FileStream and it's buffering strategy

Question

I've found out that there is no point in using BufferedStream in conjunction with FileStream as it has it's own buffering strategy. Yet, I was wondering about one thing:

FileStream fsWithBuffer = new FileStream("buf.dat", FileMode.OpenOrCreate,
                FileAccess.ReadWrite, FileShare.None, 255);
            fsWithBuffer.WriteByte((byte)4);
            fsWithBuffer.Dispose();

This codes write one portion of byte into the specified file. Before that, this byte is kept in inner buffer, so I understand that if I didn't call Dispose() method, nothing would be written to the file.

Now, my question is: sometimes we don't want to put all of the data in a buffer of a FileStream, let's say it is meant to be only for small writes. Is there a possibility to put some data directly into the file associated with FileStream (without putting it earlier into inner buffer)?

Thanks!

Are you asking if you can use `FileStream` without a buffer? I don't see the point, you still have to dispose of the FileStream class. — Lasse V. Karlsen, Aug 28 '15 at 08:33
You could always call `Flush`, although you won't get around the buffer this way (and I dont't see the point of wanting to do this without one). — KeyNone, Aug 28 '15 at 08:33
Okay, I see. Thank You:) Anyway, I guess Flush is what I was looking for in this case. — Paweł Poręba, Aug 28 '15 at 08:38

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 28 '15 at 08:35

3

There is a Flag Enum FileOptions.WriteThrough value that can be passed to the FileStream constructor. It instructs the file stream to directly write to the underlying data storage without any buffering.

answered Aug 28 '15 at 08:35

CodeTherapist

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That's a good option, but now it is like the buffer is totally unneccessary, right? I mean, cause now it won't be used at all. – Paweł Poręba Aug 28 '15 at 08:50
1

Yes, with this enum value applied, there is no buffer. – CodeTherapist Aug 28 '15 at 13:53
So what is the point of using it? I mean I could just create FileStream wihtout neither buffer nor this mentioned FileOption. – Paweł Poręba Aug 29 '15 at 07:04

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 05 '15 at 20:31

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To sum up this question, as there was no official answer, here what I was looking for was the Flush() method. It saves the actual buffer to the file associated with FileStream and it was something I needed :)

answered Dec 05 '15 at 20:31

Paweł Poręba

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FileStream and it's buffering strategy

2 Answers2