What is the simplest way to write the contents of a StringBuilder to a text file in .NET 1.1?

Question

I have to use StringBuilder instead of a List of strings because of being stuck with .NET 1.1 for this project.

I want to write a series of debug messages I've written to a file to study at my leisure, as there is too much to see on the screen (the MessageBox doesn't have scrollbars). Some of the easy ways to write a file don't seem to be available in .NET 1.1. I also don't have access to Environment.Newline to cleanly separate the lines I append (AppendLine is not available in this archaic version of StringBuilder, either).

What is the easiest way in .NET 1.1 (C#) to write out the contents of the StringBuilder to a file? There is no "C" drive on the handheld device, so I reckon I will have to write it to "\hereIAm.txt" or something.

Personalize

Answer 1

You still have access to StreamWriter:

using (System.IO.StreamWriter file = new System.IO.StreamWriter(@"\hereIam.txt"))
{
    file.WriteLine(sb.ToString()); // "sb" is the StringBuilder
}

From the MSDN documentation: Writing to a Text File (Visual C#).

For newer versions of the .NET Framework (Version 2.0. onwards), this can be achieved with one line using the File.WriteAllText method.

System.IO.File.WriteAllText(@"C:\TextFile.txt", stringBuilder.ToString());

Toaster

StreamWriter file = new StreamWriter(@"\hereIAm.txt"); file.WriteLine(SB.ToString()); // "SB" is the StringBuilder – Personalize

I needed to use using to make sure all output was flushed. I have edited the answer and added using. – Trilbi

Judging by the example in the MSDN link, WriteAllText doesn't need using @R.Schreurs I guess you didn't need it for WriteAllText, right? – Watchcase

Instantiating a very long string might be bad for performance. I am searching for a buffered copy. – Characteristically

Answer 2

I know this is an old post and that it wants an answer for .NET 1.1 but there's already a very good answer for that. I thought it would be good to have an answer for those people who land on this post that may have a more recent version of the .Net framework, such as myself when I went looking for an answer to the same question.

In those cases there is an even simpler way to write the contents of a StringBuilder to a text file. It can be done with one line of code. It may not be the most efficient but that wasn't really the question now was it.

System.IO.File.WriteAllText(@"C:\MyDir\MyNewTextFile.txt",sbMyStringBuilder.ToString());

Lavettelavigne

From .net 2.0 onwards – Syphilis

Answer 3

No need for a StringBuilder:

string path = @"c:\hereIAm.txt";
if (!File.Exists(path)) 
{
    // Create a file to write to.
    using (StreamWriter sw = File.CreateText(path)) 
    {
        sw.WriteLine("Here");
        sw.WriteLine("I");
        sw.WriteLine("am.");
    }    
} 

But of course you can use the StringBuilder to create all lines and write them to the file at once.

sw.Write(stringBuilder.ToString());

StreamWriter.Write Method (String) (.NET Framework 1.1)

Writing Text to a File (.NET Framework 1.1)

Maighdlin

Answer 4

StreamWriter is available for NET 1.1. and for the Compact framework. Just open the file and apply the ToString to your StringBuilder:

    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
    sb.Append(......);

    StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter("\\hereIAm.txt", true);
    sw.Write(sb.ToString());
    sw.Close();

Also, note that you say that you want to append debug messages to the file (like a log). In this case, the correct constructor for StreamWriter is the one that accepts an append boolean flag. If true then it tries to append to an existing file or create a new one if it doesn't exists.

Enfeeble

Answer 5

If you need to write line by line from string builder

StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
sb.AppendLine("New Line!");

using (var sw = new StreamWriter(@"C:\MyDir\MyNewTextFile.txt", true))
{
   sw.Write(sb.ToString());
}

If you need to write all text as single line from string builder

StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
sb.Append("New Text line!");

using (var sw = new StreamWriter(@"C:\MyDir\MyNewTextFile.txt", true))
{
   sw.Write(sb.ToString());
}

Ecosphere