I'm working on a simple progam, and part of it populates a list from a txt file.
this probably is not a smart question but, I didn't find any info on this.
I was wondering where is the best place to put text files in the application directory.
O know about the Resouces but, I wasn't able to get the path of the file I stored there.
so 2 questions:
where is the best place to put a txt file? (or any other importent file to use in the application)
if I put files in the Resources how do I get its path ?
(sorry fo my English)
If these are files that you do not need to expose to the users and only serve an internal purpose, then you can embed them in your assembly as resources, and extract them when you need them.
To do this, create a new directory in your application. Let's call it 'Resources'. Then, add text files to it. Use the properties window of each text file to change the BuildAction setting to "Embedded Resource". Then, in your code once you need the contents of the file you can use code like this to extract it:
using System.Reflection;
// ...
using (Stream stream = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetManifestResourceStream("MyApplication.Resources.MyFile.txt")) {
using (StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(stream)) {
string contents = reader.ReadToEnd();
// Do stuff with the text here
}
}
If you don't want to do this, the correct location to place files is in a directory you create under the AppData directory. This is a known system path, which you can obtain like this:
string folderLocation = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData);
string myPath = Path.Combine(folderLocation, "MyAppName");
You can then use a StreamReader or other class in System.IO to find/enumerate and read the files.
When an application has associated/companion data files it sometimes makes sense to embed them as a Resource, because then there is less chance for them to be tampered with e.g. deleted, or the data modified.
And other times it makes sense to keep the file loose....so you have to decide the best place to store them....you can locate these in the place where the application is installed, or in the Application Data/AppData directory.
For embedding files in Resources have a look at this link:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/319292
It has a step-by-step guide showing how to embed a file (e.g. a Text file into Resources), and then using a StreamReader to access it and read its contents.
To store the files and access them from a suitably located directory you can use:
System.Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData
with
Environment.GetFolderPath()
to find out where the AppData directory is.
Then when you create your application Setup/Installer, you should get it to create a directory for your application underneath AppData, and then you can decide what files you want to be installed into that location.
See:
Saving a file to Application Data in c#
Note, ApplicationData "roams"...i.e. when you logon to a different machine, the files are transferred onto that machine as part of your profile....you may not want this....so you could instead use:
System.Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonApplicationData
Related
I'm fairly new to C#. I've got a small project that makes use of a CSV file. I want the user of the said little app to be able to place the CSV file in the same folder as the startup file (or the .application file) and the program to be able to find it. I tried using the Application.StartupPath but that led me to a different file path than the one I was hoping for.
Currently, when I publish my project, I've got my 'setup.exe', 'Floyds.application' and 'Application Files' all sitting in 'C:\Users\Dell\Desktop\Floyds Published'. This is where I'd ideally like to be able to place my CSV file such that the app reads it. (Of course, this is just an example in my specific case, I'd like the little folder with those three to be the place where you can place CSV files regardless of where it is.)
Alternatively, if anyone can give me another means of getting a simple relative file path that would make is easy enough for someone who doesn't know their way around computers too well to easily dump the file in a folder and for my program to be able to read it, that would also work.
string filepath;
if(FileAddressBox.Text == "")
{
filepath = Application.StartupPath + #"\InitialTable.csv";
}
else
{
filepath = FileAddressBox.Text;
}
using (var reader = new StreamReader(filepath))
Thanks in advance!
Edit: I should have probably clarified that it is a winforms application. My apologies!
Edit 2: I am ideally hoping that the user of the app swaps the CSV file with other CSV files regularly to get different results when running the application, so as to save the user from having to input the different CSVs filepath manually.
Edit 3: The link I was given to the other question does not seem to work either. Added the code where it is used.
Im trying to make a winapp that fills the document template file using the C# form and create a new .docx file. Where should i put the .docx file and how should i use it. I placed my template inside the Debug folder and load it like:
dox.LoadFromFile("template.docx");
Im having a problem when using the executable because it doesnt seem to find the template.docx
It is possibly to have files copies into the Output Directory. This is a simple mater of setting the File up accordingly.
However, having data like this in the Programm directory is frowned upon. As of Windows XP, you are unlikely to get write access to those files anymore. So any form of changes would be blocked unless your programm runs with full Administrative Rights.
The intended place for such files are the SpecialFolders. On those you are guaranteed write rights to some degree. While you could still store the template in the programm directory to copy it there if needed, it might be better to use copy it to default user as part of hte setup process.
Of course Visual Studio loves to run code under rather odd user accounts. So I am not sure how far that works for testing.
You can store you word document directly in your assembly (juste copy past the file in your project).
Then you just copy it to windows temp folder before doing your own business. Just don't forget to delete the file in the temp folder when you are good because windows won't do it for you.
Dim fileLocation As String = Path.GetTempFileName()
Using newFile As Stream = New FileStream(fileLocation, FileMode.Create)
Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetManifestResourceStream("YourAssemblyName.yourfile.docx").CopyTo(newFile)
End Using
...
System.IO.File.Delete(fileLocation)
I have a .txt file that I need to read in my program. For the moment I have the directory hardcoded as such:
file = new StreamReader(#"C:\Users\<username>\Documents\File.txt");
However that will (obviously) not work on any other PC that does not have that access to altering the code, or (by some strange happenstance) the same directory as the original code.
How can I get the full file path to set it in my program using C#?
You could create the file in their Application Data directory (they could still find it if they wanted to, but at least it wouldn't be as obvious as the My Documents folder).
When you want to access it, use the Environment class. There are methods for locating special folders for the current user, without resorting to hard-coded paths:
var filePath = Path.Combine(Environment.GetFolderPath(
Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData), "File.txt");
Option 1:
Application.StartupPath can be used for the purpose.
It gets the path for the executable file that started the application, not including the executable name.
Keep File.txt with your executable.
Option 2:
Use Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData
It gives directory that serves as a common repository for application-specific data for the current roaming user.
NOTE: If you want to restrict the user to look into the contents of File.txt then you might need to encrypt the contents.
I am building a game which loads its map from a text file.
While creating the parts that handle maps, I simply kept the text file in the content folder and fetched it by its Windows filepath. This won't work for proper deployment (or even running the game from different drives) because it requires that the filepath be exactly the same.
I looked around for a way to include the text file the same way I would a Texture2D, but I cannot find any class that allows me to use it. Some answers to other questions suggested that I just use the text file from my content folder? How would I do that? My program's name is IslandQuest (placeholder; it doesn't even involve an island) so would I place the text file in the IslandQuestContent folder generated by XNA Studio? How would I access it from there such that its filepath doesn't depend on the drive configuration of a computer?
Thanks for any help.
This may not be the best way to do this but just looked back at what I did in my first year at university with XNA,
I added my txt file to the contents folder. Then in the properties for the file (select it in the solution explorer and view properties window) there should be "Copy to Output Directory", make sure this is copy if newer.
Then its just a case of
string.Format("Content/{0}.txt", filename)
I do think this can be improved perhaps by the following but it is untested
Path.Combine(Content,filename +".txt");
In my case I was reading XML file files from a data folder in my main project.
So under my project in Solution explore I had this set up:
WindowsPhoneGame1
...
data/
content.xml
Game1.cs
Program.cs
etc...
Where properties for content.xml were Build Action: Content and Copy to Output Directory: Copy always
In the class that read the file I used TitleContainer.OpenStream Method which according to the docs:
Returns a stream to an existing file in the default title storage
location. .... The stream returned is read-only. The file to be read must already exist, or this method will fail.
My example code
//open stream
Stream stream = TitleContainer.OpenStream("data/content.xml");
//do something with it...
Create a "Content" folder in your main project.
Put the files that cannot be put in the Content project in there.
Be sure to set all your content Build actions to Content and Copy Always.
The Content folder from your main project and the content in the content project will end up in the same folder when built.
The file path would still be "Content/file.ext" or whatever.
I am new in c# and i really love it but i wanna know if i add a file(for example an image file) to my project and if do not copy it to application folder how can i use it?
For example the name of file is file.jpg and i write this event handler for a button:
picturebox1.image=image.FromFile(#"file.jpg")
// it won't show me because it is not copied to app folder.
How to use it without copying?
Obviously you must distribute the picture somehow. It can be as a resource (the picture will then be copied into the exe) or as contents (the file will be copied into the app's folder).
If you use the Contents solution, you should not assume that the current directory is the directroy of the application. You should then write something like:
pictureBox1.ImageLocation = Path.Combine(
Path.GetDirectoryName(Application.ExecutablePath),
"file.jpg");
Otherwise, you'll have to know the full path of the image file.