I have a method that takes a string parameter that is a file path to a text file. I want to be able to pass in a text file that I have embedded as a resource in my assembly.
Is there any way to get a string reference to an embedded text file so that it would function as a file path for opening a StreamReader?
Thanks.
You can use Assembly.GetManifestResourceStream(resource_name_of_the_file) to access the file's stream, write it to TEMP directory and use this path.
For example, if you have a file in your project at the path "Resources\Files\File.txt" and the project's assembly default namespace is "RootNamespace", you can access the file's stream from within this assembly's code with
Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetManifestResourceStream("RootNamespace.Resources.Files.File.txt")
Is there any way to get a string reference to an embedded text file so that it would function as a file path for opening a StreamReader?
No, an embeded resource is not a separate file but embedded into the executable file. However, you can get a stream that you can read from using a StreamReader.
var name = "...";
using (var stream = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetManifestResourceStream(name))
using (var streamReader = new StreamReader(stream)) {
// Read the embedded file ...
}
One method that worked for my use case was from the following answer: https://stackoverflow.com/a/34664553/11860907
For Binary files: File.WriteAllBytes(outputpath, Properties.Resources.file);
For Text files: File.WriteAllText(outputpath, Properties.Resources.file);
I just ran this line of code for every embedded resource file I needed when my program first opened and it placed the resource files somewhere that I could then reference as a string path.
