.NET Framework Class Library
File..::.Open Method (String, FileMode)

Opens a FileStream on the specified path with read/write access.

Namespace:  System.IO
Assembly:  mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)
Public Shared Function Open ( _
    path As String, _
    mode As FileMode _
) As FileStream
Visual Basic (Usage)
Dim path As String
Dim mode As FileMode
Dim returnValue As FileStream

returnValue = File.Open(path, mode)
C#
public static FileStream Open(
    string path,
    FileMode mode
)
Visual C++
public:
static FileStream^ Open(
    String^ path, 
    FileMode mode
)
JScript
public static function Open(
    path : String, 
    mode : FileMode
) : FileStream

Parameters

path
Type: System..::.String
The file to open.
mode
Type: System.IO..::.FileMode
A FileMode value that specifies whether a file is created if one does not exist, and determines whether the contents of existing files are retained or overwritten.

Return Value

Type: System.IO..::.FileStream
A FileStream opened in the specified mode and path, with read/write access and not shared.
Exceptions

ExceptionCondition
ArgumentException

path is a zero-length string, contains only white space, or contains one or more invalid characters as defined by InvalidPathChars.

ArgumentNullException

path is nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).

PathTooLongException

The specified path, file name, or both exceed the system-defined maximum length. For example, on Windows-based platforms, paths must be less than 248 characters, and file names must be less than 260 characters.

DirectoryNotFoundException

The specified path is invalid, (for example, it is on an unmapped drive).

IOException

An I/O error occurred while opening the file.

UnauthorizedAccessException

path specified a file that is read-only.

-or-

This operation is not supported on the current platform.

-or-

path specified a directory.

-or-

The caller does not have the required permission.

ArgumentOutOfRangeException

mode specified an invalid value.

FileNotFoundException

The file specified in path was not found.

NotSupportedException

path is in an invalid format.

Remarks

This method is equivalent to the FileStream(String, FileMode, FileAccess, FileShare) constructor overload.

The path parameter is permitted to specify relative or absolute path information. Relative path information is interpreted as relative to the current working directory. To obtain the current working directory, see GetCurrentDirectory.

For a list of common I/O tasks, see Common I/O Tasks.

Examples

The following code example creates a temporary file and writes some text to it. The example then opens the file, using T:System.IO.FileMode.Open; that is, if the file did not already exist, it would not be created.

Visual Basic
Imports System
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Text

Public Class Test
    Public Shared Sub Main()
        ' Create a temporary file, and put some data into it.
        Dim path1 As String = Path.GetTempFileName()
        Dim fs As FileStream = File.Open(path1, _
            FileMode.Open, _
            FileAccess.Write, _
            FileShare.None)
        Dim info As Byte() = New UTF8Encoding(True).GetBytes("This is some text in the file.")
        ' Add some information to the file.
        fs.Write(info, 0, info.Length)
        fs.Close()

        '
        ' Open the stream and read it back.
        '
        fs = File.Open(path1, FileMode.Open)
        Dim b(1024) As Byte
        Dim temp As UTF8Encoding = New UTF8Encoding(True)
        Do While fs.Read(b, 0, b.Length) > 0
            Console.WriteLine(temp.GetString(b))
        Loop
        fs.Close()
    End Sub
End Class
C#
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Text;

class Test 
{
    public static void Main() 
    {
        // Create a temporary file, and put some data into it.
        string path = Path.GetTempFileName();
        using (FileStream fs = File.Open(path, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Write, FileShare.None)) 
        {
            Byte[] info = new UTF8Encoding(true).GetBytes("This is some text in the file.");
            // Add some information to the file.
            fs.Write(info, 0, info.Length);
        }


        // Open the stream and read it back.
        using (FileStream fs = File.Open(path, FileMode.Open)) 
        {
            byte[] b = new byte[1024];
            UTF8Encoding temp = new UTF8Encoding(true);

            while (fs.Read(b,0,b.Length) > 0) 
            {
                Console.WriteLine(temp.GetString(b));
            }
        }
    }
}
Visual C++
using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Text;

int main()
{
   // Create a temporary file, and put some data into it.
   String^ path = Path::GetTempFileName();
   FileStream^ fs = File::Open( path, FileMode::Open, FileAccess::Write, FileShare::None );
   try
   {
      array<Byte>^info = (gcnew UTF8Encoding( true ))->GetBytes( "This is some text in the file." );

      // Add some information to the file.
      fs->Write( info, 0, info->Length );
   }
   finally
   {
      if ( fs )
            delete (IDisposable^)fs;
   }

   // Open the stream and read it back.
   fs = File::Open( path, FileMode::Open );
   try
   {
      array<Byte>^b = gcnew array<Byte>(1024);
      UTF8Encoding^ temp = gcnew UTF8Encoding( true );
      while ( fs->Read( b, 0, b->Length ) > 0 )
      {
         Console::WriteLine( temp->GetString( b ) );
      }
   }
   finally
   {
      if ( fs )
            delete (IDisposable^)fs;
   }
}
.NET Framework Security

Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Xbox 360, Zune

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.
Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0

.NET Compact Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 2.0, 1.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: 3.0, 2.0, 1.0
See Also

Reference

Other Resources

Tags :


Page view tracker