In perl there's a rather simple method of tying a data structure to a file, whether it be a string, hash(dictionary in C#) or a simple array/list.
I've cobbled together my own half-assed solution in C# but I was wondering if there's a more inbuilt way to achieve this functionality?
Edit in response to comment below--The question, directly: Is there an inbuilt way to "tie" a class/dictionary to a file so any changes in either is reflected in the other? (Without doing as I've done below)
(Tieing a dictionary means that any changes in the dictionary are immediately reflected/updated in the file and declaring a tied var loads the object from disk if it already exists; see PerlTie )
My pseudo-tie'd class is below:
#region options
private float _Opacity;
public float Opacity {
get {
return Opacity;
}
set {
_Opacity = value;
this.Save();
}
}
private Font _Font;
public Font Font {
get {
return _Font;
}
set {
_Font = value;
this.Save();
}
}
private Color _FontColor;
public Color FontColor {
get {
return _FontColor;
}
set {
_FontColor = value;
this.Save();
}
}
private Color _BGColor;
public Color BGColor {
get {
return _BGColor;
}
set {
_BGColor = value;
this.Save();
}
}
private Point _Location;
public Point Location {
get {
return _Location;
}
set {
_Location = value;
this.Save();
}
}
private Size _Size;
public Size Size {
get {
return _Size;
}
set {
_Size = value;
this.Save();
}
}
private ushort _HistoryLines;
public ushort HistoryLines {
get {
return _HistoryLines;
}
set {
_HistoryLines = value;
this.Save();
}
}
private ChatType _ChatModes;
public ChatType ChatModes {
get {
return _ChatModes;
}
set {
_ChatModes = value;
this.Save();
}
}
private bool _Debugging;
public bool Debugging {
get {
return _Debugging;
}
set {
_Debugging = value;
this.Save();
}
}
#endregion options
private FontConverter FontConvert;
private FileInfo SettingsFile;
private MLogConf() {
}
public MLogConf(string stateFile) {
FontConvert = new FontConverter();
try {
if (!Directory.Exists(Path.GetDirectoryName(stateFile)))
Directory.CreateDirectory(Path.GetDirectoryName(stateFile));
if (!File.Exists(stateFile)) {
FileStream fs = File.Create(stateFile);
fs.Close();
}
SettingsFile = new FileInfo(stateFile);
if (SettingsFile.Length == 0) {
this.SetDefaultOptions();
} else {
if (!this.Load()) {
throw new FileLoadException("Couldn't load settings file");
}
}
} catch (Exception ex) {
Trace.Write($"Failed to create MLogConf({nameof(stateFile)}) {ex.Message + Environment.NewLine + ex.StackTrace}");
}
}
private bool Load() {
if (SettingsFile == null)
return false;
try {
byte[] data = File.ReadAllBytes(SettingsFile.FullName);
using (MemoryStream m = new MemoryStream(data)) {
using (BinaryReader reader = new BinaryReader(m)) {
_Opacity = reader.ReadSingle();
_Font = (Font)(FontConvert.ConvertFromString(Encoding.ASCII.GetString(Convert.FromBase64String(reader.ReadString()))));
_FontColor = Color.FromArgb(reader.ReadInt32());
_BGColor = Color.FromArgb(reader.ReadInt32());
_Location = new Point(reader.ReadInt32(), reader.ReadInt32());
_Size = new Size(reader.ReadInt32(), reader.ReadInt32());
_HistoryLines = reader.ReadUInt16();
_ChatModes = (ChatType)reader.ReadInt32();
_Debugging = reader.ReadBoolean();
}
}
} catch (Exception e) {
Trace.WriteLine($"Exception reading binary data: {e.Message + Environment.NewLine + e.StackTrace}");
return false;
}
return true;
}
private bool Save() {
try {
using (FileStream fs = new FileStream(SettingsFile.FullName, FileMode.Create)) {
using (BinaryWriter writer = new BinaryWriter(fs)) {
writer.Write(_Opacity);
writer.Write(Convert.ToBase64String(Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes((string)FontConvert.ConvertTo(Font, typeof(string)))));
writer.Write(_FontColor.ToArgb());
writer.Write(_BGColor.ToArgb());
writer.Write(_Location.X);
writer.Write(_Location.Y);
writer.Write(_Size.Width);
writer.Write(_Size.Height);
writer.Write(_HistoryLines);
writer.Write((int)_ChatModes);
writer.Write(_Debugging);
}
}
} catch (Exception e) {
Trace.WriteLine($"Exception writing binary data: {e.Message + Environment.NewLine + e.StackTrace}");
return false;
}
return true;
}
private bool SetDefaultOptions() {
this._BGColor = Color.Black;
this._ChatModes = ChatType.Alliance | ChatType.Emote | ChatType.FreeCompany | ChatType.Linkshell | ChatType.Party | ChatType.SayShoutYell | ChatType.Tell;
this._Opacity = 1f;
this._Font = new Font("Verdana", 50);
this._FontColor = Color.CornflowerBlue;
this._Location = new Point(100, 400);
this._Size = new Size(470, 150);
this._HistoryLines = 512;
this._Debugging = false;
return this.Save();
}
