VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language

File.OpenAsTextStream Method (VB6)

Named Arguments

Yes

Syntax

oFileObj.OpenAsTextStream ([IOMode[, Format]])

oFileObj

Use: Required

Data Type: File object

Any object variable returning a File object.

IOMode

Use: Optional

Data Type: IOMode constant

A constant specifying the purpose for opening the file.

Format

Use: Optional

Data Type: Tristate constant

A constant specifying ASCII or Unicode format.

Return Value

A TextStream object.

Description

Opens the referenced text file for reading or writing.

Rules at a Glance

• IOMode can be one of the following IOMode constants:

  Constant	Value	Description
  ForAppending	8	Opens the file in append mode; that is, the current contents of the file are protected, and new data written to the file is placed at the end of the file.
  ForReading	1	Opens the file for reading; you can't write to a file that has been opened for reading.
  ForWriting	2	Opens the file for writing; all previous file content is overwritten by new data.

• Unicode can be one of the following Tristate constants:

  Constant	Value	Description
  TristateUseDefault	-2	Open as System default
  TristateTrue	-1	Open as Unicode
  TristateFalse	0	Open as ASCII

  • The default IOMode setting is ForReading (1).

  • The default Format setting is ASCII (False).

  • If another process has opened the file, the method fails with a "Permission Denied" error.

See Also

FileSystemObject: OpenTextFile Method, TextStream Object