Displaying text file to Windows Application

Question

I am trying to read a text file that is currently in my project resources and display it on my windows application pop up. This is what I got so far

private void MyWindow_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)

{string myTxt = System.IO.File.ReadAllText("myText.txt");

Console.WriteLine(myTxt);

}

private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)

{

}private void button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)

{

Environment.Exit(1);

}

Vulpes · Answer

Try using this code to strip out the XML tags and just leave the text: string path = "this.xml"; string text = System.IO.File.ReadAllText(path); string reg = @" ]*>"; text = System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Replace(text, reg, ""); Console.WriteLine(text);

Vulpes · Answer

No because it's in the same folder as the (debug) executable which is your start-up path. As I said earlier, it must be finding the file OK, as no exception is being thrown.

Vulpes · Answer

Unless you've changed the Output Type to 'Console Application' under your WF Application's properties , then Console.WriteLine won't work. However, MessageBox.Show(myTxt) should work if it's a valid file path and there's anything displayable in it.

Marc · Answer

Vuples I used your code to read an xml file but how do I get ride of the and just display the text? string path = "this.xml"; string text = System.IO.File.ReadAllText(path); Console.WriteLine(text); I am just practicing on a console application now and not on the windows form as before.

Marc · Answer

Thanks Vulpes and Wim. It ended up being a problem with the naming convention of the textbox causing the issue. Got it working just fine now!

Marc · Answer

Yes the text file has content. If the file is in the debug folder would I need to do any additional referencing to that text file?

Vulpes · Answer

That's strange :-/ It must be finding the file or else there'd be an exception. If you open the file with a text editor such as notepad, is there definitely some content? As an alternative to displaying the file in a MessageBox, you could try displaying it directly in the RTB though DON'T put this code in the TextChanged event handler because it might cause an infinite loop: string path = Application.StartupPath + "\TextFile1.txt"; richTextBox1.LoadFile(path, RichTextBoxStreamType.PlainText);

Marc · Answer

Just empty

Vulpes · Answer

It shouldn't make any difference. Is the MessageBox just empty or is there an exception?

Marc · Answer

I don't know if this makes a difference but I'm trying to display this text file in a text box of the windows form. MessageBox doesn't seem to be displaying anything text in general.

Vulpes · Answer

If you've copied the file to the Debug folder, then try this: string path = Application.StartupPath + "\myText.txt"; string text = System.IO.File.ReadAllText(path); MessageBox.Show(text);

Marc · Answer

wim I put my text file in the bebug folder but still can't display the the text. This is the code I am trying to use to display the txt. private void richTextBox1_textChanged(object sender, eventArgs e) { string text = System.IO.File.ReadAllText("myText.txt"); MessageBox.Show(text); }

Vulpes · Answer

If the text file (TextFile1.txt say) is an embedded resource, then you can read and display its contents as follows: using System.IO; using System.Reflection; // .... Type t = this.GetType(); Assembly assem = t.Assembly; Stream s = assem.GetManifestResourceStream(t, "TextFile1.txt"); string text = ""; using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(s)) { string line; while ((line = sr.ReadLine()) != null) text += line + "
"; } s.Close(); MessageBox.Show(text); An XML file is just a text file so, if you've embedded it into your project, then you can read and display it in exactly the same manner as above. However, if you need to parse the XML file then that's a different matter and the .NET framework has various tools to enable you to do that.

Wim Sturkenboom · Answer

If you can determine the path from code, you can simply add the textfile at the end of that path. You might have to add a directory separator between the two. string path=getpath(); /* for you to get the path */ if(!path.EndsWith(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar.ToString())) { path += Path.DirectorySeparatorChar.ToString(); } path += textfile;

Wim Sturkenboom · Answer

Your application will look in the bin/debug (or bin/release) directory of your project for the text file.

Marc · Answer

I've been trying to map the pathway for the text file but it only gives me the folder to the resource and not the actual file. Is this what I need to do is just map the folder that the text file is in? Actually is there a way I can read an xml file in a dialogbox?

Displaying text file to Windows Application

Answers (16)