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 .
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