File.CreateText(String) Method

Definition

Creates or opens a file for writing UTF-8 encoded text. If the file already exists, its contents are replaced.

public:
 static System::IO::StreamWriter ^ CreateText(System::String ^ path);
public static System.IO.StreamWriter CreateText (string path);
static member CreateText : string -> System.IO.StreamWriter
Public Shared Function CreateText (path As String) As StreamWriter

Parameters

path
String

The file to be opened for writing.

Returns

A StreamWriter that writes to the specified file using UTF-8 encoding.

Exceptions

The caller does not have the required permission.

-or-

path specified a file that is read-only.

-or-

path specified a file that is hidden.

.NET Framework and .NET Core versions older than 2.1: path is a zero-length string, contains only white space, or contains one or more invalid characters. You can query for invalid characters by using the GetInvalidPathChars() method.

path is null.

The specified path, file name, or both exceed the system-defined maximum length.

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

path is in an invalid format.

Examples

The following example creates a file for text writing and reading.

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
int main()
{
   String^ path = "c:\\temp\\MyTest.txt";
   if ( !File::Exists( path ) )
   {
      
      // Create a file to write to.
      StreamWriter^ sw = File::CreateText( path );
      try
      {
         sw->WriteLine( "Hello" );
         sw->WriteLine( "And" );
         sw->WriteLine( "Welcome" );
      }
      finally
      {
         if ( sw )
                  delete (IDisposable^)sw;
      }
   }
   
   // Open the file to read from.
   StreamReader^ sr = File::OpenText( path );
   try
   {
      String^ s = "";
      while ( s = sr->ReadLine() )
      {
         Console::WriteLine( s );
      }
   }
   finally
   {
      if ( sr )
            delete (IDisposable^)sr;
   }
}
using System;
using System.IO;

class Test
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        string path = @"c:\temp\MyTest.txt";
        if (!File.Exists(path))
        {
            // Create a file to write to.
            using (StreamWriter sw = File.CreateText(path))
            {
                sw.WriteLine("Hello");
                sw.WriteLine("And");
                sw.WriteLine("Welcome");
            }	
        }

        // Open the file to read from.
        using (StreamReader sr = File.OpenText(path))
        {
            string s = "";
            while ((s = sr.ReadLine()) != null)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(s);
            }
        }
    }
}
open System.IO

let path = @"c:\temp\MyTest.txt"

if File.Exists path |> not then
    // Create a file to write to.
    use sw = File.CreateText path
    sw.WriteLine "Hello"
    sw.WriteLine "Welcome"

// Open the file to read from.
do
    use sr = File.OpenText path
    let mutable s = sr.ReadLine()

    while isNull s |> not do
        printfn $"{s}"
        s <- sr.ReadLine()
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Text

Public Class Test
  Public Shared Sub Main()
    Dim path As String = "c:\temp\MyTest.txt"

    If Not File.Exists(path) Then
      ' Create a file to write to. 
      Using sw As StreamWriter = File.CreateText(path)
        sw.WriteLine("Hello")
        sw.WriteLine("And")
        sw.WriteLine("Welcome")
      End Using
    End If

    ' Open the file to read from. 
    Using sr As StreamReader = File.OpenText(path)
      Do While sr.Peek() >= 0
        Console.WriteLine(sr.ReadLine())
      Loop
    End Using

  End Sub
End Class

Remarks

This method is equivalent to the StreamWriter(String, Boolean) constructor overload with the append parameter set to false. If the file specified by path does not exist, it is created. If the file does exist, its contents are replaced. Additional threads are permitted to read the file while it is open.

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.

Applies to

See also