Modifying or deleting a line from a text file the low-level way?

Question

I\'m working with a Text File in Delphi, and I don\'t wish to use the method of loading/saving with a string list. I intend to maintain an open filestream where I read and w

Answer 1

Basically, you can't do what you want to do if you treat the files as simple text files. Such files can be read (from the beginning only) or written to (either from the start, thus creating a new file) or from the end (appending to an existing file). They are not random access files.

On the other hand, you might want to consider defining a file of type string: each record in the file would be a string, and you can access this file in a random fashion. The problem then becomes in knowing which record to access for which string.

A third possibility is using INI files which are more structured and sound like a better bet for your purposes. Apart from the section header, they are a series of strings, key=value, and can be accessed on the basis of the key.