Developer Resources
File
Overview
The File class exposes functions which allow access to binary and text files.
Properties
- FileMode.Create
- A flag specifying that a file should explicitly be created.
- FileMode.Open
- A flag specifying that a file should explicitly be opened.
- FileMode.OpenOrCreate
- A flag specifying that a file should be opened if it already exists or created if it doesn't exist.
- FileMode.Append
- A flag specifying that a file should be opened and appended to.
- FileAccess.Read
- A flag specifying that a file should be opened only with read rights.
- FileAccess.Write
- A flag specifying that a file should be opened only with write rights.
- FileAccess.ReadWrite
- A flag specifying that a file should be opened with both read and write rights.
- FileShare.None
- A flag specifying that a file can only be accessed by one process at a time.
- FileShare.Read
- A flag specifying that a file can be read by multiple processes at the same time.
- FileShare.Write
- A flag specifying that a file can be written to by multiple processes at the same time.
- FileShare.ReadWrite
- A flag specifying that a file can be read from and written to by multiple processes at the same time.
- SeekOrigin.Begin
- A flag specifying the seek location at the beginning of the file.
- SeekOrigin.Current
- A flag specifying the seel location at the current location in the file.
- SeekOrigin.End
- A flag specifying the seek location at the end of the file.
Methods
- File.appendText
- Opens a text file for appending.
- File.copy
- Copies a file.
- File.createText
- Creates a text file
- File.delete
- Deletes a file.
- File.exists
- Determines whether a file exists.
- File.getTempFilename
- Generates a unique filename for a temporary file.
- File.move
- Moves a file.
- File.open
- Opens a file for reading or writing.
- File.openText
- Opens a text file for reading.
Example
// create a binary file
var f = File.open("data.bin",
FileMode.Create,
FileAccess.ReadWrite,
FileShare.None);
// make a buffer with some data to write
var buf = new MemoryBuffer(3);
buf[0] = 0;
buf[1] = 1;
buf[2] = 2;
// write the buffer to the file
f.write(buf, 0, 3);
// close the file
f.close();
// check to make sure it exists
if (File.exists("data.bin"))
{
alert("file created successfully.");
}
// open up the file for reading
f = File.open("data.bin",
FileMode.Open,
FileAccess.Read,
FileShare.None);
buf.clear();
// read 3 bytes from the file
f.read(buf, 0, 3);
alert("The following value should be 2. It is: " + buf[2]);
File.appendText
- static function File.appendText(filename : String) : TextWriter
Arguments
- filename
- The file to append to.
Returns
Returns a TextWriter object, or null if a problem occurred.
Description
Opens a file specified by the filename parameter for appending. If the file does not already exist, it is created.
File.copy
- static function File.copy(source : String, destination) : Boolean
Arguments
- source
- The file to copy.
- destination
- The name of the newly copied file.
Returns
Returns true upon success, and false otherwise.
Description
Copies the source file to a new destination file. Returns true if the new file was created and false otherwise.
File.createText
- static function File.createText(filename : String) : TextWriter
Arguments
- filename
- The file to create.
Returns
Returns the method returns a TextWriter object, or null if a problem was encountered.
Description
Creates a text file using the filename specified in the filename parameter. If the file already exists, it will be overwritten.
File.delete
- static function File.delete(filename : String) : Boolean
Arguments
- filename
- The file to delete.
Returns
Returns true upon success, and false otherwise.
Description
Deletes the file specified by filename and returns a boolean value indicating success or failure.
File.exists
- static function File.exists(filename : String) : Boolean
Arguments
- filename
- The path to the file to check for existence.
Returns
Returns true if the file exists, and false otherwise.
Description
Determines whether the file specified by filename exists.
File.getTempFilename
- static function File.getTempFilename() : String
Returns
Returns fully-qualified path for a temporary file.
Description
Generates a unique filename for a temporary file. The function will use the system's default temporary path. For Windows systems, the path will be the users configured temporary directory (usually in C:\Documents and Settings\(user name)\Local Settings\Temp). For Linux systems, this will usually be the /tmp directory.
File.move
- static function File.move(file_path : String, new_file_path) : Boolean
Arguments
- file_path
- The file to move.
- new_file_path
- The path of the newly moved file.
Returns
Returns true upon success, and false otherwise.
Description
Moves the file specified by file_path to the new_file_path and returns a boolean value indicating success or failure.
File.open
- static function File.open(filename : String, file_mode : FileMode, file_access : FileAccess, file_share : FileShare) : FileStream
Arguments
- filename
- The file to open.
- file_mode
- Specifies the behavior of the open call. Specifies whether the file should be created, opened, or opened and then created if it doesn't already exist. One of FileMode.Create, FileMode.Open or FileMode.OpenOrCreate.
- file_access
- Specifies the desired file access (read, write). One of FileAccess.Append, FileAccess.Read, FileAccess.Write, or FileAccess.ReadWrite.
- file_share
- Specifies the file sharing flags. One of FileShare.None, FileShare.Read, FileShare.Write or FileShare.ReadWrite.
Returns
Returns a FileStream object, or null if an error was encountered.
Description
Opens the file specified by filename, applying the functionality requested by the file_mode, file_access and file_share parameters.
File.openText
- static function File.openText(filename : String) : TextReader
Arguments
- filename
- The file to open.
Returns
Returns a TextReader object, or null if an error occurred.
Description
Opens the text file specified by filename and returns a TextReader object.