Q189751: INFO: Limitations of the FileSystemObject

Article: Q189751
Product(s): Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows
Version(s): 5.0,6.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbGrpDSVB
Last Modified: 01-MAR-2002

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Visual Basic Learning Edition for Windows, versions 5.0, 6.0 
- Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows, versions 5.0, 6.0 
- Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows, versions 5.0, 6.0 
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SUMMARY
=======

This article describes the limitations of the FileSystemObject stored in the
Microsoft Scripting Runtime file, scrrun.dll. For more information about the
FileSystemObject, see the appropriate topics in the Visual Basic documentation.

MORE INFORMATION
================

- Reads only ASCII data - while the FileSystemObject can create an ASCII or
  Unicode text file, the FileSystemObject can only read ASCII text files.

- Forward reading line-by-line - the FileSystemObject reads a text file in one
  direction: from the beginning to the end of the text file. Further, the
  FileSystemObject only reads line-by-line. If you need to go back to a
  previous line, then you must return to the beginning of the file and read
  forward to the required line.

- Cannot open a file for simultaneous reading and writing - you can open a file
  for reading by using the ForReading IOMode parameter of the OpenTextFile
  method. However, if you want to modify the file, you must reopen the file for
  appending or writing and then open a textstream object to make your file
  modifications.

- Cannot search for file names using wildcards - the FileSystemObject can only
  retrieve a specified file using the GetFile method. You cannot use wildcard
  characters in the filespec parameter of the GetFile method.

- Cannot return the file version number - the File object in the Files
  collection of the FileSystemObject can return several file properties.
  However, there is no version property. Use the GetFileVersionInfo Windows API
  function to get a file's version information.

- Cannot sort file names from the files collection - you can iterate through
  the File objects in the Files collection to obtain a list of the files in a
  folder. However, the File objects are not sorted. You need to use a sort
  routine to sort the File objects in the Files collection.

REFERENCES
==========

For additional information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:

  Q185476 : HOWTO: Search Directories to Find or List Files

  Q185601 : HOWTO: Recursively Search Directories Using FileSystemObject

  Q186118 : HOWTO: Use FileSystemObject with Visual Basic

Additional query words: kbDSupport kbDSD kbVBp500 kbVBp kbNoKeyWord kbCtrl kbVBp600

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Keywords          : kbGrpDSVB 
Technology        : kbVBSearch kbAudDeveloper kbZNotKeyword6 kbZNotKeyword2 kbVB500Search kbVB600Search kbVB500 kbVB600
Version           : :5.0,6.0
Issue type        : kbinfo

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