Read contents of a file using a relative path in a Web Application

Question

How can I read the contents of a text file in my Web Application, using a relative path/URL?

The files are located in a directory at the root of my application.

I don't want to specify the full path to the file I want to access, since my test environment is not an exact mirror of my production environment.

score 46 · Accepted Answer · edited Dec 02 '09 at 12:52

46

Use Server.MapPath("/path/to/file") and pass the result of that to File.ReadAllText():

String template = File.ReadAllText(Server.MapPath("~/Templates/") + filename);

edited Dec 02 '09 at 12:52

cllpse

answered Dec 02 '09 at 12:45

2

could you please tell me in which package `Server` class is located. – Amit Mar 07 '10 at 09:17
9

@YatendraGoel System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath(string path) – Joe Jun 19 '12 at 13:30

score 7 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 02 '09 at 12:51

7

You can use this code snippet as well.

using System.IO;
using System.Web.Hosting;

using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(VirtualPathProvider.OpenFile("~/foo.txt")))
{
    string content = sr.ReadToEnd();
}

answered Dec 02 '09 at 12:51

m3kh

2 Answers2