Read/Write arrays of UDT in Binary Files

[Yovy7410]

In my program users can add and remove Label and image control at runtime from a picture wich is the container, so users can add label and image control as they want. I loop each control to determine each property and save it in a binary files, to later read this file and load each control.....

Public Type misText
    nombre As String
    indice As Long
    titulo As String
    alto As Long
    ancho As Long
    tope As Long
    izquierda As Long
    FontName As Variant
    FontSize As Variant
    FontBold As Variant
    FontItalic As Variant
    FontUnderline As Variant
    ForeColor As Variant
End Type
Public Type misImag
    nombre As String
    indice As Long
    alto As Long
    ancho As Long
    tope As Long
    izquierda As Long
    imagPath As String
End Type
Public cantText As Long 
Public cantImg As Long
Public miText() As misText
Public miImg() As misImag

Public Sub Guardando(sFic)
Dim Imagenes()
Dim Textos()
Dim CodigoB
Dim objCtl As Control
cantText = 0
cantImg = 0
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'Lo primero que hago es abrir el fichero y borrarlo, porque sino se anexa la info
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Open (MDIMain.CommonDialog1.FileName) For Binary As #1
Close #1
Kill (MDIMain.CommonDialog1.FileName)

    For Each objCtl In FrmDiseno.Controls
            
            If objCtl.Container Is FrmDiseno.Picture1 Then
            
                Select Case objCtl.Name
                    Case "Texto1"
                        cantText = cantText + 1
                        ReDim Preserve miText(cantText)
                        miText(cantText).alto = objCtl.Height
                        miText(cantText).ancho = objCtl.Width
                        miText(cantText).izquierda = objCtl.Left
                        miText(cantText).tope = objCtl.Top
                        miText(cantText).titulo = objCtl.Caption
                        miText(cantText).FontBold = objCtl.Font.Bold
                        miText(cantText).FontItalic = objCtl.Font.Italic
                        miText(cantText).FontName = objCtl.Font.Name
                        miText(cantText).FontSize = objCtl.Font.Size
                        miText(cantText).FontUnderline = objCtl.Font.Underline
                        miText(cantText).ForeColor = objCtl.ForeColor
                    Case "Imagen1"
                        cantImg = cantImg + 1
                        ReDim Preserve miImg(cantImg)
                        miImg(cantImg).alto = objCtl.Height
                        miImg(cantImg).ancho = objCtl.Width
                        miImg(cantImg).imagPath = objCtl.Picture
                        miImg(cantImg).izquierda = objCtl.Left
                        miImg(cantImg).tope = objCtl.Top
                End Select
                
                
            End If
        
    Next
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'Ahora guardo la informacion en el fichero (Save the information in files)
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Dim nFic As Integer
nFic = FreeFile
    Open sFic For Binary As nFic
        Put nFic, , cantText
            For I = 1 To cantText
                Put nFic, , miText(I)
            Next I
        Put nFic, , cantImg
            For I = 1 To cantImg
                Put nFic, , miImg(I)
            Next I
        Put nFic, , myBarcode
Close nFic
   
End Sub

My Question is... How could i read this info from the File???
Thanks.....

[MartinLiss]

You can put some type of separator between the data items and then use Split to help read them in.

[Al42]

Create a UDT that has 2 items, a misText item and a misImag item. Write this item to the file. I'd include the number of controls in the For Each loop as one of the elements in the variable, and I'd add a variable for the name of the control.

To read, just read the file back into the new UDT and set your control properties to the values in the UDT. You know the name of each control read, and you know the number of controls.

(It's easiest, for debugging purposes, to maintain a single variable length in the file.)

[DigiRev]

You can read/write UDT arrays directly to a file using Binary Access Write and the Put statement, no need for parsing/looping, etc.

[Yovy7410]

If the Image control have a picture ...How could include the picture in the binary files????

Thanks

[DigiRev]

If the Image control have a picture ...How could include the picture in the binary files????

Thanks

If you have a UDT with a member that is a picture ie:

Type MYTYPE
    strOne As String
    picAPicture As StdPicture
End Type
 
Private Type udtType() As MYTYPE

That picture data should get written to the binary file as well simply with the Put statement.

I've never tried it with a Picture in a UDT but try it, it should work.

[Yovy7410]

Thanks....I'll Try

[DigiRev]

Take a look at this thread for an example I made for someone else some time ago:

http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.p...oto=nextoldest

[randem]

Why not just write the UDT's to a database, then you can retrieve them any way you want.

[Yovy7410]

Because i want to associate this file with a given extension (.etq) in my program, so user can load it from the main App...

Thanks every body....

[randem]

And you can't do that with a database?

[rnd me]

to put the UDT into a binary w/o parsing, you will need fixed-length strings.
instead of: nombre as string
use: nombre as string * 55

for a 55char wide string.
using fixed length strings allow you to move the whole UDT to/from a disk instantly.
but, if you don't use fixed length, who knows where the data will fall when put back into the UDT...

[Yovy7410]

Yes randem i could do it with a DB, but the idea is a File, so user could save that information where ever they want....thanks...

in the oder hand rnd me
is necessary putting fixed-length strings in Binary access?

[randem]

Then if you want to use a flat file you are going to need keys that proceed each UDT to tell you which one it is and how long it is so that you can get to the next one. Not too hard do do.

[randem]

Or you need to include a header on your flat file to show where in the file each UDT is located (offsets).

[Yovy7410]

Thanks randem....

[Yovy7410]

Have some example about this???

[randem]

No examples but here is the procedure. You will create a fixed size header for your file. Example 256 bytes. In the 256 bytes you will define the offset to where you write your UDT and the type and size of your UDT.

Let say you define 7 UDT's. Your header would look something like this

072561340139080

This would state that UDT no 7 is at offset 256 and is 134 bytes long.
and UDT 01 is at offset 390 and is 80 bytes long.

[Yovy7410]

Yes.... is a good one....thanks

[randem]

And I would suggest using binary data (as opposed to text) in your header to conserve data size.

[Yovy7410]

Sure....

[randem]

Use something like this for your header. Each entry will be 5 bytes then you could use a smaller header if your UDT's are limited.

Private Type Header
     UDTType as byte
     Offset as long
     Length as long
End Type

[DigiRev]

You don't need to store the position of every UDT item in the array, just how many there are in the array.

Did you not click the example I posted above?

to put the UDT into a binary w/o parsing, you will need fixed-length strings.
instead of: nombre as string
use: nombre as string * 55

for a 55char wide string.
using fixed length strings allow you to move the whole UDT to/from a disk instantly.
but, if you don't use fixed length, who knows where the data will fall when put back into the UDT...

And you don't need to use fixed-length strings either.