I just started learning C# and it looks like when you are writing an output file or reading an input file, you need to provide the absolute path such as follows:
string[] words = { "Hello", "World", "to", "a", "file", "test" };
using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(#"C:\Users\jackf_000\Projects\C#\First\First\output.txt"))
{
foreach (string word in words)
{
sw.WriteLine(word);
}
sw.Close();
}
MSDN's examples make it look like you need to provide the absolute directory when instantiating a StreamWriter:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/8bh11f1k.aspx
I have written in both C++ and Python and you do not need to provide the absolute directory when accessing files in those languages, just the path from the executable/script. It seems like an inconvenience to have to specify an absolute path every time you want to read or write a file.
Is there any quick way to grab the current directory and convert it to a string, combining it with the outfile string name? And is it good style to use the absolute directory or is it preferred to, if it's possible, quickly combine it with the "current directory" string?
Thanks.
You don't need to specify full directory everytime, relative directory also work for C#, you can get current directory using following way-
Gets the current working directory of the application.
string directory = Directory.GetCurrentDirectory();
Gets or sets the fully qualified path of the current working directory.
string directory = Environment.CurrentDirectory;
Get program executable path
string directory = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().Location);
Resource Link 1 Resource Link 2
defiantly, you no need specify full path , what is the good way you perform this type of criteria?
should use relative path #p.s.w.g mention already by comment to use Directory.GetCurrentDirectory and Path.Combine
some more specify by flowing way
You can get the .exe location of your app with System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location.
string exePath = System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location;
string exeDir = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(exePath);
DirectoryInfo binDir = System.IO.Directory.GetParent(exeDir);
on the other hand
Internally, when getting Environment.CurrentDirectory it will call Directory.GetCurrentDirectory and when setting Environment.CurrentDirectory it will call Directory.SetCurrentDirectory.
Just pick a favorite and go with it.
thank you welcome C# i hope it will help you to move forward
Related
I figured how to create a directory in c# wpf. But i do not know how to do it to the current drive folder. Where current drive is the drive windows installed. I used:
Code UPDATED
String cur = Environment.CurrentDirectory;
cur = cur.Substring(0, 2);
string path1 = #""+cur+"\temp";
if(!Directory.Exists(path1))
Directory.CreateDirectory(path1);
But it is giving error saying invalid characters in path. How can i create a folder to another drive?
Thanks!
I'd use the methods available in System.IO.Path. They handle the directory separator for you.
Use Path.GetPathRoot to get the root drive (i.e. c:\\)
var root = Path.GetPathRoot(Environment.CurrentDirectory);
Use Path.Combine to combine two paths into a single directory path:
var temp = Path.Combine(root, "temp");
If all you need is a place to store temporary files, you could consider using:
Path.GetTempPath()
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.
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 wrote a simple console tool that reads a file and then writes something out. I intend to just drag and drop files and then out pops the output in the same directory as the input file.
All of the testing works, and when I call it from command-line, everything comes out as expected. However, when I tried dragging and dropping it in explorer, no files were created.
I did a search through the system and found that they were all dumped at Documents and Settings under my user folder, and when I printed out the full path that's what it said.
Which is weird. Wouldn't Path.GetFullPath return the absolute path of the input file? Instead it looks like it just combined that user directory path to the input's filename.
EDIT: here's the code. I feel like I've made a logic error somewhere but can't seem to see it.
filename = System.IO.Path.GetFileName(args[i]);
abspath = Path.GetFullPath(filename);
dirpath = Path.GetDirectoryName(abspath);
....
Console.WriteLine(dirpath);
Path.GetFullPath should return the absolute path of the path string you pass in.
Path.GetFileName(string path) only returns the filename and extension of the file you pass in. For example, System.IO.Path.GetFileName("C:\SomeDirectory\Test.txt"); would just return "Test.txt". You'll want to use the Path.GetDirectoryName to get the path of your input file, like so:
string inputDirectory = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(args[i]);
Alternately, you can use the FileInfo class to retrieve a bunch more information about your input file. For example:
// Assuming args[i] = "C:\SomeDirectory\Test.txt"
FileInfo inputFile = new FileInfo(args[i]);
string inputDirectory = inputFile.DirectoryName; // "C:\SomeDirectory"
string inputFileName = inputFile.Name; // "Test.txt"
string fullInputFile = inputFile.FullName; // "C:\SomeDirectory\Test.txt"
There is a text file that I have created in my project root folder. Now, I am trying to use Process.Start() method to externally launch that text file.
The problem I have got here is that the file path is incorrect and Process.Start() can't find this text file. My code is as follows:
Process.Start("Textfile.txt");
So how should I correctly reference to that text file? Can I use the relative path instead of the absolute path? Thanks.
Edit:
If I change above code to this, would it work?
string path = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location;
Process.Start(path + "/ReadMe.txt");
Windows needs to know where to find the file, so you need somehow specify that:
Either using absolute path:
Process.Start("C:\\1.txt");
Or set current directory:
Environment.CurrentDirectory = "C:\\";
Process.Start("1.txt");
Normally CurrentDirectory is set to the location of the executable.
[Edit]
If the file is in the same directory where executable is you can use the code like this:
var directory = Path.GetDirectoryName(Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().Location);
var file = Path.Combine(directory, "1.txt");
Process.Start(file);
The way you are doing this is fine. This will find the text file that is in the same directory as your exe and it will open it with the default application (probably notepad.exe). Here are more examples of how to do this:
http://www.dotnetperls.com/process-start
However, if you want to put a path in, you have to use the full path. You can build the full path while only caring about the relative path using the method listed in this post:
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vbgeneral/thread/e763ae8c-1284-43fe-9e55-4b36f8780f1c
It would look something like this:
string pathPrefix;
if(System.Diagnostics.Debugger.IsAttached())
{
pathPrefix = System.IO.Path.GetFullPath(Application.StartupPath + "\..\..\resources\");
}
else
{
pathPrefix = Application.StartupPath + "\resources\";
}
Process.Start(pathPrefix + "Textfile.txt");
This is for opening a file in a folder you add to your project called resources. If you want it in your project root, just drop off the resources folder in the above two strings and you will be good to go.
You'll need to know the current directory if you want to use a relative path.
System.Envrionment.CurrentDirectory
You could append that to your path with Path
System.IO.Path.Combine(System.Envrionment.CurrentDirectory, "Textfile.txt")
Try using Application.StartupPath path as default path may point to current directory.
This scenario has been explained on following links..
Environment.CurrentDirectory in C#.NET
http://start-coding.blogspot.com/2008/12/applicationstartuppath.html
On a windows box:
Start notepad with the file's location immediately following it. WIN
process.start("notepad C:\Full\Directory\To\File\FileName.txt");