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Introduction to File Processing

 

Overview of File Processing and Definitions

 

Introduction to Files

A file is a series of bytes of data that are arranged in a particular manner to produce a usable document. For easy storage, location, and management, the bytes are stored on a medium such as a hard disc, a floppy disc, a compact disc, or any valid and supported type of storage. When these bytes belong to a single but common entity and hold values that are stored on a medium, the group is referred to as a file.

 
 

File Streaming Prerequisites

To support file processing, the .NET Framework provides the System.IO namespace that contains many classes used to handle almost any type of file operation you may need to perform. Therefore, to perform file processing, you can include the System.IO namespace in your project.

The parent class of file processing is Stream. With Stream, you can store data to a stream or you can retrieve data from a stream. Stream is an abstract class, which means that you cannot use it to declare a variable in your application. As an abstract class, Stream is used as the parent of the classes that actually implement the necessary operations. You will usually use a combination of classes to perform a typical operation. For example, some classes are used to create a stream object while some others are used to write data to the created stream.

The Name of a File

To perform file processing, you must provide a name for the file. The name is of type string. You can provide the name and its extension. To assist you with specifying the name and location of the file, the Server class of IIS is equipped with a static method named MapPath. Its syntax is:

public void MapPath(string Path);

This method takes one required argument: the name of the file. The name follows the rules established by the Internet Information Server. Based on this, the name must not contain the following: a comma, ', ", *, ?, <, >, :, ;, [, //, or \\.

The name can represent the relative or virtual path to the file. Here is an example:

<%@ Page Language="C#" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="System.IO" %>


<html>
<head>

<script runat="server">
private void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    string Filename = Server.MapPath("Employees.prs");
}
</script>

<title>Exercise</title>

</head>
<body>

</body>
</html>

If you specify just the name of the file, the directory of the function, method, of event that called it would be considered. Normally, that would be the same directory of the current project. As an alternative, you can precede the name of the file with either a backslash "\" or a forward slash "/". In this case, the string would be considered as representing a complete path.

The .NET Support for Files

 

Introduction

The primary support of a file as an object is provided by a .NET Framework class called File. This static class is equipped with various types of (static) methods to create, save, open, copy, move, delete, or check the existence of a file.

File Existence

One of the valuable operations that the File class can perform is to check the existence of the file you want to use. To assist you with this, the File class provides the Exists() method. Its syntax is:

public static bool Exists(string path);

File Creation

Besides checking the existence of the file, the File class can be used to create a new file. To support this operation, the File class is equipped with the Create() method that is overloaded with two versions as follows:

public static FileStream Create(string path);
public static FileStream Create(string path, int buffersize);

In both cases, the File.Create() method returns a Stream value, in this case a FileStream value. As the File.Create() method indicates, it takes the name or path of the file as argument. If you know or want to specify the size, in bytes, of the file, you can use the second version.

To provide the same operation of creating a file, you can use the Open() method of the File class. It is overloaded in three versions as follows:

public static FileStream Open(string path, FileMode mode);
public static FileStream Open(string path, 
		               FileMode mode, 
		               FileAccess access);
public static FileStream Open(string  path,
                          	               FileMode mode,
       		               FileAccess access,
   		               FileShare share);

Access to a File

In order to perform an operation on a file, you must specify how to proceed. One of the options you have is to indicate the type of access that will be granted on the file. This access is specified using the FileAccess enumerator. The members of the FileAccess enumerator are:

  • FileAccess.Write: New data can be written to the file
  • FileAccess.Read: Existing data can be read from the file
  • FileAccess.ReadWrite: Existing data can be read from the file and new data be written to the file

File Sharing

When an operation must be performed on a file, you may have to specify how a file can be shared. This is done through the FileShare enumerator.

The values of the FileShare enumerator are:

  • FileShare.Inheritable: Allows other file handles to inherit from this file
  • FileShare.None: The file cannot be shared
  • FileShare.Read: The file can be opened and read from
  • FileShare.Write: The file can be opened and written to
  • FileShare.ReadWrite: The file can be opened to write to it or read from it

The Mode of a File

Besides the access to the file, another option you will most likely specify to the operating system is referred to as the mode of a file. It is specified through the FileMode enumerator. The members of the FileMode Enumerator are:

  • FileMode.Append: If the file already exists, the new data will be added to its end. If the file doesn't exist, it will be created and the new data will be added to it
  • FileMode.Create: If the file already exists, it will be deleted and a new file with the same name will be created. If the file doesn't exist, then it will be created
  • FileMode.CreateNew: If the new already exists, the compiler will throw an error. If the file doesn't exist, it will be created
  • FileMode.Open: If the file exists, it will be opened. If the file doesn't exist, an error would be thrown
  • FileMode.OpenOrCreate: If the file already exists, it will be opened. If the file doesn't exist, it will be created
  • FileMode.Truncate: If the file already exists, its contents will be deleted completely but the file will be kept, allowing you to write new data to it. If the file doesn't exist, an error would be thrown

Fundamentals of File Streaming

 

Introduction

File streaming consists of performing one of the routine operations on a file, such as creating or opening it. This basic operation can be performed using a class called FileStream. You can use a FileStream object to get a stream ready for processing. As one of the most complete classes of file processing of the .NET Framework, FileStream is equipped with all necessary properties and methods. To use it, you must first declare a variable of it. The class is equipped with nine constructors.

One of the constructors (the second) of the FileStream class has the following syntax:

public FileStream(string path, FileMode mode);

This constructor takes as its first argument the name of the file or its path. The second argument specifies the type of operation to perform on the file. Here is an example:

<%@ Page Language="C#" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="System.IO" %>


<html>
<head>

<script runat="server">
private void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    string Filename = Server.MapPath("Employees.prs");

    FileStream fstPersons = new FileStream(Filename, FileMode.Create);
}
</script>

<title>Exercise</title>

</head>
<body>

</body>
</html>

Stream Writing

A streaming operation is typically used to create a stream. Once the stream is ready, you can write data to it. The writing operation is performed through various classes. One of these classes is BinaryWriter.

The BinaryWriter class can be used to write values of primitive data types (char, int, float, double, etc). To use a BinaryWriter value, you can first declare its variable. To do this, you would use one of the class' three constructors. The first constructor is the default, meaning it doesn't take an argument. The second constructor has the following syntax:

public BinaryWriter(Stream output);

This constructor takes as argument a Stream value, which could be a FileStream variable. Here is an example:

<script runat="server">
private void btnSaveClick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    string Filename = Server.MapPath("Employees.prs");

    FileStream fstPersons = new FileStream(Filename, FileMode.Create);
    BinaryWriter wrtPersons = new BinaryWriter(fstPersons);
}
</script>

Most classes that are used to add values to a stream are equipped with a method called Write. This is also the case for the BinaryWriter class. This method takes as argument the value that must be written to the stream. The method is overloaded so that there is a version for each primitive data type. Here is an example:

<script runat="server">
private void btnSaveClick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    string Filename = Server.MapPath("Employees.prs");

    FileStream fstPersons = new FileStream(Filename, FileMode.Create);
    BinaryWriter wrtPersons = new BinaryWriter(fstPersons);
    
    wrtPersons.Write(txtFirstName.Text);
    wrtPersons.Write(txtLastName.Text);
}
</script>
 
 
 

Stream Closing

When you use a stream, it requests resources from the operating system and uses them while the stream is available. When you are not using the stream anymore, you should free the resources and make them available again to the operating system so that other services can use them. This is done by closing the stream.

To close a stream, you can can call the Close() method of the class(es) you were using. Here are examples:

 
 
<%@ Page Language="C#" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="System.IO" %>


<html>
<head>

<script runat="server">
private void btnSaveClick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    string Filename = Server.MapPath("Employees.prs");

    FileStream fstPersons = new FileStream(Filename, FileMode.Create);
    BinaryWriter wrtPersons = new BinaryWriter(fstPersons);
    
    wrtPersons.Write(txtFirstName.Text);
    wrtPersons.Write(txtLastName.Text);

    txtFirstName.Text = "";
    txtLastName.Text = "";

    wrtPersons.Close();
    fstPersons.Close();
}
</script>

<title>Exercise</title>

</head>
<body>


<form id="frmExercise" runat="server">
  <table>
    <tr>
      <td>First Name:</td>
      <td>
        <asp:TextBox ID="txtFirstName" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
      </td>
      <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Last Name:</td>
      <td><asp:TextBox ID="txtLastName"
                       runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
      </td>
      <td>
        <asp:Button id="btnSave" OnCLick="btnSaveClick"
                    Text="Save" Width="100px" runat="server" />
      </td>
    </tr>
    
  </table>
</form>

</body>
</html>

File Processing

Stream Reading

As opposed to writing to a stream, you may want to read existing data from it. Before doing this, you can first specify your intent to the streaming class using the FileMode enumerator. Once the stream is ready, you can get prepared to read data from it. To support this, you can use the BinaryReader class. This class provides two constructors. One of the constructors (the first) has the following syntax:

public BinaryReader(Stream input);

This constructor takes as argument a Stream value, which could be a FileStream object. After declaring a FileStream variable using this constructor, you can read data from it. To support this, the class provides an appropriate method for each primitive data type.

After using the stream, you should close it to reclaim the resources it was using. This is done by calling the Close() method.

Here is an example of using the mentioned methods:

<%@ Page Language="C#" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="System.IO" %>


<html>
<head>

<script runat="server">
private void btnSaveClick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    string Filename = Server.MapPath("Employees.prs");

    FileStream fstPersons = new FileStream(Filename, FileMode.Create);
    BinaryWriter wrtPersons = new BinaryWriter(fstPersons);
    
    wrtPersons.Write(txtFirstName.Text);
    wrtPersons.Write(txtLastName.Text);

    txtFirstName.Text = "";
    txtLastName.Text = "";

    wrtPersons.Close();
    fstPersons.Close();
}

private void btnOpenClick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    string Filename = Server.MapPath("Employees.prs");
    FileStream fstPersons = new FileStream(Filename, FileMode.Open);
    BinaryReader rdrPersons = new BinaryReader(fstPersons);

    txtFirstName.Text = rdrPersons.ReadString();
    txtLastName.Text = rdrPersons.ReadString();

    rdrPersons.Close();
    fstPersons.Close();
}
</script>

<title>Exercise</title>

</head>
<body>


<form id="frmExercise" runat="server">
  <table>
    <tr>
      <td>First Name:</td>
      <td>
        <asp:TextBox ID="txtFirstName"
                     runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
      </td>
      <td>
        <asp:Button id="btnSave"
                    OnCLick="btnSaveClick"
                    Text="Save" Width="100px"
                    runat="server" />
      </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Last Name:</td>
      <td><asp:TextBox ID="txtLastName"
                       runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
      </td>
      <td>
        <asp:Button id="btnOpen"
                    OnCLick="btnOpenClick"
                    Text="Open" Width="100px"
                    runat="server" />
      </td>
    </tr>
    
  </table>
</form>

</body>
</html>
 

 

   
 

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