I'm currently working on a utility to parse multiple xml files and write the results to a csv file. On the second last line(of code) I get the error:
The process cannot access the file 'W:\SRC\hDefML\myExcelFile.csv' because it is being used by another process.'.
Can someone please help me because I have no idea what's wrong, the file isn't being used by anything else and it's driving me crazy?
Here is my code.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Xml;
using System.Xml.Linq;
using System.IO;
namespace GenNameUtility
{
class NameGenerator
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var files = from file in Directory.GetFiles("W:\\SRC\\hDefMl\\1.0\\Instrument_Files") orderby file
ascending select file;
StringBuilder sb_report = new StringBuilder();
string delimiter = ",";
sb_report.AppendLine(string.Join(delimiter, "Module", "Generator(s)"));
foreach (var file in files)
{
string filename = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(file);
Console.Write("The HDefML file for {0} contains these EEPROM Generators:", filename);
XDocument hdefml = XDocument.Load(file);
var GeneratorNames = from b in hdefml.Descendants("Generators") select new
{
name = (string)b.Element("GeneratorName")
}.ToString();
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
foreach (var item in GeneratorNames)
{
Console.Write(" GeneratorName is: {0}", GeneratorNames);
sb_report.AppendLine(string.Join(delimiter, filename, GeneratorNames));
var hdef = File.Create(#"W:\SRC\hDefML\myExcelFile.csv").ToString();
File.WriteAllText(hdef, sb.ToString());
}
}
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
You need to close the file after you have written to it. See using.
Also it would be better to open the file before the loop and close it thereafter.
The file is being used by another process... but the process is actually yours.
File.Create returns a FileStream. You're opening the file.. writing to it.. but not closing it. When the new iteration comes around.. the file is still open.
You can try something like this:
using (var file = File.Create(#"W:\SRC\hDefML\myExcelFile.csv")) {
// write content here using file
} // this closes the file automatically.
As suggested though, I would wrap the above outside of the loop, so you're not constantly opening and closing the file.
File.WriteAllText will create a file for you so there's no need to use File.Create beforehand.
File.WriteAllText(#"W:\SRC\hDefML\myExcelFile.csv", sb.ToString());
Your File.Create stream seems to be holding the lock on the file which is why File.WriteAllText is throwing the error.
If you need to use File.Create you can use a StreamWriter to write it out.
using(var fs = File.Create(#"W:\SRC\hDefML\myExcelFile.csv"))
using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(fs))
{
sw.Write(sb.ToString());
}
as a side note, the above using format is the same as doing
using(var fs = File.Create(#"W:\SRC\hDefML\myExcelFile.csv"))
{
using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(fs))
{
sw.Write(sb.ToString());
}
}
so you can use whichever you find more readable.
Related
I'm trying to detect if a file exists at runtime, if not, create it. However I'm getting this error when I try to write to it:
The process cannot access the file 'myfile.ext' because it is being used by another process.
string filePath = string.Format(#"{0}\M{1}.dat", ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["DirectoryPath"], costCentre);
if (!File.Exists(filePath))
{
File.Create(filePath);
}
using (StreamWriter sw = File.AppendText(filePath))
{
//write my text
}
Any ideas on how to fix it?
File.Create(FilePath).Close();
File.WriteAllText(FileText);
I want to update this answer to say that this is not really the most efficient way to write all text. You should only use this code if you need something quick and dirty.
I was a young programmer when I answered this question, and back then I thought I was some kind of genius for coming up with this answer.
The File.Create method creates the file and opens a FileStream on the file. So your file is already open. You don't really need the file.Create method at all:
string filePath = #"c:\somefilename.txt";
using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(filePath, true))
{
//write to the file
}
The boolean in the StreamWriter constructor will cause the contents to be appended if the file exists.
When creating a text file you can use the following code:
System.IO.File.WriteAllText("c:\test.txt", "all of your content here");
Using the code from your comment. The file(stream) you created must be closed. File.Create return the filestream to the just created file.:
string filePath = "filepath here";
if (!System.IO.File.Exists(filePath))
{
System.IO.FileStream f = System.IO.File.Create(filePath);
f.Close();
}
using (System.IO.StreamWriter sw = System.IO.File.AppendText(filePath))
{
//write my text
}
FileStream fs= File.Create(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["file"]);
fs.Close();
File.Create returns a FileStream. You need to close that when you have written to the file:
using (FileStream fs = File.Create(path, 1024))
{
Byte[] info = new UTF8Encoding(true).GetBytes("This is some text in the file.");
// Add some information to the file.
fs.Write(info, 0, info.Length);
}
You can use using for automatically closing the file.
I updated your question with the code snippet. After proper indenting, it is immediately clear what the problem is: you use File.Create() but don't close the FileStream that it returns.
Doing it that way is unnecessary, StreamWriter already allows appending to an existing file and creating a new file if it doesn't yet exist. Like this:
string filePath = string.Format(#"{0}\M{1}.dat", ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["DirectoryPath"], costCentre);
using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(filePath, true)) {
//write my text
}
Which uses this StreamWriter constructor.
I know this is an old question, but I just want to throw this out there that you can still use File.Create("filename")", just add .Dispose() to it.
File.Create("filename").Dispose();
This way it creates and closes the file for the next process to use it.
This question has already been answered, but here is a real world solution that
checks if the directory exists and adds a number to the end if the text file
exists. I use this for creating daily log files on a Windows service I wrote. I
hope this helps someone.
// How to create a log file with a sortable date and add numbering to it if it already exists.
public void CreateLogFile()
{
// filePath usually comes from the App.config file. I've written the value explicitly here for demo purposes.
var filePath = "C:\\Logs";
// Append a backslash if one is not present at the end of the file path.
if (!filePath.EndsWith("\\"))
{
filePath += "\\";
}
// Create the path if it doesn't exist.
if (!Directory.Exists(filePath))
{
Directory.CreateDirectory(filePath);
}
// Create the file name with a calendar sortable date on the end.
var now = DateTime.Now;
filePath += string.Format("Daily Log [{0}-{1}-{2}].txt", now.Year, now.Month, now.Day);
// Check if the file that is about to be created already exists. If so, append a number to the end.
if (File.Exists(filePath))
{
var counter = 1;
filePath = filePath.Replace(".txt", " (" + counter + ").txt");
while (File.Exists(filePath))
{
filePath = filePath.Replace("(" + counter + ").txt", "(" + (counter + 1) + ").txt");
counter++;
}
}
// Note that after the file is created, the file stream is still open. It needs to be closed
// once it is created if other methods need to access it.
using (var file = File.Create(filePath))
{
file.Close();
}
}
I think I know the reason for this exception. You might be running this code snippet in multiple threads.
you can just use using keyword around File.Create(path) to finalize the process
using(File.Create(path));
Try this: It works in any case, if the file doesn't exists, it will create it and then write to it. And if already exists, no problem it will open and write to it :
using (FileStream fs= new FileStream(#"File.txt",FileMode.Create,FileAccess.ReadWrite))
{
fs.close();
}
using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(#"File.txt"))
{
sw.WriteLine("bla bla bla");
sw.Close();
}
I am very very novice to c# and .net and trying to understand it.
I am using solution from how to read all files inside particular folder and trying to apply in my below code.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;
namespace HowToCopyTextFiles
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
foreach (string txtName in Directory.GetFiles(#"C:\Users\Environ ment\Desktop\newfolder","*.rtf"))
{
using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(txtName))
{
sb.Append(sr.ReadToEnd());
sb.AppendLine();
}
}
Console.Write(sb.ToString());
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
The result is ok but at the end of my test file it shows environment name.
like.
this is content of first file
this is content of second file
↑My environment full name ↑My
environment full name ↑My environment full name (Yes 3 times)
I am using cs-script, Is it due to that?
While using .txt files, it is working fine. so the question is how to properly open .rtf files as text stream?
If rtf file is opened, it sometimes saves super hidden(not visible even show hidden file option) temp file as ~filename.rtf which is also read by c#.
I used code from here: C# - Get a list of files excluding those that are hidden
DirectoryInfo directory = new DirectoryInfo(#"C:\temp");
FileInfo[] files = directory.GetFiles();
var filtered = files.Where(f => !f.Attributes.HasFlag(FileAttributes.Hidden));
foreach (var f in filtered)
{
Debug.WriteLine(f);
}
This solved my problem.
In the code included below, I am able to write the contents of the string 'fullname' to a text file in the specified directory when using the following statement:
System.IO.File.WriteAllText(path, fullname);
However, if I write the string path to a FileStream object (withe arguments specified), and then pass that FileStream object as an argument to the StreamWriter object, the file is created, but no contents are written.
First attempt: Comment out System.IO.File.WriteAllText(path, fullname); and use the three lines above it. This creates the file but no contents are written into the file.
Second attempt: Un-comment the System.IO.File.WriteAllText(path, fullname); statement and comment the three lines above it. This executes as desired.
Here is the full block of code:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;
namespace FileInputOutput
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Use the Split() method of the String Class
string fullname = " Robert Gordon Orr ";
fullname = fullname.Trim();
string[] splitNameArray = fullname.Split(' ');
Console.WriteLine("First Name is: {0}", splitNameArray[0]);
Console.WriteLine("Middle Name is: {0}", splitNameArray[1]);
Console.WriteLine("Last Name is: {0}", splitNameArray[2]);
Console.WriteLine("Full name is: {0}", fullname);
string path = #"C:\Programming\C#\C# Practice Folder\Console Applications\FileInputOutput\textfile.txt";
FileStream fs = new FileStream(path, FileMode.Create, FileAccess.ReadWrite);
StreamWriter toFile = new StreamWriter(fs);
toFile.Write(fullname);
//System.IO.File.WriteAllText(path, fullname);`enter code here`
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
As others have said: streams must be flushed in .NET in order for them to write to disk. This can be done manually, however I would simply change your code to have using statements on your streams:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;
namespace FileInputOutput
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Use the Split() method of the String Class
string fullname = " Robert Gordon Orr ";
fullname = fullname.Trim();
string[] splitNameArray = fullname.Split(' ');
Console.WriteLine("First Name is: {0}", splitNameArray[0]);
Console.WriteLine("Middle Name is: {0}", splitNameArray[1]);
Console.WriteLine("Last Name is: {0}", splitNameArray[2]);
Console.WriteLine("Full name is: {0}", fullname);
string path = #"C:\textfile.txt";
using (FileStream fs = new FileStream(path, FileMode.Create, FileAccess.ReadWrite))
{
using (StreamWriter toFile = new StreamWriter(fs))
{
toFile.Write(fullname);
}
}
//System.IO.File.WriteAllText(path, fullname);`enter code here`
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
Calling Dispose() on a stream (as using implicitly does), causes the stream to be flushed and closed at the end of the using block.
I think you are just forgetting to flush your file stream:
fs.Flush();
This is needed because according to msdn, this is what makes the FileStream to actually write the buffer to the file.
Flush: Clears buffers for this stream and causes any buffered data to be written to the file. (Overrides Stream.Flush().)
Regards.
From MSDN on StreamWriter
You must call Close to ensure that all data is correctly written out to the underlying stream.
So the problem here is mainly that, since you don't actually close the StreamWriter, the data gets backed up but doesn't push to the file, even though the FileStream immediately created the file in its constructor. Never ever forget to close your stream, as failing to do so could lead to major problems down the line.
I want to append lines to my file. I am using a StreamWriter:
StreamWriter file2 = new StreamWriter(#"c:\file.txt");
file2.WriteLine(someString);
file2.Close();
The output of my file should be several strings below each other, but I have only one row, which is overwritten every time I run this code.
Is there some way to let the StreamWriter append to an existing file?
Use this instead:
new StreamWriter("c:\\file.txt", true);
With this overload of the StreamWriter constructor you choose if you append the file, or overwrite it.
C# 4 and above offers the following syntax, which some find more readable:
new StreamWriter("c:\\file.txt", append: true);
using (FileStream fs = new FileStream(fileName,FileMode.Append, FileAccess.Write))
using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(fs))
{
sw.WriteLine(something);
}
I assume you are executing all of the above code each time you write something to the file. Each time the stream for the file is opened, its seek pointer is positioned at the beginning so all writes end up overwriting what was there before.
You can solve the problem in two ways: either with the convenient
file2 = new StreamWriter("c:/file.txt", true);
or by explicitly repositioning the stream pointer yourself:
file2 = new StreamWriter("c:/file.txt");
file2.BaseStream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.End);
Try this:
StreamWriter file2 = new StreamWriter(#"c:\file.txt", true);
file2.WriteLine(someString);
file2.Close();
Replace this:
StreamWriter file2 = new StreamWriter("c:/file.txt");
with this:
StreamWriter file2 = new StreamWriter("c:/file.txt", true);
true indicates that it appends text.
Actually only Jon's answer (Sep 5 '11 at 9:37) with BaseStream.Seek worked for my case. Thanks Jon! I needed to append lines to a zip archived txt file.
using (FileStream zipFS = new FileStream(#"c:\Temp\SFImport\test.zip",FileMode.OpenOrCreate))
{
using (ZipArchive arch = new ZipArchive(zipFS,ZipArchiveMode.Update))
{
ZipArchiveEntry entry = arch.GetEntry("testfile.txt");
if (entry == null)
{
entry = arch.CreateEntry("testfile.txt");
}
using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(entry.Open()))
{
sw.BaseStream.Seek(0,SeekOrigin.End);
sw.WriteLine("text content");
}
}
}
Use this StreamWriter constructor with 2nd parameter - true.
Another option is using System.IO.File.AppendText
This is equivalent to the StreamWriter overloads others have given.
Also File.AppendAllText may give a slightly easier interface without having to worry about opening and closing the stream. Though you may need to then worry about putting in your own linebreaks. :)
One more simple way is using the File.AppendText it appends UTF-8 encoded text to an existing file, or to a new file if the specified file does not exist and returns a System.IO.StreamWriter
using (System.IO.StreamWriter sw = System.IO.File.AppendText(logFilePath + "log.txt"))
{
sw.WriteLine("this is a log");
}
Replace this line:
StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter("c:/file.txt");
with this code:
StreamWriter sw = File.AppendText("c:/file.txt");
and then write your line to the text file like this:
sw.WriteLine("text content");
You can use like this
using (System.IO.StreamWriter file =new System.IO.StreamWriter(FilePath,true))
{
`file.Write("SOme Text TO Write" + Environment.NewLine);
}
I'm trying to detect if a file exists at runtime, if not, create it. However I'm getting this error when I try to write to it:
The process cannot access the file 'myfile.ext' because it is being used by another process.
string filePath = string.Format(#"{0}\M{1}.dat", ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["DirectoryPath"], costCentre);
if (!File.Exists(filePath))
{
File.Create(filePath);
}
using (StreamWriter sw = File.AppendText(filePath))
{
//write my text
}
Any ideas on how to fix it?
File.Create(FilePath).Close();
File.WriteAllText(FileText);
I want to update this answer to say that this is not really the most efficient way to write all text. You should only use this code if you need something quick and dirty.
I was a young programmer when I answered this question, and back then I thought I was some kind of genius for coming up with this answer.
The File.Create method creates the file and opens a FileStream on the file. So your file is already open. You don't really need the file.Create method at all:
string filePath = #"c:\somefilename.txt";
using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(filePath, true))
{
//write to the file
}
The boolean in the StreamWriter constructor will cause the contents to be appended if the file exists.
When creating a text file you can use the following code:
System.IO.File.WriteAllText("c:\test.txt", "all of your content here");
Using the code from your comment. The file(stream) you created must be closed. File.Create return the filestream to the just created file.:
string filePath = "filepath here";
if (!System.IO.File.Exists(filePath))
{
System.IO.FileStream f = System.IO.File.Create(filePath);
f.Close();
}
using (System.IO.StreamWriter sw = System.IO.File.AppendText(filePath))
{
//write my text
}
FileStream fs= File.Create(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["file"]);
fs.Close();
File.Create returns a FileStream. You need to close that when you have written to the file:
using (FileStream fs = File.Create(path, 1024))
{
Byte[] info = new UTF8Encoding(true).GetBytes("This is some text in the file.");
// Add some information to the file.
fs.Write(info, 0, info.Length);
}
You can use using for automatically closing the file.
I updated your question with the code snippet. After proper indenting, it is immediately clear what the problem is: you use File.Create() but don't close the FileStream that it returns.
Doing it that way is unnecessary, StreamWriter already allows appending to an existing file and creating a new file if it doesn't yet exist. Like this:
string filePath = string.Format(#"{0}\M{1}.dat", ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["DirectoryPath"], costCentre);
using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(filePath, true)) {
//write my text
}
Which uses this StreamWriter constructor.
I know this is an old question, but I just want to throw this out there that you can still use File.Create("filename")", just add .Dispose() to it.
File.Create("filename").Dispose();
This way it creates and closes the file for the next process to use it.
This question has already been answered, but here is a real world solution that
checks if the directory exists and adds a number to the end if the text file
exists. I use this for creating daily log files on a Windows service I wrote. I
hope this helps someone.
// How to create a log file with a sortable date and add numbering to it if it already exists.
public void CreateLogFile()
{
// filePath usually comes from the App.config file. I've written the value explicitly here for demo purposes.
var filePath = "C:\\Logs";
// Append a backslash if one is not present at the end of the file path.
if (!filePath.EndsWith("\\"))
{
filePath += "\\";
}
// Create the path if it doesn't exist.
if (!Directory.Exists(filePath))
{
Directory.CreateDirectory(filePath);
}
// Create the file name with a calendar sortable date on the end.
var now = DateTime.Now;
filePath += string.Format("Daily Log [{0}-{1}-{2}].txt", now.Year, now.Month, now.Day);
// Check if the file that is about to be created already exists. If so, append a number to the end.
if (File.Exists(filePath))
{
var counter = 1;
filePath = filePath.Replace(".txt", " (" + counter + ").txt");
while (File.Exists(filePath))
{
filePath = filePath.Replace("(" + counter + ").txt", "(" + (counter + 1) + ").txt");
counter++;
}
}
// Note that after the file is created, the file stream is still open. It needs to be closed
// once it is created if other methods need to access it.
using (var file = File.Create(filePath))
{
file.Close();
}
}
I think I know the reason for this exception. You might be running this code snippet in multiple threads.
you can just use using keyword around File.Create(path) to finalize the process
using(File.Create(path));
Try this: It works in any case, if the file doesn't exists, it will create it and then write to it. And if already exists, no problem it will open and write to it :
using (FileStream fs= new FileStream(#"File.txt",FileMode.Create,FileAccess.ReadWrite))
{
fs.close();
}
using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(#"File.txt"))
{
sw.WriteLine("bla bla bla");
sw.Close();
}