C# in a Nutshell, Second Edition

Name

FileStream

Synopsis

This class is the basic implementation of Stream for files. It implements Stream, and adds a few methods specifically for working with files. Handle allows you to grab the underlying system handle to the file resource. IsAsync tells you if the file was opened asynchronously or synchronously. If you want to prevent other processes from accessing parts (or all) of the file, call Lock( ). Subsequently, to free the lock, call Unlock( ).

Note that using the Lock( ) or Unlock( ) methods is not the same as using the lock keyword in C#. The lock action locks only for this process, whereas the file-range locks used in the Lock/Unlock methods are implemented at the filesystem level and are therefore a cross-process mechanism.

public class FileStream : Stream {
// Public Constructors
   public FileStream(IntPtr handle, FileAccess access);
   public FileStream(IntPtr handle, FileAccess access, bool ownsHandle);
   public FileStream(IntPtr handle, FileAccess access, bool ownsHandle, int bufferSize);
   public FileStream(IntPtr handle, FileAccess access, bool ownsHandle, int bufferSize, 
        bool isAsync);
   public FileStream(string path, FileMode mode);
   public FileStream(string path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access);
   public FileStream(string path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share);
   public FileStream(string
 path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share, 
        int bufferSize);
   public FileStream(string path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share, 
        int bufferSize ...