Reading an embedded text file

Question

I have created a full project which works perfectly. My problem concerns the setup project. When I use it on another computer, the text file cannot be found even if they are ins

Answer 1

FIrst set the build action of the text file to "EmbeddedResource".

Then to read the file in your code:

var assembly = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
var resourceName = "AssemblyName.MyFile.txt";

using (Stream stream = assembly.GetManifestResourceStream(resourceName))
{
    using (StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(stream))
    {
        string result = reader.ReadToEnd();
    }
}

If you can't figure out the name of the embedded resource do this to find the names and it should be obvious which your file is:

assembly.GetManifestResourceNames();

_{This is assuming you want the text file to be embedded in the assembly. If not, then you might just want to change your setup project to include the text file during the installation.}

Answer 2

create this function to read whatever embedded resource text file you have :

public string GetFromResources(string resourceName)
{
    Assembly assem = this.GetType().Assembly;

    using (Stream stream = assem.GetManifestResourceStream(resourceName))
    {
        using (var reader = new StreamReader(stream))
        {
            return reader.ReadToEnd();
        }

    }
}

Answer 3

Assuming you mean that you have a file in your project that you've set as an EmbeddedResource, you want

using (var stream = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly()
    .GetManifestResourceStream(path))
{
    ...
}

where path should be the assembly name followed by the relative path to your file in the project folder hierarchy. The separator character used is the period ..

So if you have an assembly called MyCompany.MyProject and then in that project you have a folder Test containing Image.jpg, you would use the path MyCompany.MyProject.Test.Image.jpg to get a Stream for it.