Searching in Files..

[DBridle]

Hi Guys,

I'm stuck again ;(

I have a file structure that looks something like this

1:<name>
<int>
<int>
<int>
<int>
<int>
2:<name>
...
3:<name>
...
4:<name>


The ID before <name> seperated by a ':' is the ID I am searching for.

So I want to search for ID say 10 and get back the next 6 lines into class members.

Any help on this would be great, I did write somehting but well, it sucks and keeps locking up on me :(

- Darren

[Pirate]

Use INI Files , unlikely i don't how to code that

[Edneeis]

How big are the files? Can you read them into a string?

If so you can just split the string on : and get the id you are looking for.

[DBridle]

Well the string manipulation is not the part im struggling with, its hte logic to read the lines and search. Look for 10: read the next 6 lines. Sounds simple, seems harder to code.

[Pirate]

ok , in such case I strongly suggest to use db file (.MDB)
If I were you , without a doubt I'd use it .:D
cheers:)

[Edneeis]

But if you split on : then the string would be from the character after the id all the way to the next ID which would be the next 6 lines also. If you need to break it up further then you could split on ControlChars.Newline to get the individual lines.

[DBridle]

Im going to go out on a limb and show you my terrible code...



Public Function LoadMobileData() As Boolean

Dim fStream As New FileStream("mob.dat", FileMode.Open)
Dim sReader As New StreamReader(fStream)
Dim buffer As String

buffer = sReader.ReadLine
While buffer <> ""

If buffer.Chars(1) = ":" Then
If buffer.Chars(0) = mMobileNumber.ToString Then
mMobileName = Mid(buffer, 3)
mStatResilience = sReader.ReadLine
mStatMight = sReader.ReadLine
mStatAlertness = sReader.ReadLine
mStatInsight = sReader.ReadLine
mStatAC = sReader.ReadLine
mStatHits = sReader.ReadLine
mStatAtk = sReader.ReadLine
mStatLevel = sReader.ReadLine
LoadMobileData = True
MessageBox.Show("Mobile : " & mMobileName & " loaded successfuly.")
Exit Function
Else
sReader.ReadLine()
sReader.ReadLine()
sReader.ReadLine()
sReader.ReadLine()
sReader.ReadLine()
sReader.ReadLine()
sReader.ReadLine()
End If
End If

buffer = sReader.ReadLine
End While

End Function



While it doesnt work, that was not the intention, the intention was to get hte logic right, as you can see, its not good :/

Any help would be great,

Darren

[DBridle]

If I was using a business application, then I would use MDB Files, but since its not its for a small game im writing for my son, I want it to be fast, and hidden away :)

[Edneeis]

Can you post a sample of the file?

[DBridle]

1:Mobile Encounter 1
10
6
7
3
7
20
6
1
2:Mobile Encounter 2
20
12
14
4
10
40
8
2


There you go :)

[Edneeis]

This would be much easier if the data was kep as xml or if the class/collection was directly serialized to file, but since its not here is what i got for you:


Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
Dim dh As New DataHolder(2, "data.txt")
MsgBox(dh.Stat(DataHolder.Stats.AC))
End Sub
End Class

Public Class DataHolder
'enum the stats to save time later
Public Enum Stats
Resilience
Might
Alertness
Insight
AC
Hits
Atk
Level
End Enum

Private _MobileName As String
'keep stats in array to save time later
Private _Stat(7) As String

Public Property MobileName() As String
Get
Return _MobileName
End Get
Set(ByVal Value As String)
_MobileName = Value
End Set
End Property

Public Property Stat(ByVal item As Stats) As String
Get
Return _Stat(item)
End Get
Set(ByVal Value As String)
_Stat(item) = Value
End Set
End Property

'pass in id number and filepath
Public Sub Load(ByVal recNum As Integer, ByVal filename As String)
'read the file to string
Dim fs As New FileStream(filename, IO.FileMode.Open)
Dim sr As New StreamReader(fs)
Dim data As String = sr.ReadToEnd()
sr.Close()

'find the id we want
Dim istart As Integer = data.IndexOf(String.Concat(recNum, ":"))
'read the name
Dim ln As String = getLine(istart, data)
MobileName = ln.Substring(2) 'trim id off
Dim cnt As Integer
'get proceeding lines for stats one at a time
For cnt = 0 To 7
istart = istart + ln.Length + 2 'increments position and adds 2 for the newline character
ln = getLine(istart, data)
_Stat(cnt) = ln
Next
End Sub

'gets a complete line
Private Function getLine(ByVal start As Integer, ByVal data As String) As String
Dim istop As Integer = data.IndexOf(ControlChars.NewLine, start)
Return data.Substring(start, istop - start)
End Function

Public Sub New(ByVal recNum As Integer, ByVal filename As String)
Me.Load(recNum, filename)
End Sub

End Class

[DBridle]

Perfect thanks so much! Thats a nice class too, wow, thanks again :) :) :)