Walkthrough: Manipulating Files by Using .NET Framework Methods (Visual Basic)

This walkthrough demonstrates how to open and read a file using the StreamReader class, check to see if a file is being accessed, search for a string within a file read with an instance of the StreamReader class, and write to a file using the StreamWriter class.

Creating the Application

Start Visual Studio and begin the project by creating a form that the user can use to write to the designated file.

To create the project

1. On the File menu, select New Project.

2. In the New Project pane, click Windows Application.

3. In the Name box type MyDiary and click OK.

   Visual Studio adds the project to Solution Explorer, and the Windows Forms Designer opens.

4. Add the controls in the following table to the form and set the corresponding values for their properties.

Writing to the File

To add the ability to write to a file via the application, use the StreamWriter class. StreamWriter is designed for character output in a particular encoding, whereas the Stream class is designed for byte input and output. Use StreamWriter for writing lines of information to a standard text file. For more information on the StreamWriter class, see StreamWriter.

To add writing functionality

1. From the View menu, choose Code to open the Code Editor.

2. Because the application references the System.IO namespace, add the following statements at the very beginning of your code, before the class declaration for the form, which begins Public Class Form1.

   Imports System
   Imports System.IO
   

   Before writing to the file, you must create an instance of a StreamWriter class.

3. From the View menu, choose Designer to return to the Windows Forms Designer. Double-click the Submit button to create a Click event handler for the button, and then add the following code.

   Dim fw As StreamWriter
   

1. To write to the file, use the Write method of the StreamWriter class. Add the following code directly after Dim fw As StreamWriter. You do not need to worry that an exception will be thrown if the file is not found, because it will be created if it does not already exist.

   Dim ReadString As String 
   Try 
       'Pass the file path and name to the StreamWriter constructor. 
       'Indicate that Append is True, so file will not be overwritten.
       fw = New StreamWriter("C:\MyDiary.txt", True)
       ReadString = Entry.Text
       fw.WriteLine(ReadString)
   Finally 
       'Close the file.
       fw.Close()
   End Try
   

2. Make sure that the user cannot submit a blank entry by adding the following code directly after Dim ReadString As String.

   If (Entry.Text = "" Or Entry.Text = "Please enter something.") Then
       Entry.Text = "Please enter something." 
       Return 
   End If
   

3. Because this is a diary, the user will want to assign a date to each entry. Insert the following code after fw = New StreamWriter("C:\MyDiary.txt", True) to set the variable Today to the current date.

   Dim Today As DateTime
   Today = Now
   fw.Write(CStr(Today))
   fw.Write(ControlChars.CrLf)
   

4. Finally, attach code to clear the TextBox. Add the following code to the Clear button's Click event.

   Entry.Text = ""
   

Adding Display Features to the Diary

In this section, you add a feature that displays the latest entry in the DisplayEntryTextBox. You can also add a ComboBox that displays various entries and from which a user can select an entry to display in the DisplayEntryTextBox. An instance of the StreamReader class reads from MyDiary.txt. Like the StreamWriter class, StreamReader is intended for use with text files.

For this section of the walkthrough, add the controls in the following table to the form and set the corresponding values for their properties.

To populate the combo box

1. The PickEntriesComboBox is used to display the dates on which a user submits each entry, so the user can select an entry from a specific date. Create a Click event handler to the GetEntries button and add the following code.

   Dim fr As StreamReader = Nothing 
   Dim FileString As String
   FileString = "" 
   Try
       fr = New System.IO.StreamReader("C:\MyDiary.txt")
       PickEntries.Items.Clear()
       PickEntries.Enabled = True 
       Do
           FileString = fr.ReadLine
           If IsDate(FileString) Then
               PickEntries.Items.Add(FileString)
           End If 
       Loop Until (FileString Is Nothing)
   Finally 
       If fr IsNot Nothing Then
           fr.Close()
       End If 
   End Try
   PickEntries.Enabled = True
   

2. To test your code, press F5 to compile the application, and then click Get Entries. Click the drop-down arrow in the ComboBox to display the entry dates.

To choose and display individual entries

1. Create a Click event handler for the Display button and add the following code.

   Dim fr As StreamReader
   Dim ReadString As String 
   'Make sure ReadString begins empty.
   ReadString = "" 
   Dim FileString As String
   fr = New StreamReader("C:\MyDiary.txt")
   'If no entry has been selected, show the whole file. 
   If PickEntries.Enabled = False Or PickEntries.SelectedText Is Nothing Then 
       Do 
           'Read a line from the file into FileString.
           FileString = fr.ReadLine
           'add it to ReadString
           ReadString = ReadString & ControlChars.CrLf & FileString
       Loop Until (FileString = Nothing)
   Else 
       'An entry has been selected, find the line that matches. 
       Do
   
           FileString = fr.ReadLine
       Loop Until FileString = CStr(PickEntries.SelectedItem)
       FileString = CStr(PickEntries.SelectedItem) & ControlChars.CrLf
       ReadString = FileString & fr.ReadLine
   
       'Read from the file until EOF or another Date is found. 
       Do Until ((fr.Peek < 0) Or (IsDate(fr.ReadLine)))
           ReadString = ReadString & fr.ReadLine
       Loop 
   End If
   fr.Close()
   DisplayEntry.Visible = True
   DisplayEntry.Text = ReadString
   

2. To test your code, press F5 to compile the application, and then submit an entry. Click Get Entries, select an entry from the ComboBox, and then click Display. The contents of the selected entry appear in the DisplayEntryTextBox.

Enabling Users to Delete or Modify Entries

Finally, you can include additional functionality enables users to delete or modify an entry by using DeleteEntry and EditEntry buttons. Both buttons remain disabled unless an entry is displayed.

Add the controls in the following table to the form and set the corresponding values for their properties.

To enable deletion and modification of entries

1. Add the following code to the Display button's Click event, after DisplayEntry.Text = ReadString.

   DeleteEntry.enabled = True
   

2. Create a Click event handler for the DeleteEntry button and add the following code.

   Dim fr As StreamReader
   Dim ReadString As String 
   Dim WriteString As String 
   Dim ConfirmDelete As MsgBoxResult
   fr = New StreamReader("C:\MyDiary.txt")
   ReadString = fr.ReadLine
   ' Read through the textfile 
   Do Until (fr.Peek < 0)
       ReadString = ReadString & vbCrLf & fr.ReadLine
   Loop
   WriteString = Replace(ReadString, DisplayEntry.Text, "")
   fr.Close()
   ' Check to make sure the user wishes to delete the entry
   ConfirmDelete = MsgBox("Do you really wish to delete this entry?",
     MsgBoxStyle.OKCancel)
   If ConfirmDelete = MsgBoxResult.OK Then
       File.Delete("C:\MyDiary.txt")
       Dim fw As StreamWriter = File.CreateText("C:\MyDiary.txt")
       fw.WriteLine(WriteString)
       fw.Close()
       ' Reset controls on the form
       DisplayEntry.Text = ""
       PickEntries.Text = ""
       PickEntries.Items.Clear()
       PickEntries.Enabled = False
       DeleteEntry.Enabled = False 
   End If
   

3. When a user displays an entry, the EditEntry button becomes enabled. Add the following code to the Click event of the Display button after DisplayEntry.Text = ReadString.

   EditEntry.Enabled = True
   

4. Create a Click event handler for the EditEntry button and add the following code.

   Entry.Text = DisplayEntry.Text
   SubmitEdit.Enabled = True
   

5. Create a Click event handler for the SubmitEdit button and add the following code

   Dim fr As StreamReader
   Dim ReadString As String 
   Dim WriteString As String 
   If Entry.Text = "" Then
       MsgBox("Use Delete to Delete an Entry")
       Return 
   End If
   fr = New StreamReader("C:\MyDiary.txt")
   ReadString = fr.ReadLine
   Do Until (fr.Peek < 0)
       ReadString = ReadString & vbCrLf & fr.ReadLine
   Loop
   WriteString = Replace(ReadString, DisplayEntry.Text, Entry.Text)
   fr.Close()
   File.Delete("C:\MyDiary.txt")
   Dim fw As StreamWriter = File.CreateText("C:\MyDiary.txt")
   fw.WriteLine(WriteString)
   fw.Close()
   DisplayEntry.Text = Entry.Text
   Entry.Text = ""
   EditEntry.Enabled = False
   SubmitEdit.Enabled = False
   

To test your code, press F5 to compile the application. Click Get Entries, select an entry, and then click Display. The entry appears in the DisplayEntryTextBox. Click Edit Entry. The entry appears in the EntryTextBox. Edit the entry in the EntryTextBox and click Submit Edit. Open the MyDiary.txt file to confirm your correction. Now select an entry and click Delete Entry. When the MessageBox requests confirmation, click OK. Close the application and open MyDiary.txt to confirm the deletion.

See Also

Reference

StreamReader

StreamWriter

Other Resources

Visual Basic Language Walkthroughs