Apologies for the poor title wording,
I have a StreamWriter set up in my C# program that creates and then writes to multiple text files on a local storage drive. The issue is that as I test this program on multiple machines - the names of the drives are inconsistent from machine to machine and do not always have a C: , D: , etc. As a result I experience errors whilst trying to write to drives that do not exist.
I have attempted to not specify the drive to be written to in the hopes that it would default to an existing drive as the specific location is unimportant for my needs. I.e. "C:\\wLocation.txt" becomes "wLocation.txt" but this did not seem to fix anything.
Code:
public static string getWeatherLocation()
{
String locationFile = "C:\\wLocation.txt";
String location;
try
{
System.IO.StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(locationFile);
location = reader.ReadLine();
reader.Close();
return location;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
return null;
}
}
I'm not particularly knowledgeable with regards to the StreamWriter so the solution may be fairly simple but any help would be appreciated.
You can use System.IO.DriveInfo.GetDrives to get a list of drives on the machine:
DriveInfo[] allDrives = DriveInfo.GetDrives();
foreach (DriveInfo d in allDrives)
{
Console.WriteLine(d.Name); //C:\ etc.
}
You can then simply compose the file name of the given volume label and your desired file name:
var filePath = d.Name + "filename.txt";
Or better:
var filePath = Path.Combine(d.Name, "filename.txt");
In order to cope with different drives on different machines, you have several options:
Use relative file paths, e.g. locationFile = "wLocation.txt" will write the file in the current directory.
Use a special folder, e.g. Documents or AppData. You can use the Environment.GetFolderPath method to get one of those directories and create the full path like this: locationFile = Path.Combine(sysFolderPath, "wLocation.txt");.
Make the folder configurable in your application.
Please note that besides getting a folder path that works on the specific machine, you also need to pay attention to the permissions of the directory. Especially the first option might not work due to permissions if you install your application under Program Files.
Related
http://pastebin.com/DgpMx3Sx
Currently i have this, i need to find a way to make it so that as opposed to writing out the directory of the txt files, i want it to create them in the same location as the exe and access them.
basically i want to change these lines
string location = #"C:\Users\Ryan\Desktop\chaz\log.txt";
string location2 = #"C:\Users\Ryan\Desktop\chaz\loot.txt";
to something that can be moved around your computer without fear of it not working.
If you're saving the files in the same path as the executable file then you can get the directory using:
string appPath = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location);
Normally you wouldn't do that, mostly because the install path will be found in the Program Files folders, which require Administrative level access to be modified. You would want to store it in the Application Data folder. That way it is hidden, but commonly accessible through all the users.
You could accomplish such a feat by:
string path = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData);
string fullPath = Path.Combine(path, #"NameOfApplication");
With those first two lines you'll always have the proper path to a globally accessible location for the application.
Then when you do something you would simply combine the fullPath and the name of the file you attempt to manipulate with FileStream or StreamWriter.
If structured correctly it could be as simple as:
private static void WriteToLog(string file)
{
string path = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData);
string fullPath = Path.Combine(path, #"NameOfApplication");
// Validation Code should you need it.
var log = Path.Combine(fullPath, file);
using(StreamWriter writer = new StreamWriter(log))
{
// Data
}
}
You could obviously structure or make it better, this is just to provide an example. Hopefully this points you in the right direction, without more specifics then I can't be more help.
But this is how you can access data in a common area and write out to the file of your choice.
I'm creating a logger for my app and I'm stuck with a problem I need to save my log file in my C drive but when I'm executing the Code its give me an error "Given Path Format Is Not Supported" My current code is given below
string path="C:\\Logger\\"+DateTime.Now.Date.ToString()+".txt";
public void CreateDirectory()
{
if(!File.Exists(path))
{
File.Create(path);
}
}
any solutions????
You're going to have to format the date:
string path="C:\\Logger\\"+DateTime.Now.Date.ToString("yyyy_MM_dd")+".txt";
because the operating system isn't going to accept something like this:
C:\Logger\07/27/2013.txt
Now, for future reference, consider using Path.Combine to build your paths:
var path = Path.Combine("C:\\Logger",
DateTime.Now.Date.ToString("yyyy_MM_dd"),
".txt");
You won't have to determine when to provide back slashes and when not to. If there isn't one, it will be appended for you.
Finally, you may experience problems if the directory doesn't exist. Something you can do to mitigate that is this:
var path = ...
var dir = Path.GetDirectoryName(path);
if (!Directory.Exists(dir))
{
Directory.Create(dir);
}
But even then, you can run into permissions issues during runtime.
Check that the result of this: DateTime.Now.Date.ToString() is accepted by the operating system.
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
This question already has answers here:
Closed 10 years ago.
Possible Duplicate:
Getting path relative to the current working directory?
I have code in C# that includes some images from an absolute path to a relative so the image can be found no matter where the application fold is located.
For example the path in my code (and in my laptop for the image) is
C:/something/res/images/image1.jpeg
and I want the path in my code to be
..../images/image1.jpeg
So it can run wherever the folder is put, whatever the name of the C: partition is etc.
I want to have a path in my code which is independant of the application folder location or if it is in another partition, as long as it is in the same folder as the the rest of the solution.
I have this code:
try
{
File.Delete("C:/JPD/SCRAT/Desktop/Project/Resources/images/image1.jpeg");
}
catch (Exception)
{
MessageBox.Show("File not found:C:/Users/JPD/Desktop/Project/images/image1.jpeg");
}
This code only runs if the file and folder are in that certain path, (which is also the location of the code) I wish for that path to be relative so wherever I put the whole folder (code, files etc) the program will still work as long as the code (which is under project folder) is at the same location with the folder images... what should I do?
Relative paths are based from the binary file from which your application is running. By default, your binary files will be outputted in the [directory of your .csproj]/bin/debug. So let's say you wanted to create your images folder at the same level as your .csproj. Then you could access your images using the relative path "../../images/someImage.jpg".
To get a better feel for this, try out the following as a test:
1) create a new visual studio sample project,
2) create an images folder at the same level as the .csproj
3) put some files in the images folder
4) put this sample code in your main method -
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory());
foreach (string s in Directory.EnumerateFiles("../../images/"))
{
Console.WriteLine(s);
}
Console.ReadLine(); // Just to keep the console from disappearing.
}
You should see the relative paths of all the files you placed in step (3).
see: Getting path relative to the current working directory?
Uri uri1 = new Uri(#"c:\foo\bar\blop\blap");
Uri uri2 = new Uri(#"c:\foo\bar\");
string relativePath = uri2.MakeRelativeUri(uri1).ToString();
Depending on the set up of your program, you might be able to simply use a relative path by skipping a part of the full path string. It's not braggable, so J. Skit might be up my shiny for it but I'm getting the impression that you simply want to make it work. Beauty being a later concern.
String absolutePath = #"c:\beep\boop\HereWeStart\hopp.gif";
String relativePath = absolutePath.Substring(13);
You could then, if you need/wish, exchange the number 13 (which is an ugly and undesirable approach, still working, though) for a dynamically computed one. For instance (assuming that the directory "HereWeStart", where your relative path is starting, is the first occurrence of that string in absolutePath) you could go as follows.
String absolutePath = #"c:\beep\boop\HereWeStart\hopp.gif";
int relativePathStartIndex = absolutePath.IndexOf("HereWeStart");
String relativePath = absolutePath.Substring(relativePathStartIndex);
Also, your question begs an other question. I'd like to know how you're obtaining the absolute path. Perhaps there's an even more clever way to avoid the hustle all together?
EDIT
You could also try the following approach. Forget the Directory class giving you an absolute path. Go for the relative path straight off. I'm assuming that all the files you're attempting to remove are in the same directory. If not, you'll need to add some more lines but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.
Don't forget to mark an answer as green-checked (or explain what's missing or improvable still).
String
deletableTarget = #"\images\image1.jpeg",
hereWeAre = Environment.CurrentDirectory;
MessageBox.Show("The taget path is:\n" + hereWeAre + deletableTarget);
try
{ File.Delete(hereWeAre + deletableTarget); }
catch (Exception exception)
{ MessageBox.Show(exception.Message); }
Also, please note that I took the liberty of changing your exception handling. While yours is working, it's a better style to rely on the built-in messaging system. That way you'll get more professionally looking error messages. Not that we ever get any errors at run-time, right? ;)
I want to make an exact copy of some files, directories and subdirectories that are on my USB drive I:/ and want them to be in C:/backup (for example)
My USB drive has the following structure:
(just to know, this is an example, my drive has more files, directories and subdirectories)
courses/data_structures/db.sql
games/pc/pc-game.exe
exams/exam01.doc
Well, I am not sure how to start with this but my first idea is to get all the files doing this:
string[] files = Directory.GetFiles("I:");
The next step could be to make a loop and use File.Copy specifying the destination path:
string destinationPath = #"C:/backup";
foreach (string file in files)
{
File.Copy(file, destinationPath + "\\" + Path.GetFileName(file), true);
}
At this point everything works good but not as I wanted cause this doesn't replicate the folder structure. Also some errors happen like the following...
The first one happens because my PC configuration shows hidden files for every folder and my USB has an AUTORUN.INF hidden file that is not hidden anymore and the loop tries to copy it and in the process generates this exception:
Access to the path 'AUTORUN.INF' is denied.
The second one happens when some paths are too long and this generates the following exception:
The specified path, file name, or both are too long. The fully
qualified file name must be less than 260 characters, and the
directory name must be less than 248 characters.
So, I am not sure how to achieve this and validate each posible case of error. I would like to know if there is another way to do this and how (maybe some library) or something more simple like an implemented method with the following structure:
File.CopyDrive(driveLetter, destinationFolder)
(VB.NET answers will be accepted too).
Thanks in advance.
public static void Copy(string src, string dest)
{
// copy all files
foreach (string file in Directory.GetFiles(src))
{
try
{
File.Copy(file, Path.Combine(dest, Path.GetFileName(file)));
}
catch (PathTooLongException)
{
}
// catch any other exception that you want.
// List of possible exceptions here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/c6cfw35a.aspx
}
// go recursive on directories
foreach (string dir in Directory.GetDirectories(src))
{
// First create directory...
// Instead of new DirectoryInfo(dir).Name, you can use any other way to get the dir name,
// but not Path.GetDirectoryName, since it returns full dir name.
string destSubDir = Path.Combine(dest, new DirectoryInfo(dir).Name);
Directory.CreateDirectory(destSubDir);
// and then go recursive
Copy(dir, destSubDir);
}
}
And then you can call it:
Copy(#"I:\", #"C:\Backup");
Didn't have time to test it, but i hope you get the idea...
edit: in the code above, there are no checks like Directory.Exists and such, you might add those if the directory structure of some kind exists at destination path. And if you're trying to create some kind of simple sync app, then it gets a bit harder, as you need to delete or take other action on files/folders that don't exist anymore.
This generally starts with a recursive descent parser. Here is a good example: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb762914.aspx
You might want to look into the overloaded CopyDirectory Class
CopyDirectory(String, String, UIOption, UICancelOption)
It will recurse through all of the subdirectories.
If you want a standalone application, I have written an application that copies from one selected directory to another, overwriting newer files and adding subdirectories as needed.
Just email me.