by TonyGG (5 Submissions)
Category: Files/File Controls/Input/Output
Compatability: Visual Basic 3.0
Difficulty: Intermediate
Date Added: Wed 3rd February 2021
Rating: 
(8 Votes)
File Input Output Append
VBcoders
File and Directory - Articles - Handling Files in Visual Basic - In, Out, Shake It All About
Handling Files in Visual Basic
By Alex Allan
In, Out,
Shake It All About
First off, let's take a look at the file modes input, output and
append. You use these three types to read or write plain text - such
as that found in .txt, .bat and .ini files.
But when should you use each mode? Well, it depends on what you
want to do. Use the following list to help you decide...
- The Output mode creates a blank file and allows you to
write information into it.
- The Append mode is similar to the Output mode but
appends (adds to) an existing file.
- The Input mode opens a file for reading.
Top Tip: You may hear these file modes being referred
to as 'sequential files'. That's 'cause once you have read or
written to a line, you can't go back to it unless you close and
re-open. In other words, the modes are one way – sequential.
So, for example, to open a file for output, you'd use the
Open statement like this:
Open "c:\windows\faq.txt" For Output As #1
That's all fine and dandy, but how do you use each mode
after you’ve opened the file?
To write to a file we use (Output and Append
only):
Print #filenumber, expression
To read from a file we use (Input only):
Input #filenumber, variablelist
This probably looks completely confusing at the moment, so let's
figure out what it all means.
Let's imagine you've opened a file for output, like
this...
Open "c:\groovy\myfile.txt" For Output As #1
...we now want to put information into this file using the Print
statement, like this:
Print #1, "Hello World!"
This inserts the information you pass it direct to the file in
#1.
If you'd opened a file for Input, like this...
Open "c:\groovy\myotherfile.txt" For Input As #1
...you can read information from the file, like
this...
Input #1, MyVariableName
This reads information from the file in #1 and puts it into your
variable.
Let's use an example - it's easier to explain that way!
Building a
Sample
Let's build a sample to demonstrate accessing files:
Open Visual Basic and double-click on "Standard EXE"
You should be left with a blank form.
- Throw a simple Text Box onto the form
- Go to the Properties window and change MultiLine to True
- Create two Command buttons, setting the caption of the first
to Read and the second to Write.
So far, it should look something like this:
width=228 border=1>
Now, double-click on Read and insert the following
code:
Private Sub Command1_Click()
'Outline: - Asks the user for a file.
' - Reads all the data into Text1.
Dim FilePath As String
Dim Data As String
FilePath = InputBox("Enter the path for a text file", "The Two R's", _
"C:\WINDOWS\WINNEWS.TXT")
'Asks the user for some input via an input box.
Open FilePath For Input As #1
'Opens the file given by the user.
Do Until EOF(1)
'Does this loop until End Of File(EOF) for file number 1.
Line Input #1, Data
'Read one line and puts it into the varible Data.
Text1.Text = Text1.Text & vbCrLf & Data
'Adds the read line into Text1.
MsgBox EOF(1)
Loop
Close #1
'Closes this file.
End Sub
Read the comments (anything prefixed by an apostrophe).
Next, double-click on Write and insert the following
code:
Private Sub Command2_Click()
'Outline: - Asks the user for a file.
' - Writes it all to a the file.
Dim FilePath As String
FilePath = InputBox("Enter the path for a text file", _
"The Two R's")
'Asks the user for some input via an input box.
Open FilePath For Output As #1
'Opens the file given by the user (for Output).
Print #1, Text1.Text
'Writes the data into the file number #1
Close #1
End Sub
Once again, read all the comments. Do you understand what's
happening?
Hit F5 to run your program!
Congratulations! You've just created a simple text editor. The
Write button performs a simple 'Save As' whilst the Read button is
the equivalent of 'Open'.
Didn't I
Mention Those?
You may have noticed a few things in my code that I haven't told
you about. Let's take a peek at a few geeky code words...
Line Input #filenumber, MyVariableName
- This is the same as Input but it reads the whole line instead
of stopping at a comma (which can be useful - sometimes)
EOF(#filenumber)
- This outputs a true or false value, depending on whether it has
hit the 'end' of the file. In my code, I used it in the Do…Loop for
Read. When EOF=True, the loop ends.
Close #filenumber
- This closes the file. It allows other files to open this
file.
And if you'll be getting real friendly with files in Visual
Basic, here are a few other file writing functions you may be
interested in:
Write #filenumber, outputlist
This is similar to Print but it writes "screen formatted data"
instead of raw data to a file. This means that values (numbers) have
hashes ("#") put around them and strings have quote marks put around
them. This makes the text less human readable but easier to read for
your programs.
LOC(#filenumber)
The LOC function returns the current read/write position within
an open file.
LOF(#filenumber)
The LOF function gives you the length of the file
open.
FreeFile
This will give you next available file number.
Example:
MyFileNumber = FreeFile
Open "c:\windows\faq.txt" For Input as #MyFileNumber
Input$(number_of_chars_to_return, #filenumber)
This is the same as Input and Line Input except it has no limits
(except the ones you set in number_of_chars_to_return). By using LOF
- this can be used to get the whole file. We could replace all the
stuff in the Do…Loop in the Read button, with:
Text1.Text = Input$(LOF(1),#1)
Why not have a play around and see what these do? Go on, have a
go!
That's about it for the Input, Output and Append modes.