Files and Streams
What is a file?
Up until now, any stored data within a program is
lost when the program closes.
A file is a permanent way to store data
Introduction to Files and Streams
System.IO classes are used to work with files and
streams
File - block of information stored on disk or another media
Text file - file that contains lines of written information that
can be sent directly to the screen or printer
Binary file - file that contains bits that do not necessarily
represent printable text Examples: Word file, machine
language file
You can work with two kinds of files – text files
(containing only characters) and binary files
Text vs Binary Files
A text file displayed in a text editor
A binary file displayed a text editor
Introduction to Processing Textual Data
One way to process textual files is from beginning to
end using sequential access .This type of file is called
a sequential file
Sequential files are useful for:
Storing text
Easy implementation in programs
Where real-time editing of file(s) is not required
Introduction to Processing Textual Data
Sequential files can be categorized into roughly three
types
1. Free-form files have no particular format
2. Fields in a delimited file are separated with a special character
called a delimiter
3. In a fixed-field file, each field occupies the same character
positions in every record
Introduction to Processing Textual Data
Sequential files can be read one character at a time,
one line at a time, or the entire file can be read at
once
Sequential files are typically read into a string or an
array
The Directory Class
We need to add
Imports System.IO
Common methods of the Directory class
Exists (path designation)
CreateDirectory (path designation)
Delete (path designation)
Code that uses some of the Directory methods
Dim dir As String = "C:\VB 2005\Files\"
If Not Directory.Exists(dir) Then
Directory.CreateDirectory(dir)
End If
The Directory Class
The Directory Class
The default location where the files we create are
saved is the bin directory of the Windows
Application with which we are working.
The File Class
Common methods of the File class
Exists (path)
Delete (path)
Copy (source, dest)
Move (source, dest)
Code that uses some of the File methods
Dim dir As String = "C:\VB 2005\Files\"
Dim path As String = dir & "Products.txt"
If File.Exists(path) Then
File.Delete(path)
End If
The File Class
The File Class
Files are manipulated in 3 stages
File Open : If the file does not exist it is created
and then opened by the operating system. A
portion of memory (RAM) is reserved by the
Operating System.
Process File : When a file is open it can be written
to or read from.
Close File : When a file has been opened and
processed it must then be closed. The Operating
system will then release the memory.
The Stream-File Connection
To perform file processing in Visual Basic,
namespace System.IO must be referenced.
This namespace includes definitions for stream
classes such as:
FileStream
StreamReader
StreamWriter
BinaryReader
BinaryWriter
Files are opened by creating objects of these stream
classes.
Establishing Connections
There are several different ways to establish file-
stream connections
Create a StreamReader object
Create a StreamWriter object
Create a FileStream object
The results of using these techniques are similar –
they all result in the creation of (or opening of) a
stream (fs) against which all subsequent file
operations are written
The StreamReder Class
The StreamReader and StreamWriter classes belong to the
System.IO namespace
The StreamReader constructor accepts one argument – the
path and filename of the sequential file to open.
Dim CurrentReader As StreamReader = New _
System.IO.StreamReader("C:\Demo.txt")
The Close method closes a sequential file.
Always close files when processing is complete to prevent loss of
data
Open files also consume system resources
Example:
CurrentReader.Close()
The StreamReder Class
The Read method reads a single character or many
characters. Without arguments, the Read method
returns the Integer code point of the character read
The ReadLine method reads a record. The carriage
return at the end of the record is discarded. The
method returns a String containing the characters
read.
The ReadToEnd method reads from the current file
position to the end of the file. The method returns a
String containing the characters read
Example read()
Example :Reading Entire Content of File
Reading a Sequential File One Record at a Time
The StreamWriter Class
The StreamWriter class of the System.IO namespace
writes a sequential file
The constructor accepts one argument – the file to write
Example:
Dim CurrentWriter As New _
System.IO.StreamWriter("C:\Demo.txt")
' Statements to write the file.
CurrentWriter.Close()
The StreamWriter Class
The NewLine property contains the character(s) that mark
the end of the line
The Close method closes the sequential file
It's imperative to close a sequential file once writing is complete
to prevent loss of data
The Write method writes a character or array of characters
The WriteLine method writes data terminated by the
character(s) stored in the NewLine property
If the data type passed to Write or WriteLine is not a
string, these methods will call toString
Individual variables must be concatenated and separators must
be used
StreamWriter Example
StreamWriter Example
Imports System.IO
Module Module1
Sub Main()
Dim path As String = "C:\testfolder\"
Dim filename As String = path & "test.txt"
Dim writer As New System.IO.StreamWriter(filename)
Dim filecontent As String
filecontent = Console.ReadLine()
writer.WriteLine(filecontent)
writer.Close()
End Sub
End Module
Writing a Freeform File
A freeform file can be written all at once as follows:
Dim StringData As String = "Freeform text"
Dim CurrentWriter As New _
System.IO.StreamWriter("C:\Demo.txt")
CurrentWriter.Write(StringData)
CurrentWriter.Close()
Writing a Delimited File
Example
Imports System.IO
Public Class Form1
Dim filecontent As String
Dim fn As String = "test1.txt"
Dim fs As FileStream
Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles
Button1.Click
fs = New FileStream(fn, FileMode.OpenOrCreate, FileAccess.Write)
Dim writer As New StreamWriter(fs)
filecontent = TextBox1.Text
writer.WriteLine(filecontent)
writer.Close()
fs.Close()
MsgBox("writing complete")
End Sub
Private Sub Button2_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles
Button2.Click
fs = New FileStream(fn, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read)
Dim reader As New StreamReader(fs)
filecontent = reader.ReadLine()
TextBox2.Text = filecontent
reader.Close()
fs.Close()
End Sub
End Class
if exist "$(TargetPath).locked" del "$(TargetPath).locked"
if not exist "$(TargetPath).locked" move "$(TargetPath)" "$(TargetPath).locked"
