File

 Represents a file in the local file system in a platform-independent manner.

QuickLinks

File, changePath, close, copy, createAlias, decode, encode, execute, getRelativeURI, isEncodingAvailable, open, openDialog, openDlg, read, readch, readln, remove, rename, resolve, saveDialog, saveDlg, seek, tell, toSource, toString, write, writeln

Properties

Property	Type	Access	Description
absoluteURI	string	readonly	The full path name for the referenced file in URI notation.
alias	bool	readonly	If true, the object refers to a file system alias or shortcut.
created	Date	readonly	The creation date of the referenced file, or null if the object does not refer to a file on disk.
creator	string	readonly	In Mac OS, the file creator as a four-character string. In Windows or UNIX, value is "????".
displayName	string	readonly	The localized name of the referenced file, without the path specification.
encoding	string	r/w	Gets or sets the encoding for subsequent read/write operations. One of the encoding constants listed in the JavaScript Tools Guide. If the value is not recognized, uses the system default encoding.A special encoder, BINARY, is used to read binary files. It stores each byte of the file as one Unicode character regardless of any encoding. When writing, the lower byte of each Unicode character is treated as a single byte to write.
eof	bool	readonly	When true, a read attempt caused the current position to be at the end of the file, or the file is not open.
error	string	r/w	A string containing a message describing the most recent file system error. Typically set by the file system, but a script can set it. Setting this value clears any error message and resets the error bit for opened files. Contains the empty string if there is no error.
exists	bool	readonly	If true, this object refers to a file or file-system alias that actually exists in the file system.
fs	string	readonly	The name of the file system. This is a class property accessed through the File constructor. Valid values are "Windows", "Macintosh", and "Unix".
fsName	string	readonly	The platform-specific full path name for the referenced file.
fullName	string	readonly	The full path name for the referenced file in URI notation.
hidden	bool	r/w	When true, the file is not shown in the platform-specific file browser. If the object references a file-system alias or shortcut, the flag is altered on the alias, not on the original file.
length	number	r/w	The size of the file in bytes. Can be set only for a file that is not open, in which case it truncates or pads the file with 0-bytes to the new length.
lineFeed	string	r/w	How line feed characters are written in the file system. One of the values "Windows", "Macintosh", or "Unix".
modified	Date	readonly	The date of the referenced file's last modification, or null if the object does not refer to a file on the disk.
name	string	readonly	The file name portion of the absolute URI for the referenced file, without the path specification.
parent	Folder	readonly	The Folder object for the folder that contains this file.
path	string	readonly	The path portion of the absolute URI for the referenced file, without the file name.
readonly	bool	r/w	When true, prevents the file from being altered or deleted. If the referenced file is a file-system alias or shortcut, the flag is altered on the alias, not on the original file.
relativeURI	string	readonly	The path name for the object in URI notation, relative to the current folder.
type	string	readonly	The file type as a four-character string. In Mac OS, the Mac OS file type. In Windows, "appl" for .EXE files, "shlb" for .DLL files and "TEXT" for any other file.

Methods

File File (path:string)
Creates and returns a new File object referring to a given file system location.

Parameter	Type	Description
path	string	The full or partial path name of the file, in platform-specific or URI format.

bool changePath (path:string)
Changes the path specification of the referenced file.

Parameter	Type	Description
path	string	A string containing the new path, absolute or relative to the current folder.

bool close ()
Closes this open file.

bool copy (target:string File)
Copies this object’s referenced file to the specified target location.

Parameter	Type	Description
target	string File	A string with the URI path to the target location, or a File object that references the target location.

void createAlias (path:string)
Makes this file a file-system alias or shortcut to the specified file.

Parameter	Type	Description
path	string	A string containing the path of the target file.

string decode (uri:string)
Decodes a UTF-8 encoded string as required by RFC 2396, and returns the decoded string.

Parameter	Type	Description
uri	string	The UTF-8 encoded string to decode.

string encode (name:string)
Encodes a string as required by RFC 2396, and returns the encoded string.

Parameter	Type	Description
name	string	The string to encode.

bool execute ()
Executes or opens this file using the appropriate application, as if it had been double-clicked in a file browser.

string getRelativeURI (basePath:string)
Retrieves and returns the path for this file, relative to the specified base path, in URI notation.

Parameter	Type	Description
basePath	string	A base path in URI notation.

bool isEncodingAvailable (name:string)
Reports whether a given encoding is available.

Parameter	Type	Description
name	string	The encoding name.

bool open (mode:string, type:string, creator:string)
Opens the referenced file for subsequent read/write operations. The method resolves any aliases to find the file.

Parameter	Type	Description
mode	string	The read-write mode, a single-character string.
type	string	In Mac OS, the type of a newly created file, a 4-character string. Ignored in Windows and UNIX.
creator	string	In Mac OS, the creator of a newly created file, a 4-character string. Ignored in Windows and UNIX.

File openDialog (prompt:string [, filter:any=null] [, multiSelect:bool=false])
Opens a dialog so the user can select one or more files to open.

Parameter	Type	Description
prompt	string	The prompt text, displayed if the dialog allows a prompt.
filter	any	A filter that limits the types of files displayed in the dialog. (default: null)
multiSelect	bool	When true, the user can select multiple files and the return value is an array. (default: false)

File openDlg (prompt:string [, filter:any=null] [, multiSelect:bool=false])
Opens the built-in platform-specific file-browsing dialog, in which the user can select an existing file or files, and creates new File objects to represent the selected files.

Parameter	Type	Description
prompt	string	A string containing the prompt text, if the dialog allows a prompt.
filter	any	A filter that limits the types of files displayed in the dialog. (default: null)
multiSelect	bool	When true, the user can select multiple files and the return value is an array. (default: false)

string read (chars:number)
Reads the contents of the file, starting at the current position.

Parameter	Type	Description
chars	number	An integer specifying the number of characters to read.

string readch ()
Reads a single text character from the file at the current position.

string readln ()
Reads a single line of text from the file at the current position.

bool remove ()
Deletes the file associated with this object from disk immediately, without moving it to the system trash.

bool rename (newName:string)
Renames the associated file.

Parameter	Type	Description
newName	string	The new file name, with no path information.

File resolve ()
Attempts to resolve the file-system alias or shortcut that this object refers to.

File saveDialog (prompt:string [, filter:any=null])
Opens a dialog so the user can select a file name to save to.

Parameter	Type	Description
prompt	string	The prompt text, displayed if the dialog allows a prompt.
filter	any	A filter that limits the types of files displayed in the dialog. (default: null)

File saveDlg (prompt:string [, filter:any=null])
Opens the built-in platform-specific file-browsing dialog, in which the user can select an existing file location to which to save information, and creates a new File object to represent the selected file.

Parameter	Type	Description
prompt	string	A string containing the prompt text, if the dialog allows a prompt.
filter	any	A filter that limits the types of files displayed in the dialog. (default: null)

bool seek (pos:number [, mode:number=0])
Seeks to a given position in the file.

Parameter	Type	Description
pos	number	The new current position in the file as an offset in bytes from the start, current position, or end, depending on the mode.
mode	number	The seek mode. (default: 0)

number tell ()
Retrieves the current position as a byte offset from the start of the file.

string toSource ()
Creates and returns a serialized string representation of this object.

string toString ()
Converts this object to a string.

bool write (text:string)
Writes the specified text to the file at the current position.

Parameter	Type	Description
text	string	A text string to be written.

bool writeln (text:string)
Writes a string to the file at the current position and appends a line-feed sequence.

Parameter	Type	Description
text	string	A text string to be written.

Element of

Reflection.sampleFile

ReflectionInfo.sampleFile

Used in

$.evalFile (file:File [, timeout:number=10000])

File.copy (target:string File)

Return

File File.File (path:string)

File File.openDialog (prompt:string [, filter:any=null] [, multiSelect:bool=false])

File File.openDlg (prompt:string [, filter:any=null] [, multiSelect:bool=false])

File File.resolve ()

File File.saveDialog (prompt:string [, filter:any=null])

File File.saveDlg (prompt:string [, filter:any=null])

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