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File.OpenText() Method in C# with Examples

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File.OpenText(String) is an inbuilt File class method which is used to open an existing UTF-8 encoded text file for reading.
Syntax:  

public static System.IO.StreamReader OpenText (string path);

Parameter: This function accepts a parameter which is illustrated below:  

  • path: This is the specified text file which is going to be opened for reading.

Exceptions: 

  • UnauthorizedAccessException: The caller does not have the required permission.
  • ArgumentException: The path is a zero-length string, contains only white space, or one or more invalid characters as defined by InvalidPathChars.
  • ArgumentNullException: The path is null.
  • PathTooLongException: The specified path, file name, or both exceed the system-defined maximum length.
  • DirectoryNotFoundException: The specified path is invalid.
  • FileNotFoundException: The file specified in the path was not found.
  • NotSupportedException: The path is in an invalid format.

Return Value: Returns a StreamReader on the specified path.
Below are the programs to illustrate the File.OpenText(String) method.
Program 1: Before running the below code, a text file file.txt is created with some contents shown below-

file.txt

Below code open the text file file.txt for reading.

C#




// C# program to illustrate the usage
// of File.OpenText(String) method
 
// Using System and System.IO
// namespaces
using System;
using System.IO;
 
class Test {
    public static void Main()
    {
        // Specifying a text file
        string path = @"file.txt";
 
        // Opening the file for reading
        using(StreamReader sr = File.OpenText(path))
        {
            string s = "";
            while ((s = sr.ReadLine()) != null) {
                // printing the file contents
                Console.WriteLine(s);
            }
        }
    }
}


Executing:  

GeeksforGeeks

Program 2: Initially, a file file.txt is created with some contents shown below-

file.txt

This below code will overwrite the file contents with other specified contents then final contents will be printed.

C#




// C# program to illustrate the usage
// of File.OpenText(String) method
 
// Using System and System.IO
// namespaces
using System;
using System.IO;
 
class Test {
    public static void Main()
    {
        // Specifying a text file
        string path = @"file.txt";
 
        // Checking the existence of file
        if (File.Exists(path)) {
            using(StreamWriter sw = File.CreateText(path))
            {
                // Overwriting the file with below
                // specified contents
                sw.WriteLine("GFG is a CS portal.");
            }
        }
 
        // Opening the file for reading
        using(StreamReader sr = File.OpenText(path))
        {
            string s = "";
            while ((s = sr.ReadLine()) != null) {
                // printing the overwritten content
                Console.WriteLine(s);
            }
        }
    }
}


Executing: 

GFG is a CS portal.


Last Updated : 10 Nov, 2021
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