System.IO Namesapce in C#

A file is a collection of data stored in a disk with a specific name and a directory path. When a file is opened for reading or writing, it becomes a stream.

The stream is basically the sequence of bytes passing through the communication path. There are two main streams: the input stream and the output stream. The input stream is used for reading data from file (read operation) and the output stream is used for writing into the file (write operation).

From the above definition of file, the C# provides a namespace that enable us to manipulate file in C# called System.IO.

 System.IO is a namespace and it contains a standard IO (input/output) types such as classes, structures, enumerations, and delegates to perform a read/write operations on different sources like file, memory, network, etc.

 System.IO Classes

The table below shows different type of classes that exists in System.IO namespace to perform different operations like creating files, writing to files, reading from files, etc.

 

Class	Description
BinaryReader	This class is useful to read primitive data types from a binary stream
BinaryWriter	It is useful to write primitive types in binary format
BufferedStream	This class is useful to read and write bytes from other streams
Directory	This class provides methods to manipulate the directories and subdirectories such as Create and Move etc
File	The class provides methods to manipulate files like Create, Copy, delete, move etc
FileStream	It is useful to read/write bytes from/to files
MemoryStream	The class is use to read or write bytes that are store in memory
Path	It is use to perform operations on directory path information
Stream	This class is an abstract class and it will provide a methods to transfer bytes to the source.
StreamReader	This class is useful to read a characters from stream by converting bytes into characters using an encoded value.
StreamWriter	This class is useful to write a characters to stream by converting characters into bytes using an encoded value.
StringReader	This class is useful to read from a string.
StringWriter	This class is useful to write information to string.
TextReader	This class is useful to read a sequential series of characters.
TextWriter	This class is abstract and it is useful to write a sequential series of characters.

System.IO Structures

The table below shows the different type of structures which exists in System.IO namespace.

 

Structure	Description
WaitForChangedResult	This structure will contain information on the changes that occurred.

System.IO Enumerations

The table below shows the different type of enumerations which exists in System.IO namespace.

 

Enumeration	Description
DriveType	This will define constants for drive types.
FileAccess	It defines constants for reading, write, or read/write access to a file.
FileAttributes	It provides attributes for files and directories.
FileMode	It specifies how an operating system will open the file.
FileOptions	It provides an advanced options for creating a filestream object.
FileShare	It contains constants to control the access of filestream objects.
HandleInheritability	It is useful to specify whether the underlying handle is inheritable by child processes.
NotifyFilters	It specifies the changes to watch for in a file or folder.
SearchOption	It will specifies whether to search the current directory or the current directory and all subdirectories.
SeekOrigin	It will specifies the position in a stream to use for seeking.
WatcherChangeTypes	It will specifies the changes that might occur to a file or directory.

System.IO Delegates

The table below shows the different type of delegates which exists in System.IO namespace.

 

Delegate	Description
ErrorEventHandler	This will represent a method that will handle the error event of a FileSystemWatcher object.
FileSystemEventHandler	It will represent a method that will handle the changed, created, or deleted event of a FileSystemWatcher class.
RenamedEventHandler	It will represent a method that will handle the renamed event of a FileSystemWatcher class.

 References

1.    TutorialPoints

2.    Tutlane