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Text Files and Cleanup

File provides convenience methods for small text files. Specify encoding explicitly and clean up temporary files even when an operation throws. Use a .NET 8+ console project; replace Program.cs with this C# example.

Read the syntax

File provides convenience methods for small text files. Specify encoding explicitly and clean up temporary files even when an operation throws. Use a .NET 8+ console project; replace Program.cs with this C# example.

GetTempFileName creates a temporary file. The finally block removes that exact file after the read, including when writing or reading fails.

Syntax

File.WriteAllText(path, text, Encoding.UTF8); File.ReadAllText(path, Encoding.UTF8)

Examples

Text Files and Cleanup

Use a .NET 8+ console project; replace Program.cs with this C# example.

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Text;
string path = Path.GetTempFileName();
try
{
    File.WriteAllText(path, "Hello, Ada", Encoding.UTF8);
    Console.WriteLine(File.ReadAllText(path, Encoding.UTF8));
}
finally
{
    File.Delete(path);
}
  1. Expected output: Hello, Ada
  2. GetTempFileName creates a temporary file. The finally block removes that exact file after the read, including when writing or reading fails.
  3. Use streaming APIs for large files rather than loading all content at once.

Best practices

  • Use streaming APIs for large files rather than loading all content at once.
  • Handle IOException and UnauthorizedAccessException where the application can provide a meaningful recovery.

Runtime & versions

.NET runtime. Feature availability depends on the language and runtime version used by your project; consult the official reference below.

C# language reference

Specifications & further reading