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How to refresh text from a text file [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
How to detect real-time change of text files?
(3 answers)
Closed 1 year ago.
I am trying to make a chat program which reads text from a text file on a shared folder.
The problem I am having is when you type stuff it doesn't refresh meaning if someone else adds anything else to the text file you wont see it does anyone have an idea of how to fix this.
(this is a console program and I am new to c#)

You will need to either constantly be reading from the text file and have some way to detect changes. Otherwise I would seriously suggest not to use a text file for this kind of application.
Ideally you would want to be able to directly make a push to the application when new data is added. It might be worth researching into Socket Programming.

As #TomBowen suggested, text files should not be used for this purpose. However, for learning purposes, we can oversee that. 😉
I would suggest caching the path to your shared file. Have a loop (preferably async) that would constantly check when the file is updated and save the modified date locally. Do this by checking the last time the file was modified (How do I get modified date from file in C# on Windows Mobile?). If the modification date does not match your saved one - clear the console, read all the text file's content and print it to the console.
This would be a very primitive approach with tons of possibilities for stuff to fail. But it would work just for the sake of making something.

visual c# button opens file without specifying drive

I work for an IT company where we all carry around flash drives that have our most used programs on them.In my spare time I am hoping to create a "main menu" item that is kind of a fun and convenient way to access these files. I am working on creating this using Visual Studio 2013 and using visual C# windows forms. I have come across a snag however that I can't seem to find a workaround for. I am by no means fluent in C#, but I need to have a button on the windows form open a file without specifying what drive it comes from. I understand that I have to specify a path, but as these will be stored on the flash drives of myself and my coworkers I cannot foresee that the path will always begin with E:. Depending on what USB slot the drive is plugged into it could be N: or F: or the like. I have provided an example below:
Using what I currently know I am opening files using this line of code:
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("C:/Users/Myname/Desktop/Asmodeus/Anti-Virus/Anti-Virus Installers/avast_free_antivirus_setup.exe");
Is there any way possible I can have the file open simply from
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("Asmodeus/Anti-Virus/Anti-Virus Installers/avast_free_antivirus_setup.exe");
or something of that nature?
Thanks in advance.
There must have been some mis-communication when I asked my question previously. what I am looking to do is open an executable file via a button click on the windows form using a relative path. I am not able to specify the absolute path because the application will be run from a flash drive and therefore will change depending on what USB slot it is currently inserted into.
What I am hoping to accomplish is insert a line of code that will allow me to open an executable file that is located in the \bin\debug folder along with the application itself. I have a picture for clarification but apparently do not have enough reputation to post it. Thank you and sorry for the earlier confusion.

Usually you can just use Environment.GetFolderPath (MSDN) to give you what you need. It doesn't do absolutely everything, but if you need Desktop and the like, that is plenty.
Depending on the target version of .Net, the SpecialFolders exposed are not all there. It may turn out that you need more than they provide, but in your case it doesn't sound like it.
If there is more you need that is not covered in the default, check out this project. I'm sure there are others like it, but it does a little more than the default BCL version, using the API directly. It is at least something to read and learn (and translate from vb.. use an online translator, very quick). I haven't looked at it, but it seems like you are learning this c#/.net thingy, so it might be helpful
This article is about accessing Windows special folders.
These folders include your “Favorites”, “Cookies”, system libraries and the like.
Here is code, including a large number of constant definitions, plus documentation,
allowing access to and creation of these folders.

How to merge 2 zip files together into 1 zip

I am trying to make a custom launcher for Minecraft in C# but I have come across a bump.
I want to add something into it, Minecraft Forge, but the only way I could think of is to change the extension of minecraft.jar to minecraft.zip, extract the contents of the Minecraft Forge.zip and the minecraft.zip into the same folder and then zip that entire folder up into minecraft.jar.
However minecraft.jar has a file named aux.class so whenever my extract script (Made in java) tries to extract it, it simply says:
Unable to find file G:\Programming\C#\Console\Forge Installer\Forge Installer\bin\Debug\Merge\aux.class.
The only other way I can think of is to merge minecraft_forge.zip into minecraft.zip, I have spent around 2 hours looking on Google (watch as someone sees it within a couple of minutes) but it always shows me results for "How to zip multiple files", "How to make a zip file in C#" etc.
So I have come here looking for my answer, sorry if this is a lot to read but I always see comments on here saying "You didn't give enough information for us to help you with".
EDIT: The question in case it wasn't clear is: How am I able to put the contents of minecraft_forge.zip into minecraft.zip?

In your case, if you cannot unzip the files due to OS limitations, you need to "skip" unzipping temporary files to zip them. Instead, only handle input & output streams, as suggested in the answers found here: How can I add entries to an existing zip file in Java?

As you pointed out, "aux" is a protected keyword within windows and it does not matter what the file suffix may be; windows won't let you use it. Here are a couple of threads that discusses this in general.
Ref 1: Windows reserved words.
Ref 2: Windows reserved words.
If you are typing in commands to perform the copy or unzip, there is a chance you can get this to work by using a path prefix of the following \\.\ or \\?\. When I tested this, it worked with either a single or double back-slash following the period or question mark. Such that the following work:
\\.\c:\paths\etc
\\.\\c:\paths\etc
\\?\c:\path\etc
\\?\\c:\path\etc
I used the following command to test this. When trying to rename through windows explorer it gave a "The specified device name is invalid." error message. From the command line it worked just fine. I should point out, that once you create these files, you will have to manually delete them using the same technique. Windows Explorer reports that these text files which have a size of 0 bytes "is too large for the destination file system", ie... the recycle bin.
rename "\.\c:\temp\New Text Document.txt" aux.txt
del "\.\c:\temp\aux.txt"
As far as copying directly from zip or jar files, I tried this myself and it appeared to work. I used 7-zip and opened the jars directly using the "open archive..." windows explorer context menu. I then dragged-and-dropped the contents from forge.jar to the minecraft jar file. Since it is the minecraft jar file with the offending file name the chance of needing to create a temporary file on the filesystem is reduced. I did see someone mention that 7-zip may extract to a temporary file when copying between jars and zips.
7-zip reference on copying between archives
I should point out that my copy of minecraft jar (minecraft_server.1.8.7.jar) did not contain a file named aux.class. I also did not try to use the jar after the copy/merge. Nor did I spend too much time trying to figure out how well it merged the two contents since it appears like there may be a conflict with com\google\common\base\ since there are similar class name but with different $ variable suffixes on them.
I hope these two possible suggestions could give you some room to work with to find a solution for your needs... if you're still looking.

C# Track copied files [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
C# : file copy notifying [closed]
(2 answers)
Closed 9 years ago.
I am trying to keep track of files that are copied by users and other applications.
The FileSystemWatch only has events for Changed, Created, Deleted, Disposed, Error, and Renamed.
It doesn't fire an event when a file is accessed by the copy function or where the new file is being copied to.
Is there a method for monitoring the copy event/function of windows?

I don't know of any way using C#.
You can do this if you are willing to write a File System Filter Driver. [Definitely expert territory, as there is scope for corrupting files and/or bringing down your system]
A file system filter driver intercepts requests targeted at a file
system or another file system filter driver. By intercepting the
request before it reaches its intended target, the filter driver can
extend or replace functionality provided by the original target of the
request. Examples of file system filter drivers include anti-virus
filters, backup agents, and encryption products. To develop file
systems and file system filter drivers, use the IFS (Installable File
System) Kit, which is provided with the Windows Driver Kit (WDK).

You are doing the right thing with FileSystemWatcher. Windows does not have any built-in mechanism for reporting copies reliably.
You could hook the OS copy routine, but this won't guarantee you good results: applications are free to implement their own copy by just opening the source and destination files and copying the bytes over.
Renaming is different because a rename done by the OS cannot be easily mimicked through other means, so you will catch all renames with the FileSystemWatcher. Note that moving between drives is more like copy: you won't get a Renamed notification, but a Created and a Deleted instead.
So if you really really need to notice a file getting copied, my suggested approach is this:
Hook the CloseFile calls, in addition to the FileSystemWatcher.
Whenever a file gets closed, it could be because it's the source or target of a copy / cross-drive move. Check its size.
If you find two closed files with the same size within a reasonably short period of time, compare the content. Pretty resource-intensive, but the only reliable way to do this.

You can use Auditing file and folder access feature of Windows which writes an event log entry and you can setup programs to start when such an event occurs

I can't think of any good way.
For each newly created file, you need to check if there is an exact duplicate (perhaps with a different name) anywhere on the filesystem. You could obviously do this brute-force, but the solution would be very inelegant, slow and brittle!

How to know the next temp file to be created in windows?

I am by no means a programmer but currently am wondering if an application creates a temp file that windows names. For example the file it creates is tmp001, is there a way i can take that name tmp001 and ask windows to give me the next temp file it would create before it creates it.
Thanks,
Mike

There is no direct means to get to know the next temporary filename to be created.
For example, programmers use the System.IO.Path.GetTempFileName method, but one can add application-specific prefixes or suffixes in order to make it easier for the application to find its newly created files.
One can even choose to save this temporary file elsewhere than the system Temp folder.

You would need to define a "temp file" much more explicitly in order to answer this question with a "Yes". The problem is that a "temp file" is just something not meant to be kept. It could exist anywhere on the system and be created by a user, application, or service. This would make it nearly (or actually) impossible to answer your question with a "Yes".
If you constrain the definition of a temp file to just the files in the official temp folder (or a subfolder), you still have a problem if you're trying to catch names not generated by windows. Any app could produce a particularly named temp file in that folder, without Windows caring.
If you further constrain the definition to be only those files named by Windows, you might be able to get somewhere. But, does that really meet your needs?
After all of that, maybe it would be better to describe the problem you're trying to solve. There may be a much better (workable) solution that would address the issue.

Typically applications use the Win32 API GetTempFileName to get the temporary directory.
The process of how the temp file is generated is described there.
I'm not sure why you want this info, but perhaps you could for example register for directory changes via a Win32 API like ReadDirectoryChangesW or by using a mini filter driver.

This kind of code just cannot work reliably on a multi-tasking operating system. Another thread in another process might pre-empt yours and claim the file name you are hoping to create.
This is otherwise easy enough to work around, just name your own files instead of relying on Windows doing it for you. Do so in the AppData folder so you'll minimize the risk of another process messing it up.