I have a Visual Basic Studio 2008 project that I need to deploy in 3 separate server environments. Each of those environments has a different filepath for file storage, but other than that the execution of the programs will be exactly the same in all environments.
In order to accomplish this, I'd like to instruct the program to look at a text file in the same folder as itself for the file storage file path for its environment; then i can just clone the same VB program 3 times and change the contents of the text files whenever the storage locations change.
Before publishing an executable file, I can store the text file in the bin->debug folder and use any of the VB relative path methods that I've come across (App.Path, System.IO.getcurrentdirectory, My.Application.info.directoryPath, etc) to access it with no problem. When I publish the project, however, these find the relative path of the program as buried deep within the installed user's appdata. I want to access the text file on the server where the user goes to run the executable.
So my question is: how can i get the filepath of the published executable location? I have searched for 4 hours and have been unsuccessful in finding an answer.
Relevant code:
dim fso as new scripting.filesystemobject
dim ts as scripting.textStream
ts = fso.opentextfile(My.Application.Info.DirectoryPath & "\HostFiles\rootDir.txt")
rootDir = ts.ReadAll
topDir = rootDir & 'rest of file storage location
Maybe you could try this if you are using VB.Net:
Application.StartupPath
Eg:
Dim strContent As String = IO.File.ReadAllText(Application.StartupPath & "\HostFiles\rootDir.txt")
Related
I found a similar question but it was 5 years 8 months old, had 2 replies and neither worked for me (VB.Net Read txt file from current directory)
My issue is that when I use the following code:
Dim fileReader As String
fileReader = My.Computer.FileSystem.ReadAllText(Application.StartupPath & "\Username_And_Password_Raw.txt")
Dim usernameAndPassword = Split(fileReader, ",")
I get an error saying:
System.IO.FileNotFoundException: 'Could not find file 'C:\Users\wubsy\source\repos\NEA Stock Page System\NEA Stock Page System\bin\Debug\net6.0-windows\Username_And_Password_Raw.txt'.'
I have tried using all the different Applications.BLANKPath options I can find (ie; StartupPath, CommonAppDataPath, etc.) and they all return essentially the same error only with a different location.
This is the folder layout of my TXT File - I know it's a terrible, incredibly insecure and generally awful way of storing login information but this is just for a NEA so will never ever actually be used
This is the actual path of the TXT File if it helps
C:\Users\wubsy\source\repos\NEA Stock Page System\NEA Stock Page System\Username_And_Password_Raw.txt
The startup path is where your exe is located. That and all supporting files get copied to a binary directory when you compile in visual studio, in your case
C:\Users\wubsy\source\repos\NEA Stock Page System\NEA Stock Page System\bin\Debug\net6.0-windows
But what you're trying to do, reference the file where it sits in your solution, is probably not the best way to do it, and your code above will work (with a change, will mention later) if you change the properties of the file in the solution.
Right click on the file in the Solution Explorer Username_And_Password_Raw.txt, select Properties. Modify Copy to Output Directory to either Copy always / Copy if newer, depending on your requirement. Now that file will copy to the same directory your exe is in, and the code above should work.
Note, when creating a path, don't use string concatenation because you may have too many or too few \; use Path.Combine:
Dim filePath = Path.Combine(Application.StartupPath, "Username_And_Password_Raw.txt"
Dim fileContents = My.Computer.FileSystem.ReadAllText(filePath)
I am working in Visual Basic 2017. I have tried to add the file to the Debug folder, but then it just shows that the txt file ienter image description heres missing. I don't have the option under the "Word Solution".. How can I make the file show up? It keeps telling me it doesn't exist.
Dim inFile As IO.StreamReader
Const FileName As String = "words.txt"
Dim subscript As Integer
You can get the path of the directory (Debug or Release or any other) of the *.exe file with:
Dim directory as String = My.Application.Info.DirectoryPath
Using this information, you can then construct the full path with
Dim path As String = IO.Path.Combine(directory, FileName)
If IO.File.Exists(path) Then
...
You can check in Windows File Explorer to see where the file actually is (notice the Copy Path on the ribbon). In File Explorer you will see that the .exe you are running is down 2 directories from the Words Project directory. The double dots in the path is an old DOS way to navigating around directories without having to type out the whole path. This tells the compiler to find the file up 2 directories from the current directory.
For testing purposes this will work. For a release version you could add the file to Resources and access it the same way in any version.
You don't need a stream for a text file. .ReadAllLines returns an array of the lines in the text file
Private Sub OpCode()
Dim words = File.ReadAllLines("..\..\words.txt")
End Sub
Is there a way of grabbing the location of the My.Settings user.config location? So for example I want to be able in VB to grab the path of the user.cofing file path to a string
The reason I ask is that I have an application where the user.config file is backed up and then restored, the issue is that with the my.settings folder structure it uses a unique hash with the folder name meaning that I cannot write into the code a static folder path, instead I need to be able to grab the location of the user.config OR be able to get the folder name of the application AppData.
Any ideas?
To put this in perspective, currently I'm using something like this:
Dim filePath As String
filePath = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.LocalApplicationData) & "\My_App\My_App.exe_Url_<the_hash_that_changes_causing_issues>\1.0.0.0\user.config"
Because of the hash change this will not always work
Try executing this code:
Dim mainConfig = ConfigurationManager.OpenExeConfiguration(ConfigurationUserLevel.None)
Dim userConfig = ConfigurationManager.OpenExeConfiguration(ConfigurationUserLevel.PerUserRoaming)
Dim userLocalConfig = ConfigurationManager.OpenExeConfiguration(ConfigurationUserLevel.PerUserRoamingAndLocal)
Console.WriteLine(mainConfig.FilePath)
Console.WriteLine(userConfig.FilePath)
Console.WriteLine(userLocalConfig.FilePath)
You'll need to reference System.Configuration.dll and import System.Configuration.
I feel really stupid for having to ask this (I'm not a professional): during the development/design/debugging process, where do files created in the LocalAppData go? I haven't yet finished my project, so it hasn't yet been installed on any machines. Parts of my code are supposed to write information to a text file in the LocalAppData directory. However, when I run my program for testing/debugging, the text files are nowhere to be found.
Dim dir As String = System.Environment.GetFolderPath(System.Environment.SpecialFolder.LocalApplicationData) & "\MyFolder\"
Dim path As String = dir & DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd HH-mm-ss") & ".txt"
If Not Directory.Exists(dir) Then
Directory.CreateDirectory(dir)
End If
Using writer As New StreamWriter(path, True)
writer.WriteLine(message)
writer.Close()
End Using
Are these files being created somewhere else? Are there special dummy folders hidden somewhere for development purposes? I tried changing the directory to Desktop and it worked. What gives?
I wrote a program that reads from text files and can create them to load and save data. I have a few files that are the "default" data that are loaded as soon as the program start. The files are loaded by a static reference. My code runs fine before I publish it, but obviously when I publish it, the static references no longer work. I don't know how to add the default data to the build as distinct text files so that I can still reference it after the build.
I imagine being able to build the program and have some sort of folder that accompanies the executable with the default data files in them that I can easily reference, but I don't know how to do that (or if there is a better way).
Below is the start of the code I use to read from the file. Currently, the default data's file name is passed statically into the sub and is used to identify the file to read from, so I'd like to have a published file that I can do the same thing with.
Try
Dim sr As New IO.StreamReader(FileName)
Dim strLine As String = ""
Do Until sr.EndOfStream
strLine = sr.ReadLine
'Code that interprets the data in the file
Note: I've tried adding the files as "Resources" but I can't seem to reference the file as a text file; I can only retrieve the massive wall of text contained within the document which won't work with the above code (unless of course I'm missing something).
If you could clarify:
How do I add a file to a build so that I can still access it
collectively by a file name?
How will my code reference the files (e.g. by
"My.Resources.filename"?) in the final build?
You can add the file to the build as either a content file or an embedded resource.
For a content file, set the Build Action of the file to 'content', and Copy to Output Directory to 'Copy Always' in the file properties. You can then access the file like this:
FileName = Application.StartupPath() = + FileName
Dim sr As New IO.StreamReader(FileName)
...
To embed the file as a resource you have to set the Build Action of the file to 'Embedded Resource' and Copy to Output Directory to false.
This Microsoft support page has a walkthough about accessing embedded resources. The code would be something like this:
Dim sr As StreamReader
Dim thisAssembly As Assembly
thisAssembly = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly()
sr = New StreamReader(thisAssembly.GetManifestResourceStream("NameSpace." + FileName))
Dim strLine As String = ""
Do Until sr.EndOfStream
strLine = sr.ReadLine
'Code that interprets the data in the file
...
Replace NameSpace with the namespace of your application (Project Properties -> Application -> root namespace)
You also have to add Imports System.Reflection at the top of your code file.
Using an embedded resource has the advantage of less files to manage, and you don't have to keep track of paths.