Accessing txt file which is in solution

Question

I'm trying to read some text from file

public void loadFromFile(string adress)
    {
        //int preventReadingEntireFile = 0;
        try
        {
            using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(adress))
            {
                //preventReadingEntireFile++;
                String line = sr.ReadToEnd();
                Console.WriteLine(preventReadingEntireFile + ": " + line);

                /*
                 * TODO: dodawanie słów do bazy
                 */
            }
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("The file could not be read:");
            Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
        }
    }

But I don't know how to access this file (what the path is). I placed it in one of folers in my solution in my project. When I use "/TxtFiles/odm.txt" it searches for this file in "C:\TxtFiles\odm.txt" (which is wrong, there aren't any files like that there).

Is it possible? Do I have to make this file somehow "visible" for my scripts?

This is ASP.net mvc 5 project.

Ehsan Sajjad · Accepted Answer · 2015-03-06T17:57:22.287

3

You have to use Server.MapPath() for it, which will generate absolute path of the file from relative url, the below code will work if TxtFiles directory is in root directory of Application:

StreamReader Sr = new StreamReader(Server.MapPath("~/TxtFiles/odm.txt"));

for you case:

string adress = "~/TxtFiles/odm.txt";
StreamReader Sr = new StreamReader(Server.MapPath(adress));

edited Mar 06 '15 at 17:57

answered Mar 06 '15 at 17:27

Ehsan Sajjad

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which "using" should I use? VisualStudio proposed me "Microsoft.SqlServer.Server" but simultaneously says that there isn't anything like "MapPath" in this class – Piotrek Mar 06 '15 at 18:27
@Ludwik11 you are using it in controller or in some class? – Ehsan Sajjad Mar 06 '15 at 18:45
It is under ``System.Web`` nanespace – Ehsan Sajjad Mar 06 '15 at 18:48
In class. I already have System.Web namespace declared, but VisualStudio still says that "The name 'Server' does not exsist in the current context" – Piotrek Mar 06 '15 at 19:08
``System.Web.HttpContext.Current. Server`` – Ehsan Sajjad Mar 07 '15 at 05:43
Check this as well: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11105768/cannot-use-server-mappath – Ehsan Sajjad Mar 07 '15 at 05:44
Thank you :) I have one more question, not exactly connected with subject of discussion: where in VisualStudio can I see text written by "Console.WriteLine" function? – Piotrek Mar 07 '15 at 08:26
On **Output** window I guess – Ehsan Sajjad Mar 07 '15 at 08:56

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 06 '15 at 17:27

Looks like you're on Windows? A lot of programming languages (or rather, their file-handling libraries) interpret a starting slash '/' Unix-style, as "begin at the root of the file system", in your case, C:. Try doing "./TxtFiles/odm.txt", with an initial dot - this is conventionally interpreted as "start at the current directory".

Another option is to just use the full path, "C:\MyProjects\CurrentProject\TxtFiles\odm.txt".

Accessing txt file which is in solution

2 Answers2