Develop Reference

Why does FileStream sometimes ignore invisible characters?

I have two blocks of code that I've tried using for reading data out of a file-stream in C#. My overall goal here is to try and read each line of text into a list of strings, but they are all being read into a single string (when opened with read+write access together)...
I am noticing that the first block of code correctly reads in all of my carriage returns and line-feeds, and the other ignores them. I am not sure what is really going on here. I open up the streams in two different ways, but that shouldn't really matter right? Well, in any case here is the first block of code (that correctly reads-in my white-space characters):
StreamReader sr = null;
StreamWriter sw = null;
FileStream fs = null;
List<string> content = new List<string>();
List<string> actual = new List<string>();
string line = string.Empty;
// first, open up the file for reading
fs = File.OpenRead(path);
sr = new StreamReader(fs);
// read-in the entire file line-by-line
while(!string.IsNullOrEmpty((line = sr.ReadLine())))
{
content.Add(line);
}
sr.Close();
Now, here is the block of code that ignores all of the white-space characters (i.e. line-feed, carriage-return) and reads my entire file in one line.
StreamReader sr = null;
StreamWriter sw = null;
FileStream fs = null;
List<string> content = new List<string>();
List<string> actual = new List<string>();
string line = string.Empty;
// first, open up the file for reading/writing
fs = File.Open(path, FileMode.Open);
sr = new StreamReader(fs);
// read-in the entire file line-by-line
while(!string.IsNullOrEmpty((line = sr.ReadLine())))
{
content.Add(line);
}
sr.Close();
Why does Open cause all data to be read as a single line, and OpenRead works correctly (reads data as multiple lines)?
UPDATE 1
I have been asked to provide the text of the file that reproduces the problem. So here it is below (make sure that CR+LF is at the end of each line!! I am not sure if that will get pasted here!)
;$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
;$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$
;$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
;
;
;
UPDATE 2
An exact block of code that reproduces the problem (using the text above for the file). In this case I am actually seeing the problem WITHOUT trying Open and only using OpenRead.
StreamReader sr = null;
StreamWriter sw = null;
FileStream fs = null;
List<string> content = new List<string>();
List<string> actual = new List<string>();
string line = string.Empty;
try
{
// first, open up the file for reading/writing
fs = File.OpenRead(path);
sr = new StreamReader(fs);
// read-in the entire file line-by-line
while(!string.IsNullOrEmpty((line = sr.ReadLine())))
{
content.Add(line);
}
sr.Close();
// now, erase the contents of the file
File.WriteAllText(path, string.Empty);
// make sure that the contents of the file have been erased
fs = File.OpenRead(path);
sr = new StreamReader(fs);
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(line = sr.ReadLine()))
{
Trace.WriteLine("Failed: Could not erase the contents of the file.");
Assert.Fail();
}
else
{
Trace.WriteLine("Passed: Successfully erased the contents of the file.");
}
// now, attempt to over-write the contents of the file
fs.Close();
fs = File.OpenWrite(path);
sw = new StreamWriter(fs);
foreach(var l in content)
{
sw.Write(l);
}
// read back the over-written contents of the file
fs.Close();
fs = File.OpenRead(path);
sr = new StreamReader(fs);
while (!string.IsNullOrEmpty((line = sr.ReadLine())))
{
actual.Add(line);
}
// make sure the contents of the file are correct
if(content.SequenceEqual(actual))
{
Trace.WriteLine("Passed: The contents that were over-written are correct!");
}
else
{
Trace.WriteLine("Failed: The contents that were over-written are not correct!");
}
}
finally
{
// close out all the streams
fs.Close();
// finish-up with a message
Trace.WriteLine("Finished running the overwrite-file test.");
}

Your new file generated by
foreach(var l in content)
{
sw.Write(l);
}
does not contain end-of-line characters because end-of-line characters are not included in content.
As #DaveKidder points out in this thread over here, the spec for StreamReader.ReadLine specifically says that the resulting line does not include end of line.
When you do
while(!string.IsNullOrEmpty((line = sr.ReadLine())))
{
content.Add(line);
}
sr.Close();
You are losing end of line characters.

How do I consume a file resource as a string, in Visual Studio?

When I add a txt file as a resource to a project, how can I then consume the contents of that resource as a string?
The closest I've been able to get is by using the Resource Manager, to pull an unmanaged stream. However, this throws a null error:
using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(
Properties.Resources.ResourceManager.GetStream(
"TestFile.txt", CultureInfo.CurrentCulture)))
{
Console.WriteLine(sr.ReadToEnd());
}

You could do this too:
var myAss = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
var mytxtFileResource = "Namespace.Project.MyTxtFile.txt";
using (Stream stream = assembly.GetManifestResourceStream(mytxtFileResource))
using (StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(stream))
{
string result = reader.ReadToEnd();
}

You dont need to do it like that for text files
Just write it like this
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa287548(v=vs.71).aspx
System.IO.StreamWriter file = new System.IO.StreamWriter("c:\\test.txt");
file.WriteLine(lines);
file.Close();
and read it like this:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa287535(v=vs.71).aspx
int counter = 0;
string line;
// Read the file and display it line by line.
System.IO.StreamReader file =
new System.IO.StreamReader("c:\\test.txt");
while((line = file.ReadLine()) != null)
{
Console.WriteLine (line);
counter++;
}
file.Close();

How to access a text file in c# that is being used by another process

I have text file which is being been used by modscan to write data into the file. At a particular time I have to read the data and save in database. In offline mode ie; without modscan using it I can read the data and very well save in database. however as it online with modscan it gives exception
Cannot access file as it been used by other process.
My code:
using System.IO;
string path = dt.Rows[i][11].ToString();
string[] lines = System.IO.File.ReadAllLines(#path);
path has "E:\Metertxt\02.txt"
So what changes I need to make in order to read it without interfering with modscan.
I googled and I found this which might work, however I am not sure how to use it
FileShare.ReadWrite

You can use a FileStream to open a file that is already open in another application. Then you'll need a StreamReader if you want to read it line by line. This works, assuming a file encoding of UTF8:
using (var stream = new FileStream(#"c:\tmp\locked.txt", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite))
{
using (var reader = new StreamReader(stream, Encoding.UTF8))
{
string line;
while ((line = reader.ReadLine()) != null)
{
// Do something with line, e.g. add to a list or whatever.
Console.WriteLine(line);
}
}
}
Alternative in case you really need a string[]:
var lines = new List<string>();
using (var stream = new FileStream(#"c:\tmp\locked.txt", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite))
{
using (var reader = new StreamReader(stream, Encoding.UTF8))
{
string line;
while ((line = reader.ReadLine()) != null)
{
lines.Add(line);
}
}
}
// Now you have a List<string>, which can be converted to a string[] if you really need one.
var stringArray = lines.ToArray();

FileStream fstream = new FileStream("#path", FileMode.Open,FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite);
StreamReader sreader = new StreamReader(fstream);
List<string> lines = new List<string>();
string line;
while((line = sreader.ReadeLine()) != null)
lines.Add(line);
//do something with the lines
//if you need all lines at once,
string allLines = sreader.ReadToEnd();

Reading resource txt line by line

Had a txt file on my desktop with code:
string source = #"C:\Users\Myname\Desktop\file.txt"
string searchfor = *criteria person enters*
foreach (string content in File.ReadLines(source))
{
if (content.StartsWith(searchfor)
{
*do stuff*
}
}
I recently just learned I can add the txt as a resource file (as it will never be changed). However, I cannot get the program to read that file.txt as a resource line by line like above. I have tried
Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetManifestResourceStream("WindowsFormsApplication.file.txt")
with a stream reader but it says invalid types.
Basic concept: user enters data, turned into a string, compared to the starting line of the file.txt as it reads down the list.
Any help?
edit
Jon, I tried as a test to see if it is even reading the file:
var assm = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
using (var stream = assm.GetManifestResourceStream("WindowsFormsApplication.file.txt")) ;
{
using (var reader = new StreamReader(stream))
{
string line;
while ((line = reader.ReadLine()) != null)
{
label1.Text = line;
}
}
}
It says "The name stream does not exist in the current context" and "Possible Mistaken Empty Statement" for the stream = assm.Get line

You can use a TextReader to read a line at a time - and StreamReader is a TextReader which reads from a stream. So:
var assm = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
using (var stream = assm.GetManifestResourceStream("WindowsFormsApplication.file.txt"))
{
using (var reader = new StreamReader(stream))
{
string line;
while ((line = reader.ReadLine()) != null)
{
...
}
}
}
You could write an extension method on TextReader to read all the lines, but the above is simpler if you only need this once.

Found the issue:
The file, while loaded as a resource, despite all the tutorials saying it is NameSpace.File, the truth is the system puts the location as NameSpace.Resources.File, so I had to update that as well.
Then I used the following code:
string searchfor = textBox1.Text
Assembly assm = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
using (Stream datastream = assm.GetManifestResourceStream("WindowsFormsApplication2.Resources.file1.txt"))
using (StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(datastream))
{
string lines;
while ((lines = reader.ReadLine()) != null)
{
if (lines.StartsWith(searchfor))
{
label1.Text = "Found";
break;
}
else
{
label1.Text = "Not found";
}
}
}

ResXResourceWriter not writing to stream?

I'm trying to create a resx file and write it to a stream so that I might return it as a string instead of immediately saving it to a file. However, when I try to read that stream, it is empty. What am I doing wrong here? i did verify that the entries are not null. I can actually use the ResXResourceWriter constructor that saves it to disk successfully, but I'm trying to avoid using temp files. Also, I can see the stream is 0k before the loop and about 8k in length after the loop.
using (var stream = new MemoryStream())
{
using (var resx = new ResXResourceWriter(stream))
{
// build the resx and write to memory
foreach (var entry in InputFile.Entries.Values)
{
resx.AddResource(new ResXDataNode(entry.Key, entry.Value) { Comment = entry.Comment });
}
var reader = new StreamReader(stream);
var text = reader.ReadToEnd(); // text is an empty string here!
return null;
}
}

You need to flush and reset the output/stream before trying to read it. This should work, using Generate and Position:
resx.Generate();
stream.Position = 0;
var reader = new StreamReader(stream);
var text = reader.ReadToEnd();
return text;