TextFieldParser.ReadFields Method (Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO)

.NET Framework Class Library

TextFieldParser..::.ReadFields Method

Reads all fields on the current line, returns them as an array of strings, and advances the cursor to the next line containing data.

Namespace: Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO
Assembly: Microsoft.VisualBasic (in Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

Public Function ReadFields As String()

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As TextFieldParser
Dim returnValue As String()

returnValue = instance.ReadFields()

public string[] ReadFields()

Visual C++

public:
array<String^>^ ReadFields()

JScript

public function ReadFields() : String[]

Return Value

Type: array<System..::.String>[]()[]
String ().

Remarks

For more detailed information, see the Visual Basic topic TextFieldParser.ReadFields Method.

In order to allow users to parse text files in multiple formats, the ReadFields method examines the values of TextFieldType, Delimiters, and FieldWidths, if they are specified, each time it is called. Users need to correctly configure the TextFieldType and FieldWidths or Delimiters properties, as appropriate. If TextFieldType is set to Delimited, and Delimiters is not set, or if TextFieldType is set to FixedWidth and FieldWidths, an exception is thrown.

If ReadFields encounters blank lines, they are skipped and the next non-blank line is returned.

The following table lists examples of tasks involving the ReadFields method.

To	See
Read from a delimited file	How to: Read From Comma-Delimited Text Files in Visual Basic
Read from a fixed-width file	How to: Read From Fixed-width Text Files in Visual Basic

Examples

This example uses the ReadFields method to read from the file ParserText.txt and write the fields to Testfile.txt.

Visual Basic

Using MyReader As New Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.TextFieldParser("C:\ParserText.txt")
    MyReader.TextFieldType = Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.FieldType.Delimited
    MyReader.Delimiters = New String() {","}
    Dim currentRow As String()
    While Not MyReader.EndOfData
        Try
            currentRow = MyReader.ReadFields()
            For Each currentField As String In currentRow
                My.Computer.FileSystem.WriteAllText _
                ("C://testfile.txt", currentField, True)
            Next
        Catch ex As Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.MalformedLineException
            MsgBox("Line " & ex.Message & " is invalid.  Skipping")
        End Try
    End While
End Using

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

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