BinaryReader Class

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Security.Permissions;

// Store and retrieve application settings.
class AppSettings
{
    const string fileName = "AppSettings#@@#.dat";
    float  aspectRatio;
    string lookupDir;
    int    autoSaveTime;
    bool   showStatusBar;

    public AppSettings()
    {
        // Create default application settings.
        aspectRatio   = 1.3333F;
        lookupDir     = @"C:\AppDirectory";
        autoSaveTime  = 30;
        showStatusBar = false;

        if(File.Exists(fileName))
        {
            BinaryReader binReader =
                new BinaryReader(File.Open(fileName, FileMode.Open));
            try
            {
                // If the file is not empty,
                // read the application settings.
                // First read 4 bytes into a buffer to
                // determine if the file is empty.
                byte[] testArray = new byte[3];
                int count = binReader.Read(testArray, 0, 3);

                if (count != 0)
                {
                    // Reset the position in the stream to zero.
                    binReader.BaseStream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);

                    aspectRatio   = binReader.ReadSingle();
                    lookupDir     = binReader.ReadString();
                    autoSaveTime  = binReader.ReadInt32();
                    showStatusBar = binReader.ReadBoolean();
                }
            }

            // If the end of the stream is reached before reading
            // the four data values, ignore the error and use the
            // default settings for the remaining values.
            catch(EndOfStreamException e)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("{0} caught and ignored. " +
                    "Using default values.", e.GetType().Name);
            }
            finally
            {
                binReader.Close();
            }
        }

    }

    // Create a file and store the application settings.
    public void Close()
    {
        using(BinaryWriter binWriter =
            new BinaryWriter(File.Open(fileName, FileMode.Create)))
        {
            binWriter.Write(aspectRatio);
            binWriter.Write(lookupDir);
            binWriter.Write(autoSaveTime);
            binWriter.Write(showStatusBar);
        }
    }

    public float AspectRatio
    {
        get{ return aspectRatio; }
        set{ aspectRatio = value; }
    }

    public string LookupDir
    {
        get{ return lookupDir; }
        set{ lookupDir = value; }
    }

    public int AutoSaveTime
    {
        get{ return autoSaveTime; }
        set{ autoSaveTime = value; }
    }

    public bool ShowStatusBar
    {
        get{ return showStatusBar; }
        set{ showStatusBar = value; }
    }
}

class Test
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Load application settings.
        AppSettings appSettings = new AppSettings();
        Console.WriteLine("App settings:\nAspect Ratio: {0}, " +
            "Lookup directory: {1},\nAuto save time: {2} minutes, " +
            "Show status bar: {3}\n",
            new Object[4]{appSettings.AspectRatio.ToString(),
            appSettings.LookupDir, appSettings.AutoSaveTime.ToString(),
            appSettings.ShowStatusBar.ToString()});

        // Change the settings.
        appSettings.AspectRatio   = 1.250F;
        appSettings.LookupDir     = @"C:\Temp";
        appSettings.AutoSaveTime  = 10;
        appSettings.ShowStatusBar = true;

        // Save the new settings.
        appSettings.Close();
    }
}