File & FileInfo

The File and FileInfo class are used to create and manipulate files and fileStreams. The File class is a static implementation while the FileInfo class is an instance implementation for dealing with files.

first let's take a look at leveraging the FileInfo instance class.

using System;

using System.IO;

namespace pc.FileInfoExample

{

    class Program

    {

        static void Main(string[] args)

        {

            var fi = new FileInfo(@"c:\dev\FileInfo.txt");

            using (FileStream fs = fi.Create())

                fs.Close();

            using (StreamWriter sw = fi.AppendText())

                try

                {

                    sw.WriteLine("This is a test");

                    sw.WriteLine("And this is line two");

                }

                finally

                {

                    sw.Close();

                }

            Console.WriteLine("Directory:\t" + fi.DirectoryName);

            Console.WriteLine("Creattion:\t" + fi.CreationTime);

            Console.WriteLine("File Path:\t" + fi.FullName);

            Console.WriteLine("Extension:\t" + fi.Extension);

            Console.WriteLine("Last Access:\t" + fi.LastAccessTime);

            Console.WriteLine("File Size:\t" + fi.Length + " bytes");

            Console.WriteLine("File Name:\t" + fi.Name);

            using (StreamReader sr = fi.OpenText())

                try

                {

                    string line = "";

                    while ((line = sr.ReadLine()) != null)

                        Console.WriteLine(line);

                }

                finally

                {

                    sr.Close();

                }

        }

    }

}

now let's take a look at the same thing but using the static File class

using System;

using System.IO;

namespace pc.FileExample

{

    class Program

    {

        static void Main(string[] args)

        {

            string FilePath = @"c:\dev\File.txt";

            using (FileStream fs = File.Create(FilePath))

                fs.Close();

          

            Console.WriteLine("Creation:\t" + File.GetCreationTime(FilePath));

            File.WriteAllLines(FilePath,

                new string[] {"This is only a Test", "And this is line two"});

            string[] lines = File.ReadAllLines(FilePath);

            foreach (var line in lines)

                Console.WriteLine(line);

        }

    }

}

now it's very similar and for the most part it will come down to the individual details of needs and personal preferences.