Use Visual C# to do basic file I/O

This article describes how to do basic file I/O in Visual C#, and provides a code sample to illustrate how to perform this task.

Original product version:   Visual C#
Original KB number:   304430

Summary

Note

This step-by-step article shows you how to do six basic file input/output (I/O) operations in Visual C#. If you are new to the .NET Framework, you will find that the object model for file operations in .NET is similar to the FileSystemObject (FSO) that is popular with many Visual Studio 6.0 developers. To make the transition easier, the functionality that is demonstrated in How To Use FileSystemObject with Visual Basic.

You can still use the FileSystemObject in .NET. Because the FileSystemObject is a Component Object Model (COM) component, .NET requires that access to the object be through the Interop layer. Microsoft .NET generates a wrapper for the component for you if you want to use it. However, the File, FileInfo, Directory, DirectoryInfo classes, and other related classes in the .NET Framework, offer functionality that is not available with the FSO, without the overhead of the Interop layer.

Demonstrated file I/O operations

The examples in this article describe basic file I/O operations. The Step-by-step example section describes how to create a sample program that demonstrates the following file I/O operations:

  • Read a text file
  • Write a text file
  • View file information
  • List disk drives
  • List folders
  • List files

If you want to use the following code samples directly, be aware of the following:

  • Include the System.IO namespace, as follows:

    using System.IO;
    
  • Declare the winDir variable as follows:

    string winDir=System.Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("windir");
    
  • The addListItem function is declared as follows:

    private void addListItem(string value)
    {
        this.listBox1.Items.Add(value);
    }
    

    Instead of declaring and using the addListItem function, you can use the following statement directly:

    this.listBox1.Items.Add(value);
    

Read a text file

The following sample code uses a StreamReader class to read the System.ini file. The contents of the file are added to a ListBox control. The try...catch block is used to alert the program if the file is empty. There are many ways to determine when the end of the file is reached; this sample uses the Peek method to examine the next line before reading it.

StreamReader reader=new StreamReader(winDir + "\\system.ini");
try
{
    do
    {
        addListItem(reader.ReadLine());
    }
    while(reader.Peek()!= -1);
}
catch
{
    addListItem("File is empty");
}
finally
{
    reader.Close();
}

Write a text file

This sample code uses a StreamWriter class to create and write to a file. If you have an existing file, you can open it in the same way.

StreamWriter writer = new StreamWriter("c:\\KBTest.txt");
writer.WriteLine("File created using StreamWriter class.");
writer.Close();
this.listbox1.Items.Clear();
addListItem("File Written to C:\\KBTest.txt");

View file information

This sample code uses a FileInfo object to access a file's properties. Notepad.exe is used in this sample. The properties appear in a ListBox control.

FileInfo FileProps =new FileInfo(winDir + "\\notepad.exe");
addListItem("File Name = " + FileProps.FullName);
addListItem("Creation Time = " + FileProps.CreationTime);
addListItem("Last Access Time = " + FileProps.LastAccessTime);
addListItem("Last Write TIme = " + FileProps.LastWriteTime);
addListItem("Size = " + FileProps.Length);
FileProps = null;

List disk drives

This sample code uses the Directory and Drive classes to list the logical drives on a system. For this sample, the results appear in a ListBox control.

string[] drives = Directory.GetLogicalDrives();
foreach(string drive in drives)
{
    addListItem(drive);
}

List sub folders

This sample code uses the GetDirectories method of the Directory class to get a list of folders.

string[] dirs = Directory.GetDirectories(winDir);
foreach(string dir in dirs)
{
    addListItem(dir);
}

List files

This sample code uses the GetFiles method of the Directory class to get a listing of files.

string[] files= Directory.GetFiles(winDir);
foreach (string i in files)
{
    addListItem(i);
}

Many things can go wrong when a user gains access to files. The files may not exist, the files may be in use, or users may not have rights on the files or folders that they are trying to access. It is important to consider these possibilities when you write code and to handle the exceptions that may be generated.

Step-by-step example

  1. In Visual C#, create a new Windows Forms Application. By default, Form1 is created.

  2. Open the code window for Form1 (Form1.cs).

  3. Delete all of the code in the Form1.cs.

  4. Paste the following code in the Code-Behind Editor window.

    using System.Windows.Forms;
    using System.IO;
    
    namespace fso_cs
    {
        public partial class Form1 : Form
        {
            string winDir = System.Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("windir");
    
            public Form1()
            {
                InitializeComponent();
            }
    
            private void button1_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
            {
                //How to read a text file.
                //try...catch is to deal with a 0 byte file.
                this.listBox1.Items.Clear();
                StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(winDir + "\\system.ini");
                try
                {
                    do
                    {
                        addListItem(reader.ReadLine());
                    }
                    while (reader.Peek()!= -1);
                }
                catch
                {
                    addListItem("File is empty");
                }
                finally
                {
                    reader.Close();
                }
            }
    
            private void button2_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
            {
                //Demonstrates how to create and write to a text file.
                StreamWriter writer = new StreamWriter("c:\\KBTest.txt");
                writer.WriteLine("File created using StreamWriter class.");
                writer.Close();
                this.listBox1.Items.Clear();
                addListItem("File Written to C:\\KBTest.txt");
            }
    
            private void button3_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
            {
                //How to retrieve file properties (example uses Notepad.exe).
                this.listBox1.Items.Clear();
                FileInfo FileProps = new FileInfo(winDir + "\\notepad.exe");
                addListItem("File Name = " + FileProps.FullName);
                addListItem("Creation Time = " + FileProps.CreationTime);
                addListItem("Last Access Time = " + FileProps.LastAccessTime);
                addListItem("Last Write TIme = " + FileProps.LastWriteTime);
                addListItem("Size = " + FileProps.Length);
                FileProps = null;
            }
    
            private void button4_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
            {
                //Demonstrates how to obtain a list of disk drives.
                this.listBox1.Items.Clear();
                string[] drives = Directory.GetLogicalDrives();
                foreach (string drive in drives)
                {
                    addListItem(drive);
                }
            }
    
            private void button5_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
            {
                //How to get a list of folders (example uses Windows folder). 
                this.listBox1.Items.Clear();
                string[] dirs = Directory.GetDirectories(winDir);
                foreach (string dir in dirs)
                {
                    addListItem(dir);
                }
            }
    
            private void button6_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
            {
                //How to obtain list of files (example uses Windows folder).
                this.listBox1.Items.Clear();
                string[] files = Directory.GetFiles(winDir);
                foreach (string i in files)
                {
                    addListItem(i);
                }
            }
    
            private void Form1_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
            {
                this.button1.Text = "Read Text File";
                this.button2.Text = "Write Text File";
                this.button3.Text = "View File Information";
                this.button4.Text = "List Drives";
                this.button5.Text = "List Subfolders";
                this.button6.Text = "List Files";
            }
    
            private void addListItem(string value)
            {
                this.listBox1.Items.Add(value);
            }
        }
    }
    
  5. Open the code window for Form1.Designer.cs.

  6. Delete all of the code in Form1.Designer.cs.

  7. Paste the following code in Form1.Designer.cs.

    namespace fso_cs
    {
        partial class Form1
        {
            /// <summary>
            /// Required designer variable.
            /// </summary>
            private System.ComponentModel.IContainer components = null;
    
            /// <summary>
            /// Clean up any resources being used.
            /// </summary>
            /// <param name="disposing">true if managed resources should be disposed; otherwise, false.</param>
            protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
            {
                if (disposing && (components != null))
                {
                    components.Dispose();
                }
                base.Dispose(disposing);
            }
    
            #region Windows Form Designer generated code
            /// <summary>
            /// Required method for Designer support - do not modify
            /// the contents of this method with the code editor.
            /// </summary>
            private void InitializeComponent()
            {
                this.button1 = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
                this.button2 = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
                this.button3 = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
                this.button4 = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
                this.button5 = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
                this.button6 = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
                this.listBox1 = new System.Windows.Forms.ListBox();
                this.SuspendLayout();
    
                // button1
                this.button1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(53, 30);
                this.button1.Name = "button1";
                this.button1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(112, 23);
                this.button1.TabIndex = 1;
                this.button1.Text = "button1";
                this.button1.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.button1_Click);
    
                // button2
                this.button2.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(53, 62);
                this.button2.Name = "button2";
                this.button2.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(112, 23);
                this.button2.TabIndex = 2;
                this.button2.Text = "button2";
                this.button2.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.button2_Click);
    
                // button3
                this.button3.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(53, 94);
                this.button3.Name = "button3";
                this.button3.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(112, 23);
                this.button3.TabIndex = 3;
                this.button3.Text = "button3";
                this.button3.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.button3_Click);
    
                // button4
                this.button4.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(53, 126);
                this.button4.Name = "button4";
                this.button4.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(112, 23);
                this.button4.TabIndex = 4;
                this.button4.Text = "button4";
                this.button4.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.button4_Click);
    
                // button5
                this.button5.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(53, 158);
                this.button5.Name = "button5";
                this.button5.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(112, 23);
                this.button5.TabIndex = 5;
                this.button5.Text = "button5";
                this.button5.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.button5_Click);
    
                // button6
                this.button6.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(53, 190);
                this.button6.Name = "button6";
                this.button6.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(112, 23);
                this.button6.TabIndex = 6;
                this.button6.Text = "button6";
                this.button6.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.button6_Click);
    
                // listBox1
                this.listBox1.FormattingEnabled = true;
                this.listBox1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(204, 30);
                this.listBox1.Name = "listBox1";
                this.listBox1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(270, 199);
                this.listBox1.TabIndex = 7;
    
                // Form1
                this.AutoScaleBaseSize = new System.Drawing.Size(5, 13);
                this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(525, 273);
                this.Controls.Add(this.button6);
                this.Controls.Add(this.button5);
                this.Controls.Add(this.button4);
                this.Controls.Add(this.button3);
                this.Controls.Add(this.button2);
                this.Controls.Add(this.button1);
                this.Controls.Add(this.listBox1);
                this.Name = "Form1";
                this.Text = "Form1";
                this.Load += new System.EventHandler(this.Form1_Load);
                this.ResumeLayout(false);
            }
            #endregion
    
            private System.Windows.Forms.Button button1;
            private System.Windows.Forms.Button button2;
            private System.Windows.Forms.Button button3;
            private System.Windows.Forms.Button button4;
            private System.Windows.Forms.Button button5;
            private System.Windows.Forms.Button button6;
            private System.Windows.Forms.ListBox listBox1;
        }
    }
    
  8. By default, Visual C# adds one form to the project when you create a Windows Forms project. This form is named Form1. The two source code files that represent the form are named Form1.cs and Form1.Designer.cs. You write your code in the Form1.cs file. The Windows Forms Designer writes designer-generated code in the Form1.Designer.cs file. The code in the preceding steps reflects that organization.

  9. Press F5 to build and then run the program. Click the buttons to view the different actions. When you view the sample code, you may want to collapse the area named Windows Form Designer Generated Code to hide this code.