Loading list of files into a pre-defined directory into a listbox, then loading them

[Tashology]

Hello,
I have a slight issue with my code. I've got a code which copies all the names of files in a pre-defined location to a listbox. Then when you double-click on the file in the listbox the file loads into a richtextbox to the left of it.
The program can also create the files. The program will create a text file then refresh the listbox, adding everything to it.

When I go to open the file from the listbox by double clicking the debug crashes stating that the file is already in use. How do I get around this?

Creating the new text file and loading it into the listbox

 'Add new object
            Dim path As String = GlobalVariables.FileLocation & "\" & GlobalVariables.ProjectName & "\Objects\" & txtObjectName.Text & ".txt"

            ' Create or overwrite the file. 
            Dim fs As FileStream = File.Create(path)

            'Load Files
            Dim folderInfo As New IO.DirectoryInfo(GlobalVariables.FileLocation & "\" & GlobalVariables.ProjectName & "\Objects\")
            Dim arrFilesInFolder() As IO.FileInfo
            Dim fileInFolder As IO.FileInfo
            arrFilesInFolder = folderInfo.GetFiles("*.*")
            For Each fileInFolder In arrFilesInFolder
                Interpreter.lstFileBrowser.Items.Add(fileInFolder.Name)
            Next

Attempting to open the file from the listbox to a richtextbox

Dim myfile As String = Dir(GlobalVariables.FileLocation & "\" & GlobalVariables.ProjectName & "\Objects\" & lstFileBrowser.SelectedItem)

        Dim read As IO.StreamReader
        read = IO.File.OpenText(NewProject.FolderBrowser.SelectedPath & "\" & GlobalVariables.ProjectName & "\Objects\" & lstFileBrowser.SelectedItem)
        txtEditor.Text = read.ReadToEnd()
        read.Close()

How can I resolve the issue?

Thanks,

[dday9]

The file is still open, so whenever you try to open an already opened file it will throw the exception. One thing you should do is wrap your StreamReader in a Using statement:

Using read As IO.StreamReader = New IO.StreamReader(NewProject.FolderBrowser.SelectedPath & "\" & GlobalVariables.ProjectName & "\Objects\" & lstFileBrowser.SelectedItem)
    txtEditor.Text = read.ReadToEnd()
End Using

Edit - I'd also replace using the & to combine your path with IO.Path.Combine. It prevents any missing slashes and typos in general.

[Tashology]

I have a slight issue with that, when I paste in the code the path (after StreamReader) is underlined and says "Overload resolution failed, no accessible new can be called without narrowing conversion"
How is this solved?

[dday9]

Hmm, it could be that it's treating it as an Object rather than a String. Turn option strict and option explicit on and see if it gives you an error.

[Tashology]

No, that doesn't solve it.
I get the following error:

Error	1	Overload resolution failed because no accessible 'New' can be called without a narrowing conversion:
    'Public Sub New(path As String)': Argument matching parameter 'path' narrows from 'Object' to 'String'.
    'Public Sub New(stream As System.IO.Stream)': Argument matching parameter 'stream' narrows from 'Object' to 'System.IO.Stream'.

EDIT: Ok, so I tweaked it slightly and it works well!
One issue is that when the listbox is getting populated it hasn't got a using statement - how can I implement that into my listbox population code?

[techgnome]

You've got something that is currently an object... what does your code look like now? We can only guess what the changes you've made are.

-tg

[dday9]

No, that's exactly what I expected. This line here:

NewProject.FolderBrowser.SelectedPath & "\" & GlobalVariables.ProjectName & "\Objects\" & lstFileBrowser.SelectedItem

Is being treated as an object rather than a string. Try doing something like this:

Using read As IO.StreamReader = New IO.StreamReader(IO.Path.Combine(NewProject.FolderBrowser.SelectedPath, GlobalVariables.ProjectName, "Objects", lstFileBrowser.Text))
    'Blah
End Using

[Tashology]

Ok, my loading code is like so: (it is working as far as I know) EDITED

Using read As IO.StreamReader = New IO.StreamReader(IO.Path.Combine(NewProject.FolderBrowser.SelectedPath, GlobalVariables.ProjectName, "Objects", lstFileBrowser.Text))
            txtEditor.Text = read.ReadToEnd()
        End Using

The above code is solved and works

The part that isn't working is the code which loads the files from the pre-defined location to the listbox:

Dim path2 As String = GlobalVariables.FileLocation & "\" & GlobalVariables.ProjectName & "\Objects\"
            Dim folderInfo As New IO.DirectoryInfo(path2)
            Dim arrFilesInFolder() As IO.FileInfo
            Dim fileInFolder As IO.FileInfo
            arrFilesInFolder = folderInfo.GetFiles("*.*")
            For Each fileInFolder In arrFilesInFolder
                Interpreter.lstFileBrowser.Items.Add(fileInFolder.Name)
            Next

Could anyone correct the code that loads the files into a listbox (above) so it is closed - as this is called after the top code, when the top code is called an error occurs because the files are in use already.

Thanks,

[dday9]

I'd change the path2 variable to implement the IO.Path.Combine:

Dim path2 As String = IO.Path.Combine(GlobalVariables.FileLocation, "Objects")

Edit: You could also add all files to the ListBox a little bit more easily by using this:

Using fb As FolderBrowserDialog = New FolderBrowserDialog

    If fb.ShowDialog = DialogResult.OK Then
        lstFileBrowser.Items.AddRange(New IO.DirectoryInfo(fb.SelectedPath).GetFiles.Select(Function(p) p.Name).ToArray)
    End If
End Using

[Tashology]

Ok, I've added that adjustment but there's a slight issue.
When I try to execute the code:

Using read As IO.StreamReader = New IO.StreamReader(IO.Path.Combine(NewProject.FolderBrowser.SelectedPath, GlobalVariables.ProjectName, "Objects", lstFileBrowser.Text))
            txtEditor.Text = read.ReadToEnd()
        End Using

I get an error because the file is already being used - by the previous snippet:

Dim path2 As String = IO.Path.Combine(GlobalVariables.FileLocation & "\" & GlobalVariables.ProjectName, "Objects")

            Dim folderInfo As New IO.DirectoryInfo(path2)
            Dim arrFilesInFolder() As IO.FileInfo
            Dim fileInFolder As IO.FileInfo
            arrFilesInFolder = folderInfo.GetFiles("*.*")
            For Each fileInFolder In arrFilesInFolder
                Interpreter.lstFileBrowser.Items.Add(fileInFolder.Name)
            Next

How can I resolve this?

EDIT: I added your edit as the load to the textbox but I need it to be automatic without the user selecting the location, which I added in, but it still throws the error of already being used.

[dday9]

I'm assuming that GetFiles is leaving the file open, but I'm not sure as to why. Perhaps somebody else could chime in.

[omundodogabriel]

Try using:

Dim FileName as string = IO.Path.Combine(NewProject.FolderBrowser.SelectedPath, GlobalVariables.ProjectName, "Objects", lstFileBrowser.Text)
txtEditor.Text = System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetString(System.IO.File.ReadAllBytes(FileName))

And see if it still throws the exception.

[Tashology]

Ah,
I've managed to get it, I'm not sure what happened but it works now.

Thanks,
Resolved.

[techgnome]

Getting the list of file has nothing to do with opening the file... period. end of story. There is NO correlation between the two.
At any rate, GetallBytes works because it opens the file reads it, AND CLOSES it properly. if it wasn't working before, then that means YOU WERE NOT CLOSING the file correctly.

-tg