Develop Reference

How do I save a Text file on the Universal Windows Platform?

I'm trying to save my text file in UWP, but It always saving to different file. By the way I'm using MVVM architecture.
My Code
FileSavePicker savePicker = new FileSavePicker();
savePicker.SuggestedFileName = "New Text Document";
savePicker.SuggestedStartLocation = PickerLocationId.Desktop;
savePicker.FileTypeChoices.Add("Text Document", new List<string>() { ".txt" });
savePicker.DefaultFileExtension = ".txt";
StorageFile storageFile = await savePicker.PickSaveFileAsync();
if(storageFile != null)
{
CachedFileManager.DeferUpdates(storageFile);
await FileIO.WriteTextAsync(storageFile, Document.Text);
FileUpdateStatus updateStatus = await CachedFileManager.CompleteUpdatesAsync(storageFile);
Document.FileName = savePicker.SuggestedFileName;
Document.IsSaved = true;
}
My code is always saving texts on different file. I'm trying to save my text to same file.

In UWP there is a feature called FutureAccessList. It can be used to save the token of the file, opened with the FilePicker. When you now want to save it again you can retrive the StorageFile by the token and write to it.
Add a FileToken property to your Document class:
public string FileToken { get; set; }
Now when you pick your file you add the file to the FutureAccessList:
...
StorageFile storageFile = await savePicker.PickSaveFileAsync();
if (storageFile != null)
{
CachedFileManager.DeferUpdates(storageFile);
await FileIO.WriteTextAsync(storageFile, Document.Text);
FileUpdateStatus updateStatus = await CachedFileManager.CompleteUpdatesAsync(storageFile);
Document.FileName = savePicker.SuggestedFileName;
Document.IsSaved = true;
//Add the file to the FutureAccessList to get it back later
Document.FileToken = StorageApplicationPermissions.FutureAccessList.Add(storageFile);
}
To retrive the file and save it again:
public async void SaveFile()
{
//Get the file back from the FutureAccessList by its token and write to it
StorageFile file = await StorageApplicationPermissions.FutureAccessList.GetFileAsync(Document.FileToken);
await FileIO.WriteTextAsync(file, Document.Text);
}
Now when you e.g. save your Document class to Json and retrive it after the app restarts you can still use the FileToken to write to the file. There is no need to let the user pick it again using the SaveFilePicker.
When the code above is to complicated or there is no need for this (I don't know what you need this for), you can put a StorageFile propertie directly to your Document class and put the file, that the SaveFilePicker returned in it. But this won't work when restarting the app. The user would always have to pick the file again.

Where are the files created with CreateFileAsync?

When I call the following function, it should create a .txt file and write a sentence in it. It seems to execute without any errors. But I cannot find where this file is stored/located after being created. I ran a Windows Search to look for the file but nothing came up. Where is this file located? Also, what is the best folder/location to put a .txt file that the program uses? Should I put it in Solution Explorer of Visual Studio or Debug folder?
private async void CreateFile() {
try {
// Create sample file, replace if exists.
StorageFolder storageFolder = ApplicationData.Current.LocalFolder;
StorageFile sampleFile = await storageFolder.CreateFileAsync("sample.txt", CreationCollisionOption.ReplaceExisting);
sampleFile = await storageFolder.GetFileAsync("sample.txt");
await FileIO.WriteTextAsync(sampleFile, "Swift as a shadow!");
} catch (Exception ex) {
textBox.Text = ex.ToString();
}
}

You can have the code show the path:
sampleFile = await storageFolder.GetFileAsync("sample.txt");
await new MessageDialog(sampleFile.Path).ShowAsync();
On Windows 10, this will be a path like:
C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Packages\[Package family name]\LocalState\sample.txt
where username is the name of the logged on user and package family name is the package family name of your application

How to add folder to StorageLibrary without RequestAddFolderAsync in C#

I need to save app files to plugged SD card. I'm using UWP and Windows 10.
MSDN tells how to do it with Windows Libraries.
var myPicsLibrary = await Windows.Storage.StorageLibrary.GetLibraryAsync(Windows.Storage.KnownLibraryId.Pictures);
await myPicsLibrary.RequestAddFolderAsync();
RequestAddFolderAsync() shows file picker, where user can choose folder to add into Pictures. In my case it's a folder, created on SD card.
Is there a way to do this thing without file picker dialog?
I'm trying to do like this:
var myPicsLibrary = await Windows.Storage.StorageLibrary.GetLibraryAsync(Windows.Storage.KnownLibraryId.Pictures);
// Get the logical root folder for all external storage devices.
StorageFolder externalDevices = Windows.Storage.KnownFolders.RemovableDevices;
// Get the first child folder, which represents the SD card.
StorageFolder sdCard = (await externalDevices.GetFoldersAsync()).FirstOrDefault();
var folder = await sdCard.CreateFolderAsync("MySDCardFolder");
myPicsLibrary.Folders.Insert(myDocs.Folders.Count+1, folder); // NotImplementedException: 'The method or operation is not implemented.'
myPicsLibrary.Folders.Add(folder); // NotImplementedException: 'The method or operation is not implemented.'
Or maybe I can do the same without using Windows Libraries directly working with SDCard?
Thanks a lot!
EDIT:
In the another hand my question sounds like "How to save files to plugged SD card?"

The StorageLibrary.Folders gets the folders in the current library, it return the IObservableVector of the StorageFolder. When we add the folder into the IObservableVector, it will not change the folder in files system. It will throw the "The method or operation is not implemented." exception.
We should be able to get the name of the folder, and create the folder uses that name. Then we can StorageFile.CopyAsync method to copy the file that in your folder.
For example:
public static async Task CopyFolderAsync(StorageFolder source, StorageFolder destinationContainer, string desiredName = null)
{
StorageFolder destinationFolder = null;
destinationFolder = await destinationContainer.CreateFolderAsync(
desiredName ?? source.Name, CreationCollisionOption.ReplaceExisting);
foreach (var file in await source.GetFilesAsync())
{
await file.CopyAsync(destinationFolder, file.Name, NameCollisionOption.ReplaceExisting);
}
foreach (var folder in await source.GetFoldersAsync())
{
await CopyFolderAsync(folder, destinationFolder);
}
}
Then we can use the CopyFolderAsync method to copy the folder in the Picture Library.
var myPicsLibrary = await Windows.Storage.StorageLibrary.GetLibraryAsync(Windows.Storage.KnownLibraryId.Pictures);
var myfolder = myPicsLibrary.Folders[0];
StorageFolder externalDevices = Windows.Storage.KnownFolders.RemovableDevices;
StorageFolder sdCard = (await externalDevices.GetFoldersAsync()).FirstOrDefault();
var folder = await sdCard.CreateFolderAsync("MySDCardFolder");
await CopyFolderAsync(folder, myfolder);

As I get from your question you need to create a Folder in PicturesLibrary .
You can use the code below to add a folder into PicturesLibrary
await Windows.Storage.KnownFolders.PicturesLibrary.CreateFolderAsync("MySDCardFolder");
if you want to make it on SD Card only Maybe KnownFolders.RemovableDevices Should be helpful . I didn't used KnownFolders.RemovableDevices yet but if you have any issue let me know to test it on my phone directly

UWP Windows 10 C# Writing data to a new line in .txt file [duplicate]

I am looking for a way to append strings-text to a file in a Windows Store App. I have tried reading the file and then creating a new one to overwrite it but Windows Store Apps C# does not work like C where when creating a new file with the same name overwrites the old one. Currently my code is opening the old file, reading it's contents, deleting it and creating a new one with the content I read plus the content I wish to append.
I know there is a better way but I cannot seem to find it. So How may I append text to an already existent file in a Windows Store App (Windows RT)?
EDIT--
I tried this
var folder = Windows.ApplicationModel.Package.Current.InstalledLocation;
var file = await folder.GetFileAsync("feedlist.txt");
await Windows.Storage.FileIO.AppendTextAsync(file, s);
but I keep getting System.UnauthorizedAccessException
according to MSDN this happens when the file is readonly (I checked with right click properties, it's not) and if I do not have the necessary privileges to access the file
what should I do?

You can use the FileIO class to append to a file. For example ...
// Create a file in local storage
var folder = ApplicationData.Current.LocalFolder;
var file = await folder.CreateFileAsync("temp.txt", CreationCollisionOption.FailIfExists);
// Write some content to the file
await FileIO.WriteTextAsync(file, "some contents");
// Append additional content
await FileIO.AppendTextAsync(file, "some more text");
Check out the File Access Sample for more examples.

Using FileIO.AppendTextAsync is a good option.
Please find the code snippet for this.
First it creates a folder, if not exists. Otherwise it will not create.
Then it creates a file if not exists.
Finally appending the text in the file.
public static async void WriteTrace(TraceEventType eventType, string msg, [CallerMemberName] string methodName = "")
{
const string TEXT_FILE_NAME = "Trace.txt";
string logMessage = eventType.ToString() + "\t" + methodName + "\t" + msg ;
IEnumerable<string> lines = new List<string>() { logMessage };
StorageFolder localFolder = ApplicationData.Current.LocalFolder;
StorageFolder tempFolder = ApplicationData.Current.TemporaryFolder;
//if(localFolder.CreateFolderQuery(Windows.Storage.Search.CommonFolderQuery.)
StorageFolder LogFolder = await localFolder.CreateFolderAsync("LogFiles", CreationCollisionOption.OpenIfExists);
await LogFolder.CreateFileAsync(TEXT_FILE_NAME, CreationCollisionOption.OpenIfExists);
StorageFile logFile = await LogFolder.GetFileAsync(TEXT_FILE_NAME);
await FileIO.AppendLinesAsync(logFile, lines);
}

Windows Store Apps - Storage

I'm trying to read/write some text files from Local Storage:
KnownFolders.DocumentsLibrary
I have a simple text file that is stored in 'Documents' in my OneDrive folder, and I can read that fine. But when I write out another text file it gets created in my local 'Documents' folder for my PC, not the OneDrive folder. Why is that when I'm pointing to the same folder for both reading and writing, it reads from one location, but writes to another? Here is the method:
public static async void MyMethod()
{
var myFolder = KnownFolders.DocumentsLibrary;
Stream myStream = await myFolder.OpenStreamForReadAsync("readFromHere.txt");
string fileContents = "";
using (StreamReader streamReader = new StreamReader(myStream))
fileContents = streamReader.ReadToEnd();
var outputFile = await myFolder.CreateFileAsync("writeToHere.txt", CreationCollisionOption.OpenIfExists);
await FileIO.WriteTextAsync(outputFile, fileContents);
}