We Keep Coding

How can I access a local folder inside a WPF project to load and store files?

I need a library of vector files, where the same files have to be used every time. I want to load them from a folder and have the option to store new ones.
I tried having a library folder inside the WPF project that contains the files:
Solution/Project/Library/file1.dxf
I load them like this:
string currentDir = Directory.GetCurrentDirectory();
var cutOff = currentDir.LastIndexOf(#"\bin\");
var folder = currentDir.Substring(0, cutOff) + #"\Library\";
string[] filePaths = Directory.GetFiles(folder, "*.dxf");
This worked when running on the PC the project was buid, but the program crashes when the .exe is run on another PC. How do I fix this or is there a better approach to this?

Create a subfolder under Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData, read the files in the library folder if it exists. If not create it and save the existing library files to it (here from resources):
string appFolder = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData);
string path = appFolder + #"\MyAppLibrary\";
if (!Directory.Exists(path))
{
Directory.CreateDirectory(path);
// Add existing files to that folder
var rm = Properties.Resources.ResourceManager;
var resSet = rm.GetResourceSet(CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture, true, true);
foreach (var res in resSet)
{
var entry = ((DictionaryEntry)res);
var name = (string)entry.Key;
var file = (byte[])rm.GetObject(name);
var filePath = path + name + ".dxf";
File.WriteAllBytes(filePath, file);
}
}
// Load all files from the library folder
string[] filePaths = Directory.GetFiles(path, "*.dxf");
Thanks Jonathan Alfaro and Clemens!

Copying/over-writing one source to another in TFS?

Question Background:
Within my TF Server I have two folders, one is a simple 'HelloWorld.sln' in a folder called 'HelloWorldDev' and the other is a 'HelloWorld.sln' in a folder called 'HelloWorldQA'. Each folder contains its respective .cs files etc.
I want to checkout a file from the HelloWorld QA folder, replace - or update it - with a version from the HelloWorldDev folder with the same file name, then check this file back into the HelloWorldQA folder with the relevant changes.
Question:
I am very new to the TFS API so I'm not 100% if what I'm trying to ask is the correct way to proceed, or if its even possible. Can someone give me an example of achieving this?
Code so far:
string fileName = #"C:\Users\Me\Documents\TfsServer\HelloWorldQA\IHelloWorld.cs";
string fileNameQA = #"C:\Users\Me\Documents\TfsServer\HelloWorld\IHelloWorld.cs";
string uri = #"https://tfsServer.visualstudio.com/";
var workspaceInfo = Workstation.Current.GetLocalWorkspaceInfo(fileName);
var server = new TfsTeamProjectCollection(workspaceInfo.ServerUri);
var workspace = workspaceInfo.GetWorkspace(server);
workspace.PendEdit(fileName);
FileInfo fi = new FileInfo(fileName);
var workspaceInfoQA = Workstation.Current.GetLocalWorkspaceInfo(fileNameQA);
var serverQA = new TfsTeamProjectCollection(workspaceInfo.ServerUri);
var workspaceQA = workspaceInfo.GetWorkspace(serverQA);
workspace.PendEdit(fileNameQA);
FileInfo fiQA = new FileInfo(fileNameQA);

First, instead of using 2 workspaces, you can simply map both folders in the same workspace.
Then you're looking for a merge operation:
var sourcePath = workspace.GetServerItemForLocalItem(fileName);
var targetPath = workspace.GetServerItemForLocalItem(fileNameQA);
var getStatus = workspace.Merge(sourcePath, targetPath, null, null);
if (getStatus.NumUpdated > 0)
{
//OK
}

Moving files based on name to the corresponding folder

Hello everyone and well met! I have tried a lot of different methods/programs to try and solve my problem. I'm a novice programmer and have taken a Visual Basic Class and Visual C# class.
I'm working with this in C#
I started off by making a very basic move file program and it worked fine for one file but as I mentioned I will be needing to move a ton of files based on name
What I am trying to do is move .pst (for example dave.pst) files from my exchange server based on username onto a backup server in the users folder (folder = dave) that has the same name as the .pst file
The ideal program would be:
Get files from the folder with the .pst extension
Move files to appropriate folder that has the same name in front of the .pst file extension
Update:
// String pstFileFolder = #"C:\test\";
// var searchPattern = "*.pst";
// var extension = ".pst";
//var serverFolder = #"C:\test3\";
// String filename = System.IO.Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(pstFileFolder);
// Searches the directory for *.pst
DirectoryInfo sourceDirectory = new DirectoryInfo(#"C:\test\");
String strTargetDirectory = (#"C:\test3\");
Console.WriteLine(sourceDirectory);
Console.ReadKey(true);>foreach (FileInfo file in sourceDirectory.GetFiles()) {
Console.WriteLine(file);
Console.ReadKey(true);
// Try to create the directory.
System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(strTargetDirectory);
file.MoveTo(strTargetDirectory + "\\" + file.Name);
}
This is just a simple copy procedure. I'm completely aware. The
Console.WriteLine(file);
Console.ReadKey(true);
Are for verification purpose right now to make sure I'm getting the proper files and I am. Now I just need to find the folder based on the name of the .pst file(the folder for the users are already created), make a folder(say 0304 for the year), then copy that .pst based on the name.
Thanks a ton for your help guys. #yuck, thanks for the code.

Have a look at the File and Directory classes in the System.IO namespace. You could use the Directory.GetFiles() method to get the names of the files you need to transfer.

Here's a console application to get you started. Note that there isn't any error checking and it makes some assumptions about how the files are named (e.g. that they end with .pst and don't contain that elsewhere in the name):
private static void Main() {
var pstFileFolder = #"C:\TEMP\PST_Files\";
var searchPattern = "*.pst";
var extension = ".pst";
var serverFolder = #"\\SERVER\PST_Backup\";
// Searches the directory for *.pst
foreach (var file in Directory.GetFiles(pstFileFolder, searchPattern)) {
// Exposes file information like Name
var theFileInfo = new FileInfo(file);
// Gets the user name based on file name
// e.g. DaveSmith.pst would become DaveSmith
var userName = theFileInfo.Name.Replace(extension, "");
// Sets up the destination location
// e.g. \\SERVER\PST_Backup\DaveSmith\DaveSmith.pst
var destination = serverFolder + userName + #"\" + theFileInfo.Name;
File.Move(file, destination);
}
}

System.IO is your friend in this case ;)
First, Determine file name by:
String filename = System.IO.Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(SOME_PATH)
To make path to new folder, use Path.Combine:
String targetDir = Path.Combine(SOME_ROOT_DIR,filename);
Next, create folder with name based on given fileName
System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(targetDir);
Ah! You need to have name of file, but with extension this time. Path.GetFileName:
String fileNameWithExtension = System.IO.Path.GetFileName(SOME_PATH);
And you can move file (by File.Move) to it:
System.IO.File.Move(SOME_PATH,Path.Combine(targetDir,fileNameWithExtension)
Laster already show you how to get file list in folder.

I personally prefer DirectoryInfo because it is more object-oriented.
DirectoryInfo sourceDirectory = new DirectoryInfo("C:\MySourceDirectoryPath");
String strTargetDirectory = "C:\MyTargetDirectoryPath";
foreach (FileInfo file in sourceDirectory.GetFiles())
{
file.MoveTo(strTargetDirectory + "\\" + file.Name);
}

How to read a text file in project's root directory?

I want to read the first line of a text file that I added to the root directory of my project. Meaning, my solution explorer is showing the .txt file along side my .cs files in my project.
So, I tried to do:
TextReader tr = new StreamReader(#"myfile.txt");
string myText = tr.ReadLine();
But this doesn't work since it's referring to the Bin Folder and my file isn't in there... How can I make this work? :/
Thanks

From Solution Explorer, right click on myfile.txt and choose "Properties"
From there, set the Build Action to content
and Copy to Output Directory to either Copy always or Copy if newer

You can use the following to get the root directory of a website project:
String FilePath;
FilePath = Server.MapPath("/MyWebSite");
Or you can get the base directory like so:
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory

Add a Resource File to your project (Right Click Project->Properties->Resources). Where it says "strings", you can switch to be "files". Choose "Add Resource" and select your file.
You can now reference your file through the Properties.Resources collection.

private string _filePath = Path.GetDirectoryName(System.AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory);
The method above will bring you something like this:
"C:\Users\myuser\Documents\Visual Studio 2015\Projects\myProjectNamespace\bin\Debug"
From here you can navigate backwards using System.IO.Directory.GetParent:
_filePath = Directory.GetParent(_filePath).FullName;
1 time will get you to \bin, 2 times will get you to \myProjectNamespace, so it would be like this:
_filePath = Directory.GetParent(Directory.GetParent(_filePath).FullName).FullName;
Well, now you have something like "C:\Users\myuser\Documents\Visual Studio 2015\Projects\myProjectNamespace", so just attach the final path to your fileName, for example:
_filePath += #"\myfile.txt";
TextReader tr = new StreamReader(_filePath);
Hope it helps.

You can have it embedded (build action set to Resource) as well, this is how to retrieve it from there:
private static UnmanagedMemoryStream GetResourceStream(string resName)
{
var assembly = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
var strResources = assembly.GetName().Name + ".g.resources";
var rStream = assembly.GetManifestResourceStream(strResources);
var resourceReader = new ResourceReader(rStream);
var items = resourceReader.OfType<DictionaryEntry>();
var stream = items.First(x => (x.Key as string) == resName.ToLower()).Value;
return (UnmanagedMemoryStream)stream;
}
private void Button1_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
string resName = "Test.txt";
var file = GetResourceStream(resName);
using (var reader = new StreamReader(file))
{
var line = reader.ReadLine();
MessageBox.Show(line);
}
}
(Some code taken from this answer by Charles)

You have to use absolute path in this case. But if you set the CopyToOutputDirectory = CopyAlways, it will work as you are doing it.

In this code you access to root directory project:
string _filePath = Path.GetDirectoryName(System.AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory);
then:
StreamReader r = new StreamReader(_filePath + "/cities2.json"))

Problem with deployment of windows application using setup wizard

I have some xml files, which are used in my application. They are stored in the same folder with application , in subfolder DATA: "C:\MyProject\DATA\".
To get the DATA folder path i use this code :
static public string GetDataFolderPath()
{
string s = System.IO.Directory.GetCurrentDirectory().Replace(#"\bin\Debug", "");
int i = s.LastIndexOf(#"\");
s = s.Substring(0, i);
i = s.LastIndexOf(#"\");
s= s.Substring(0, i);
return s + #"\Data\";
}
So when i want to deploy my application, i create a setup project, and add the DATA folder to Application folder. But after i install the program f.e. "C:\Project"(DATA folder- "C:\Project\DATA" i got the error: "folder C:\DATA is not found".
What i need to change to make things working after deployment. Why it looks for the DATA folder on 1 level higher?

Try this, it might work better:
public static string GetDataFolderPath()
{
#if DEBUG
// This will be executed in Debug build
string path = Directory.GetCurrentDirectory().Replace(#"\bin\Debug", "");
#else
// This will be executed in Release build
string path = Directory.GetCurrentDirectory();
#endif
return Path.Combine(path, "Data");
}
Or just this if you want one for both Debug and Release builds:
public static string GetDataFolderPath()
{
string path = Directory.GetCurrentDirectory().Replace(#"\bin\Debug", "");
return Path.Combine(path, "Data");
}
You have to add using System.IO; for this to work.

Maybe current directory (during launching your program) is not the same one that assemblies lie?
try:
//get the full location of the assembly
string fullPath = System.Reflection.Assembly.GetAssembly(typeof(<your class name>)).Location;
//get the folder that's in
string theDirectory = Path.GetDirectoryName( fullPath );
or
string codeBase = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().CodeBase;
UriBuilder uri = new UriBuilder(codeBase);
string path = Uri.UnescapeDataString(uri.Path);
return Path.GetDirectoryName(path);