loop While Not found
 
        Return Nothing 'nix gefunden
 
 End Function