Question

I am trying to write a simple application that monitors the COM port and writes the incoming binary data to a file. So, I gathered a File class is provided, but looking at its methods list in the Help page, I see no method for writing individual bytes (and the Write methods seem to close the file after writing).

How can I write a byte array into a file, keep it open and repeat this as necessary?

(I am using Visual Studio 2005, if it’s relevant.)

Answer 1

Use a FileStream:

Dim file As FileStream = File.OpenWrite(fileName)

You use the Write method to write a byte array (or part of it) to the stream:

file.Write(buffer, 0, buffer.Length)

The Write method doesn’t close the stream, you can write as many times you like.

When you have written what you want, you use the Close method to close the stream:

file.Close()