HTML clipboardUnder Windows, the file system is divided into files and directories (or
folders). Files are the actual files of data, while directories are repositories
for logical placement of files on your system. Under the System.IO namespace,
the common language runtime (CLR) has the classes File, FileInfo, Directory, and
DirectoryInfo to deal with files and directories.
File and FileInfo Classes
The basic functionality of both the File class and FileInfo class is the same.
It differs only in that the File class provides static methods to deal with
files whereas the FileInfo class provides instance methods to deal with files.
The choice belongs to the programmer. Table 1.1 below shows a side-byside
comparison of the two file manipulation class methods:
File Class (Static Methods) FileInfo Class Use Copy CopyTo Copy a file to a
destination path. Create Create Create a file. Delete Delete Delete the file.
Exists Exists (property) Check whether the file exists. Note: The File class
implements a method Exists while the FileInfo class implements Exists as a
property. Move MoveTo Move the file to a destination path. Open Open Open a
FileStream to the file.
Table 1.1: File and FileInfo class members
The FileInfo class has a single constructor that takes a single parameter of a
string containing the path to the file. The path to the file can be a fully
qualified path or a relative one. The file need not exist when you make a
FileInfo object, so making FileInfo objects is as simple as the code shown in
below example.
Example of Constructing a FileInfo Object
Dim
f1 As
New
FileInfo("c:\temp\readme.txt")
//Fully qualified path
Dim f2
As
New
FileInfo("\db\myData.xml")//Relational path
Dim f3
As
New
FileInfo(@"\db\myData.xml")//Use of a verbatim
string literal
You can use the at symbol (@) to define a verbatim string that does not need to
have an escape sequence in it, making it easier to read.
Some of the important properties of the FileInfo class are Attributes,
CreationTime, DirectoryName, Exists, FullName, Length, and Name.
Since the File class consists of static methods, you can perform many of the
necessary file functions without creating an instance of the file, as shown in
next example.
Example of Using Static File Methods
File.Copy(@"c:\temp\readme.txt",@"d:\temp\readme.txt")//Copy
a file
File.Create(@"C:\temp\newdoc.txt")//Create
a file
File.Delete(@"C:\temp\readme.txt")//Delete
a file
File.Move(@"d:\temp\readme.txt",@"c:\temp\readme.txt")//Move
a file
Conclusion
Hope this article would have helped you in understanding Files and Directories
in VB.NET