Working With FileInfo (StreamWriter, StreamReader) In C#

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In C# File Class and FileInfo Class, both have the same functionality but in FileInfo we have more control over the file. It Comes under the System.IO; Namespace.

StreamWriter

Stream writer comes under System.IO, it provides a number of methods some of them you can find below

  • Write
  • WriteAsync
  • WriteLine
  • WriteLineAsync

Let's See Some Examples.

Create a New file:

string fileInfo = @"C:\Users\PC\Desktop\Example.txt";
using (StreamWriter streamWriter = new StreamWriter(fileInfo))
{
	streamWriter.Write("this is new line");
}

Create a New file using FileStream:

string fileInfo = @"C:\Users\PC\Desktop\Example.txt";
FileStream fileStream = new FileStream(fileInfo, FileMode.CreateNew); 
using (StreamWriter streamWriter = new StreamWriter(fileStream))
{
	streamWriter.Write("this is another line");
}

StreamReader

Stream reader also comes under System.IO, it provides a number of methods some of them you can find below

  • Peak
  • Read
  • ReadAsync
  • ReadBlock
  • ReadBlockAsync
  • ReadLine
  • ReadLineAsync
  • ReadToEnd
  • ReadToEndAsync

Example:

FileInfo fileInfo = new FileInfo(@"C:\Users\PC\Desktop\Example.txt");
using (StreamReader streamReader = fileInfo.OpenText())
{
	var gettext = "";
	while((gettext = streamReader.ReadLine()) != null)
	{
		Console.WriteLine(gettext);
	}
}

Output:

Remove All the previous Text

Use the FileInfo class for common operations such as copying, moving, renaming, creating, opening, deleting, and adding files.

If you perform multiple operations on the same file, it may be more efficient to use the FileInfo instance methods instead of the corresponding static methods in the file class, because a security check is not always required. Many FileInfo methods return different types of I / O when you create or open files. See specific FileInfo members such as Open, OpenRead, OpenText, CreateText, or Create for more information.

The FileInfo class provides the following properties that you can use to obtain information about a file. See the property pages for an example of how to use each property.

  • From the Directory gets an object that is a property's parent directory.
  • The directory name property gets the full path to a file's parent directory.
  • The Exist property checks for the presence of a file before starting it.
  • The IsReadOnly property gets or sets a value that indicates whether a file can be edited.
  • The length will be according to file size.
  • The name gets the name of a file.
Method Usage
AppendText Creates a StreamWriter that appends text to the file represented by this instance of the FileInfo.
CopyTo Copies an existing file to a new file, disallowing the overwriting of an existing file.
Create Creates a file.
CreateText Creates a StreamWriter that writes a new text file.
Delete Permanently deletes a file.
Encrypt Encrypts a file so that only the account used to encrypt the file can decrypt it.
Equals Determines whether the specified object is equal to the current object.
MoveTo Moves a specified file to a new location, providing the option to specify a new file name.
Open Opens a file in the specified mode.
OpenRead Creates a read-only FileStream.
OpenText Creates a StreamReader with UTF8 encoding that reads from an existing text file.
OpenWrite Creates a write-only FileStream.
Refresh Refreshes the state of the object.
Replace Replaces the contents of a specified file with the file described by the current FileInfo object, deleting the original file, and creating a backup of the replaced file.
ToString Returns the path as a string. Use the Name property for the full path.
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