Folder item question

Getting Started
1

Hi all!

Could I ask for some guidance?

I am trying to have a textarea display the contents of a .txt file that has been created in the project folder called “List.txt” (Without an OpenDialog).

In a buttons “Action” event I have the following code.

Var f As FolderItem
f = New FolderItem("List.txt")

if f.Exists then
  TextArea1.text = f
end if

I know this code is probably very wrong (as it doesn’t work). I am still trying to grasp folderitems and the such.

I’m running xojo in windows using xojo 2021 R2.1

Thank you all kindly in advance!

Robin

2

Try it this way:

Var f As FolderItem = FolderItem.ShowOpenFileDialog("text") // as defined in File Type Sets Editor
If f <> Nil Then
  If f.Exists Then
    // Be aware that TextInputStream.Open could raise an exception
    Var t As TextInputStream
    Try
      t = TextInputStream.Open(f)
      t.Encoding = Encodings.MacRoman
      TextArea1.Value = t.ReadAll
    Catch e As IOException
      MessageBox("Error accessing file.")
    End Try
    t.Close
  End If
End If

This is from a documentation example. Of course, you have to change some things for your project. Probably, setting encodings to UTF8, or the file name accordingly.

1 Like
3

Thank you Rainer!

I came across this in the documentation, Is there anyway to display the text without opening the file using the ShowOpenFileDialog?

4

Yes, if you know the file name you can just use FolderItem.Child:

Var docFile As FolderItem = SpecialFolder.Desktop.Child(“Docs”).Child(“Current”).Child(“MyFile.txt”)

5

No, that ain’t safe anymore. According to Apple, if you use macOS.

Is that really from the docs? I’ve removed the 2 nested ifs. Without the nesting the code is easier to read:

Var f As FolderItem = FolderItem.ShowOpenFileDialog("text") // as defined in File Type Sets Editor
If f = Nil or not f.exists Then return
    // Be aware that TextInputStream.Open could raise an exception
Var t As TextInputStream
Try
    t = TextInputStream.Open(f)
    t.Encoding = Encodings.MacRoman
    TextArea1.Value = t.ReadAll
   t.Close
Catch e As IOException
      MessageBox("Error accessing file.")
End Try

t.close must be in the try/catch. If there is an exception t might be nil and closing the TextInputStream would make a NilObjectException.

2 Likes
6

you can add a build step copy files to windows build settings (context menu)
with target to ressources folder.
drag & drop your file into.

than you load this file at runtime

Var f As FolderItem = SpecialFolder.Resources.Child("file.txt")

Var st As TextInputStream = TextInputStream.Open(f)

TextArea1.Text = st.ReadAll

st.Close
1 Like
7

You want something akin to:


f = new FolderItem ("/path/to/your/List.txt", FolderItem.PathModes.Native)

.
and as others have pointed out, you actually need to read the file.

1 Like