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.NET Development
.NET Framework 3.5
 OpenFile Method
This page is specific to
Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

Other versions are also available for the following:
.NET Framework Class Library
OpenFileDialog..::.OpenFile Method

Updated: November 2007

Opens the file selected by the user, with read-only permission. The file is specified by the FileName property.

Namespace:  System.Windows.Forms
Assembly:  System.Windows.Forms (in System.Windows.Forms.dll)

Visual Basic (Declaration)
Public Function OpenFile As Stream
Visual Basic (Usage)
Dim instance As OpenFileDialog
Dim returnValue As Stream

returnValue = instance.OpenFile()
C#
public Stream OpenFile()
Visual C++
public:
Stream^ OpenFile()
J#
public Stream OpenFile()
JScript
public function OpenFile() : Stream

Return Value

Type: System.IO..::.Stream

A Stream that specifies the read-only file selected by the user.

ExceptionCondition
ArgumentNullException

The file name is nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).

The OpenFile method is used to provide a facility to quickly open a file from the dialog box. The file is opened in read-only mode for security purposes. To open a file in read/write mode, you must use another method, such as FileStream.

The following code example demonstrates how to use the OpenFile method.

Visual Basic
Private Sub button1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
    Dim myStream As Stream = Nothing
    Dim openFileDialog1 As New OpenFileDialog()

    openFileDialog1.InitialDirectory = "c:\"
    openFileDialog1.Filter = "txt files (*.txt)|*.txt|All files (*.*)|*.*"
    openFileDialog1.FilterIndex = 2
    openFileDialog1.RestoreDirectory = True

    If openFileDialog1.ShowDialog() = System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then
        Try
            myStream = openFileDialog1.OpenFile()
            If (myStream IsNot Nothing) Then
                ' Insert code to read the stream here.
            End If
        Catch Ex As Exception
            MessageBox.Show("Cannot read file from disk. Original error: " & Ex.Message)
        Finally
            ' Check this again, since we need to make sure we didn't throw an exception on open.
            If (myStream IsNot Nothing) Then
                myStream.Close()
            End If
        End Try
    End If
End Sub


C#
private void button1_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
    Stream myStream = null;
    OpenFileDialog openFileDialog1 = new OpenFileDialog();

    openFileDialog1.InitialDirectory = "c:\\" ;
    openFileDialog1.Filter = "txt files (*.txt)|*.txt|All files (*.*)|*.*" ;
    openFileDialog1.FilterIndex = 2 ;
    openFileDialog1.RestoreDirectory = true ;

    if(openFileDialog1.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
    {
        try
        {
            if ((myStream = openFileDialog1.OpenFile()) != null)
            {
                using (myStream)
                {
                    // Insert code to read the stream here.
                }
            }
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            MessageBox.Show("Error: Could not read file from disk. Original error: " + ex.Message);
        }
    }
}


Visual C++
private:
   void button1_Click( Object^ /*sender*/, System::EventArgs^ /*e*/ )
   {
      Stream^ myStream;
      OpenFileDialog^ openFileDialog1 = gcnew OpenFileDialog;

      openFileDialog1->InitialDirectory = "c:\\";
      openFileDialog1->Filter = "txt files (*.txt)|*.txt|All files (*.*)|*.*";
      openFileDialog1->FilterIndex = 2;
      openFileDialog1->RestoreDirectory = true;

      if ( openFileDialog1->ShowDialog() == ::DialogResult::OK )
      {
         if ( (myStream = openFileDialog1->OpenFile()) != nullptr )
         {
            // Insert code to read the stream here.
            myStream->Close();
         }
      }
   }

J#
protected void button1_Click(Object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
    Stream myStream;
    OpenFileDialog openFileDialog1 = new OpenFileDialog();
    openFileDialog1.set_InitialDirectory("c:\\");
    openFileDialog1.set_Filter(
        "txt files (*.txt)|*.txt|All files (*.*)|*.*");
    openFileDialog1.set_FilterIndex(2);
    openFileDialog1.set_RestoreDirectory(true);
    if (openFileDialog1.ShowDialog().Equals(get_DialogResult().OK)) {
        if ((myStream = openFileDialog1.OpenFile()) != null) {
            // Insert code to read the stream here.
            myStream.Close();
        }
    }
} //button1_Click

Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0
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