Create, Read, Write, Copy, Move and Delete a Text File using C# and VB.

NET
Posted by: Suprotim Agarwal , on 4/20/2008, in Category WinForms & WinRT
Views: 250015
Abstract: In this article, we will explore some common text file operations
using C# and VB.NET. This article has been requested by a long time reader
of dotnetcurry.com. NET provides various classes like the File and FileInfo, to
create, read, write and perform such similar operations on a text file. For
example, you can use the Create() method of the File class to create a text
file. The same could also be done using the CreateText() method of the
FileInfo class. Similarly these classes also contain functionality to copy, move
or delete a file. The trick is to find out when to use which class and for what
purpose.
Create, Read, Write, Copy, Move and Delete a Text File using C# and VB.NET

In this article, we will explore some common text file operations using C# and
VB.NET. This article has been requested by a long time reader of
dotnetcurry.com. NET provides various classes like the File and FileInfo, to
create, read, write and perform such similar operations on a text file. For
example, you can use the Create() method of the File class to create a text
file. The same could also be done using the CreateText() method of the
FileInfo class. Similarly these classes also contain functionality to copy, move
or delete a file. The trick is to find out when to use which class and for what
purpose.
The File class contains static methods and performs security checks on all
the methods. The FileInfo contains instance methods and security check is
not necessary. So this method is useful if you plan to use the same instance
of the class in multiple operations.
However for copying, moving or deleting the files, the static methods are
faster. Moreover, the Garbage Collector has less work to do when you use the
File class, since the methods are static.
For reading and writing text files, we have some abstract classes like the
TextReader and TextWriter classes. There are some useful classes like the
StreamReader, StringReader, StreamWriter and StringWriter that derive from
these abstract classes.
This article is by no means a comprehensive guide to demonstrate the
capabilities of these classes. It should be treated as a How do I kind of a
series to demonstrate some of the capabilities of these classes. I will be

giving some references at the end of this article, which should be read to gain
a better understanding of these classes. Let us now see some code which
demonstrates how to use these classes.
Before you go ahead and use these methods, declare a class variable called
fileLoc which contains the filepath of the text file.
C#
string fileLoc = @"c:\sample1.txt";
VB.NET
Dim fileLoc As String = "c:\sample1.txt"
You would also need to reference the System.IO namespace in your project.

Create a Text File

C#
// Create a Text File
private void btnCreate_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
FileStream fs = null;
if (!File.Exists(fileLoc))
{
using (fs = File.Create(fileLoc))
{

}
}
}
VB.NET

' Create a Text File

Private Sub btnCreate_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As
EventArgs)
Dim fs As FileStream = Nothing
If (Not File.Exists(fileLoc)) Then
fs = File.Create(fileLoc)
Using fs

End Using
End If
End Sub

Write to a Text File

C#
// Write to a Text File
private void btnWrite_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (File.Exists(fileLoc))
{
using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(fileLoc))
{
sw.Write("Some sample text for the file");
}
}
}

VB.NET
' Write to a Text File
Private Sub btnWrite_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As
EventArgs)
If File.Exists(fileLoc) Then
Using sw As StreamWriter = New StreamWriter(fileLoc)
sw.Write("Some sample text for the file")
End Using
End If
End Sub

Read From a Text File

C#
// Read From a Text File
private void btnRead_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (File.Exists(fileLoc))
{
using (TextReader tr = new StreamReader(fileLoc))
{
MessageBox.Show(tr.ReadLine());
}
}
}
VB.NET
' Read From a Text File

Private Sub btnRead_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As

EventArgs)
If File.Exists(fileLoc) Then
Using tr As TextReader = New StreamReader(fileLoc)
MessageBox.Show(tr.ReadLine())
End Using
End If
End Sub

Copy a Text File

C#
// Copy a Text File
private void btnCopy_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
string fileLocCopy = @"d:\sample1.txt";
if (File.Exists(fileLoc))
{
// If file already exists in destination, delete it.
if (File.Exists(fileLocCopy))
File.Delete(fileLocCopy);
File.Copy(fileLoc, fileLocCopy);
}
}
VB.NET
' Copy a Text File
Private Sub btnCopy_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As

EventArgs)
Dim fileLocCopy As String = "d:\sample1.txt"
If File.Exists(fileLoc) Then
' If file already exists in destination, delete it.
If File.Exists(fileLocCopy) Then
File.Delete(fileLocCopy)
End If
File.Copy(fileLoc, fileLocCopy)
End If
End Sub

Move a Text File

C#
// Move a Text file
private void btnMove_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Create unique file name
string fileLocMove = @"d:\sample1" + System.DateTime.Now.Ticks +
".txt";
if (File.Exists(fileLoc))
{
File.Move(fileLoc, fileLocMove);
}
}
VB.NET
' Move a Text file

Private Sub btnMove_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As

EventArgs)
' Create unique file name
Dim fileLocMove As String = "d:\sample1" &
System.DateTime.Now.Ticks & ".txt"
If File.Exists(fileLoc) Then
File.Move(fileLoc, fileLocMove)
End If
End Sub

Delete a Text File

C#
// Delete a text file
private void btnDelete_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (File.Exists(fileLoc))
{
File.Delete(fileLoc);
}
}