VB.Net - File Handling
A file is a collection of data stored in a disk with a specific name and a directory path. When a file is opened for reading or writing, it becomes a stream.
The stream is basically the sequence of bytes passing through the communication path. There are two main streams: the input stream and the output stream. The input stream is used for reading data from file (read operation) and the output stream is used for writing into the file (write operation).
VB.Net I/O Classes
The System.IO namespace has various classes that are used for performing various operations with files, like creating and deleting files, reading from or writing to a file, closing a file, etc.
The following table shows some commonly used non-abstract classes in the System.IO namespace −
| I/O Class |
Description |
| BinaryReader |
Reads primitive data from a binary stream. |
| BinaryWriter |
Writes primitive data in binary format. |
| BufferedStream |
A temporary storage for a stream of bytes. |
| Directory |
Helps in manipulating a directory structure. |
| DirectoryInfo |
Used for performing operations on directories. |
| DriveInfo |
Provides information for the drives. |
| File |
Helps in manipulating files. |
| FileInfo |
Used for performing operations on files. |
| FileStream |
Used to read from and write to any location in a file. |
| MemoryStream |
Used for random access of streamed data stored in memory. |
| Path |
Performs operations on path information. |
| StreamReader |
Used for reading characters from a byte stream. |
| StreamWriter |
Is used for writing characters to a stream. |
| StringReader |
Is used for reading from a string buffer. |
| StringWriter |
Is used for writing into a string buffer. |
The FileStream Class
The FileStream class in the System.IO namespace helps in reading from, writing to and closing files. This class derives from the abstract class Stream.
You need to create a FileStream object to create a new file or open an existing file. The syntax for creating a FileStream object is as follows −
Dim <object_name> As FileStream = New FileStream(<file_name>, <FileMode Enumerator>, <FileAccess Enumerator>, <FileShare Enumerator>)
For example, for creating a FileStream object F for reading a file named sample.txt −
Dim f1 As FileStream = New FileStream("sample.txt", FileMode.OpenOrCreate, FileAccess.ReadWrite)
| Parameter |
Description |
| FileMode |
The FileMode enumerator defines various methods for opening files. The members of the FileMode enumerator are −
Append − It opens an existing file and puts cursor at the end of file, or creates the file, if the file does not exist. Create − It creates a new file. CreateNew − It specifies to the operating system that it should create a new file. Open − It opens an existing file. OpenOrCreate − It specifies to the operating system that it should open a file if it exists, otherwise it should create a new file. Truncate − It opens an existing file and truncates its size to zero bytes.
|
| FileAccess |
FileAccess enumerators have members: Read, ReadWrite and Write.
|
| FileShare |
FileShare enumerators have the following members −
Inheritable − It allows a file handle to pass inheritance to the child processes None − It declines sharing of the current file Read − It allows opening the file for reading ReadWrite − It allows opening the file for reading and writing Write − It allows opening the file for writing
|
Example
The following program demonstrates use of the FileStream class −
Imports System.IO
Module fileProg
Sub Main()
Dim f1 As FileStream = New FileStream("sample.txt", _ FileMode.OpenOrCreate, FileAccess.ReadWrite)
Dim i As Integer
For i = 0 To 20
f1.WriteByte(CByte(i))
Next i
f1.Position = 0
For i = 0 To 20
Console.Write("{0} ", f1.ReadByte())
Next i
f1.Close()
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 -1
Advanced File Operations in VB.Net
The preceding example provides simple file operations in VB.Net. However, to utilize the immense powers of System.IO classes, you need to know the commonly used properties and methods of these classes.
We will discuss these classes and the operations they perform in the following sections. Please click the links provided to get to the individual sections −
