I am trying to make a simple c# program which opens a file in dotnet core 5 using visual studio, however, it transpires that it is looking for the file relative to where the .exe is stored, not my source files. Is there any way I can change this? So that the file can be stored with my source files?
I have tried using Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(), however, this takes me to .exe file, and I need it to open using a relative path rather than the absolute one.
The code is copied and pasted from the Microsoft C# docs here (In the image I have a './' before the filename, I have tried without, it was just something I tried to get it to work.
Code:
using System;
using System.IO;
namespace Test_File_Opening
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
String line;
try
{
//Pass the file path and file name to the StreamReader constructor
StreamReader sr = new StreamReader("Sample.txt");
//Read the first line of text
line = sr.ReadLine();
//Continue to read until you reach end of file
while (line != null)
{
//write the lie to console window
Console.WriteLine(line);
//Read the next line
line = sr.ReadLine();
}
//close the file
sr.Close();
Console.ReadLine();
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine("Exception: " + e.Message);
}
finally
{
Console.WriteLine("Executing finally block.");
}
}
}
}
Exception: Could not find file 'C:\Users\callu\source\repos\Test_File_Opening\Test_File_Opening\bin\Debug\net5.0\Sample.txt'.
Executing finally block.
The running executable has no knowledge of or connection to the original source code files. They may be moved or deleted entirely for all it knows.
Use an absolute path for your file:
var sr = new StreamReader(#"C:\Some\Path\To\Your\File.txt");
I need it to open using a relative path rather than the absolute one.
No you don't. Because there is no universal relative path between a compiled executable and the source code from which it was compiled.
But a comment on the question offers an alternative:
it needs to be able to run on another machine
That's what config files are for... environment-specific settings. (Alternatively, if your plan all along was to distribute the source code for your users to compile and run themselves then they could simply edit it to their file location anyway.)
If you're using the older App.config style settings, add an App.config to your application and put the file path in the appSettings:
<appSettings>
<add key="FilePath" value="C:\Some\Path\To\Your\File.txt"/>
</appSettings>
Then use that setting in the code:
var sr = new StreamReader(System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["FilePath"]);
Or, if you're using something newer like appsettings.json then there is documentation for that as well. But the principal is still the same.
You could even roll your own way of maintaining application configuration. Hell, you could even skip a config file entirely and provide the file name as a command line argument when running the application. The point is that any given environment would need a way to tell the application where the file is.
Related
firstly apology if this has already been answered and I am duplicating the question. I have tried to find the answer to my issue but have failed and none of the auto-suggestions answers my problem.
I have my main project (XAML) and also a class library project called FileStore for files. The class library project is referenced into the main project and I have images and icon file in the class library project that I can access with no issues in my main project, however, I struggle to get the content of a txt file from the CL project to display in a label on the main project. I get the error: the system could not find the file and from the error, I can see that it is trying to look for a file in the main project bin\debug folder
I tried to follow this previous post which seemed to partly answer my issue but to no avail sadly.
Get relative file path in a class library project that is being referenced by a web project
The txt file Build action is set to: Resource and Copy to Output Directory set to: Copy Always.
As I mentioned I have the FileStore project referenced in my main project and the images work fine.
Below is the code I am using, I have tried different variations such as:
\Resources\textFile.txt and \textFile.txt, still no luck.
'''
public static string ReadFileinClLibr()
{
var buildDir =
Path.GetDirectoryName(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location);
var filePath = buildDir + #"\textFile.txt";
return File.ReadAllText(filePath);
}
'''
For comparition here is the path for the image files that works, but I cannot get it to work with the txt file, as the error reads: the given paths format is not supported..
'''
#"pack://application:,,,/FileStore;component/Resources\textFile.txt"
'''
I want to be able to input the content of the text file from the class library project to the label in the main xaml project.
At the moment compiler keeps looking for this file in a debug folder of the main project, what I want is, for the compiler to look for the txt file in a CL FileStore project
In order to access the file all the time, we have to have the file copied to the debug folder. Right click the file from solution explorer change the properties then try to access the file from the executing assembly location.
StringBuilder bodyContent = new StringBuilder();
string fileName = "myfile.txt";
try
{
string filePath = Path.Combine(Path.GetDirectoryName(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location), fileName);
using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(filePath))
{
// Read the stream.
bodyContent.Append(sr.ReadToEnd());
}
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(String.Format("{0} # {1}", "Exception while reading the file: " + ex.InnerException.Message, DateTime.Now));
throw ex;
}
Thanks to the post from #Sreekanth Gundlapally I have managed to fix my issues. I have mostly drawn on from the answer provided by #Sreekanth Gundlapally but there is one important bit missing. The string fileName should include any subfolders that the resource file is within in the Class Library Project, for example in my case the folder was named 'Resources' so the code should look like this:
string fileName = #"Resources/myfile.txt";
try
{
string filePath = Path.Combine(Path.GetDirectoryName(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location), fileName);
using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(filePath))
{
// Read the stream.
bodyContent.Append(sr.ReadToEnd());
}
I have also cleaned and rebuilt solution after which it all worked a charm.
Also a side note, anyone trying this and getting funny characters make sure your file's encoding is set to UTF-8 as this is the default encoding used by StreamReader, otherwise your file content may not be read correctly if it contains signs such as apostrophe.
So as the question says I have a program set up to start at windows startup, but it doesn't read the .txt next to it, when I launch the program it does.
bool cdexist = File.Exists("cd.txt");
if (cdexist)
{
StreamReader sr = new StreamReader("cd.txt");
time = Convert.ToInt32(sr.ReadLine());
sr.Close();
if (time != 0)
{}.....rest of the code
Whats could be the issue?
Edit: part where I write to the file
{
timeleft = time - i;
label1.Text = timeleft.ToString();
StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter("cd.txt");
sw.Write(timeleft);
sw.Close();
i++;
}
EDIT
I am unable to solve the issue, I tried recreating what happens when the PC starts, and as soon as I'm at the desktop I start the program and it's working, but when the system does it automatically with windows it doesn't seem to read the .txt.
File paths like "cd.txt" are always interpreted relatively. And usually they are interpreted as relative to the current working directory. When you just execute your program e.g. from your Windows Explorer, then the working directory is the executable’s location. So it will look for the file directly next to the application.
However, when executed in a different fashion, it’s likely that the working directory is very different. So if you expect the file to be located next to the executable, you should change your program to look for it there. For example like this:
string filePath = Path.Combine(AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory, "cd.txt")
bool cdexist = File.Exists(filePath);
// …
Check this question for other ways to get the correct directory.
I need to save a set of 20 txt files into my solution so they will be included into the exe file. In such a way I will be able to send to the final users only the executable file and anything else.
I need to use the following function:
File.Copy( sourcePath, #path + "\\FileName.txt");
to copy one of the 20 files into another directory (according to the request of the user). In order to include the 20 txt files into the solution, I created a new folder into the Solution Explorer and I put them into it. Then I selected "Resources" into the option of the single txt file. Let's suppose the name of the folder is FOO and the file is NAME01, then I'm assuming the local address of the single txt file is "\FOO\NAME01.txt". But this is not working, I'm getting an arror from the File.Copy function related to the sourcePath.
Do you have any suggestions? I'm stacked on this problem and I cannot find any solution on the web. Many thanks!
Step 1: add the files to your project
Step 2: make them embedded resource
Step 3: export them to filesystem at runtime:
using System.Reflection;
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
class Program4
{
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
using(var stream = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly()
.GetManifestResourceStream("ConsoleApplication1.Files.TextFile1.txt"))
using (var filestream = System.IO.File.OpenWrite("target.txt"))
{
stream.CopyTo(filestream);
filestream.Flush();
filestream.Close();
stream.Close();
}
}
}
}
"ConsoleApplication1.Files.TextFile1.txt" comes from:
ConsoleApplication1: default namespace of the project containing the files
Files.TextFile1.txt: relative path, dotted, inside the dll (look # screenshot 1)
Most of the examples shows how to read text file from exact location (f.e. "C:\Users\Owner\Documents\test1.txt"). But, how to read text files without writing full path, so my code would work when copied to other computers. With visual studio I added 2 text files to project (console project) and don't know best way to read those files. Hope I described my problem clearly. Maybe I needed to add those txt files differentely (like directly to same folder as .exe file)?
You could use Directory.GetCurrentDirectory:
var path = Path.Combine(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(), "\\fileName.txt");
Which will look for the file fileName.txt in the current directory of the application.
If your application is a web service, Directory.CurrentDirectory doesn't work.
Use System.IO.Path.Combine(System.AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory, "yourFileName.txt")) instead.
When you provide a path, it can be absolute/rooted, or relative. If you provide a relative path, it will be resolved by taking the working directory of the running process.
Example:
string text = File.ReadAllText("Some\\Path.txt"); // relative path
The above code has the same effect as the following:
string text = File.ReadAllText(
Path.Combine(Environment.CurrentDirectory, "Some\\Path.txt"));
If you have files that are always going to be in the same location relative to your application, just include a relative path to them, and they should resolve correctly on different computers.
You need to decide which directory you want the file to be relative to. Once you have done that, you construct the full path like this:
string fullPathToFile = Path.Combine(dir, fileName);
If you don't supply the base directory dir then you will be at the total mercy of whatever happens to the working directory of your process. That is something that can be out of your control. For example, shortcuts to your application may specify it. Using file dialogs can change it.
For a console application it is reasonable to use relative files directly because console applications are designed so that the working directory is a critical input and is a well-defined part of the execution environment. However, for a GUI app that is not the case which is why I recommend you explicitly convert your relative file name to a full absolute path using some well-defined base directory.
Now, since you have a console application, it is reasonable for you to use a relative path, provided that the expectation is that the files in question will be located in the working directory. But it would be very common for that not to be the case. Normally the working directory is used to specify where the user's input and output files are to be stored. It does not typically point to the location where the program's files are.
One final option is that you don't attempt to deploy these program files as external text files. Perhaps a better option is to link them to the executable as resources. That way they are bound up with the executable and you can completely side-step this issue.
You absolutely need to know where the files to be read can be located. However, this information can be relative of course so it may be well adapted to other systems.
So it could relate to the current directory (get it from Directory.GetCurrentDirectory()) or to the application executable path (eg. Application.ExecutablePath comes to mind if using Windows Forms or via Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().Location) or to some special Windows directory like "Documents and Settings" (you should use Environment.GetFolderPath() with one element of the Environment.SpecialFolder enumeration).
Note that the "current directory" and the path of the executable are not necessarily identical. You need to know where to look!
In either case, if you need to manipulate a path use the Path class to split or combine parts of the path.
As your project is a console project you can pass the path to the text files that you want to read via the string[] args
static void Main(string[] args)
{
}
Within Main you can check if arguments are passed
if (args.Length == 0){ System.Console.WriteLine("Please enter a parameter");}
Extract an argument
string fileToRead = args[0];
Nearly all languages support the concept of argument passing and follow similar patterns to C#.
For more C# specific see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/cb20e19t.aspx
This will load a file in working directory:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string fileName = System.IO.Path.GetFullPath(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory() + #"\Yourfile.txt");
Console.WriteLine("Your file content is:");
using (StreamReader sr = File.OpenText(fileName))
{
string s = "";
while ((s = sr.ReadLine()) != null)
{
Console.WriteLine(s);
}
}
Console.ReadKey();
}
If your using console you can also do this.It will prompt the user to write the path of the file(including filename with extension).
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine("****please enter path to your file****");
Console.Write("Path: ");
string pth = Console.ReadLine();
Console.WriteLine();
Console.WriteLine("Your file content is:");
using (StreamReader sr = File.OpenText(pth))
{
string s = "";
while ((s = sr.ReadLine()) != null)
{
Console.WriteLine(s);
}
}
Console.ReadKey();
}
If you use winforms for example try this simple example:
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
string pth = "";
OpenFileDialog ofd = new OpenFileDialog();
if (ofd.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
{
pth = ofd.FileName;
textBox1.Text = File.ReadAllText(pth);
}
}
There are many ways to get a path. See CurrentDirrectory mentioned. Also, you can get the full file name of your application by using
Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location
and then use Path class to get a directory name.
Be careful about the leading \\
string path2 = "\\folderName\\fileName.json";
string text = File.ReadAllText(Path.Combine(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(), path2));
If path2 does not include a root (for example, if path2 does not start with a separator character \\ or a drive specification), the result is a concatenation of the two paths, with an intervening separator character. If path2 includes a root, path2 is returned.
Path.Combine Method (System.IO) | Microsoft Learn
I am having an xml file like:
<CurrentProject>
// Elements like
// last opened project file to reopen it when app starts
// and more global project independend settings
</CurrentProject>
Now I asked myself wether I should deliver this xml file with above empty elements with the installer for my app or should I create this file on the fly on application start if it does not exist else read the values from it.
Consider also that the user could delete this file and that should my application not prevent from working anymore.
What is better and why?
UPDATE:
What I did felt ok for me so I post my code here :) It just creates the xml + structure on the fly with some security checks...
public ProjectService(IProjectDataProvider provider)
{
_provider = provider;
string applicationPath = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData);
_projectPath = Path.Combine(applicationPath,#"TBM\Settings.XML");
if (!File.Exists(_projectPath))
{
string dirPath = Path.Combine(applicationPath, #"TBM");
if (!Directory.Exists(dirPath))
Directory.CreateDirectory(dirPath);
using (var stream = File.Create(_projectPath))
{
XElement projectElement = new XElement("Project");
projectElement.Add(new XElement("DatabasePath"));
projectElement.Save(stream, SaveOptions.DisableFormatting);
}
}
}
In a similar scenario, I recently went for creating the initial file on the fly. The main reason I chose this was the fact that I wasn't depending on this file being there and being valid. As this was a file that's often read from/written to, there's a chance that it could get corrupted (e.g. if the power is lost while the file is being written).
In my code I attempted to open this file for reading and then read the data. If anywhere during these steps I encountered an error, I simply recreated the file with default values and displayed a corresponding message to the user.