CODEWITHSUNDEEP
.netvb.netvbaini
Minion
Minion

Reputation: 2567

VB 2010 - How to read an INI file that is on the internet without downloading it

I need to know how can I read an INI file that is on the internet without download it into the computer, can save it into memory, I need to do this with Visual Basic 2010.

I need to read all content and get every value from every section but without download the file, I've tried with this class:

Question: Read and write in INI file

But only works with computer-stored-files, not with files on internet, I've been thinking in get all content of the INI file and save it into a string, but the class doesn't read it at all, can anyone help me? Thanks in advanced.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 683

Answers (2)

Turch
Turch

Reputation: 1546

If you can, the easiest way is to download the file to a temp location. Use CreateTempFile to get a temp file name.

If you can't save the file at all, you can download it to memory with the following (untested):

Dim request As HttpWebRequest
Dim response As HttpWebResponse

request = Net.HttpWebRequest.Create(url)  ' url of the file
request.Method = "GET"
response = request.GetResponse()


Using reader As StreamReader = New StreamReader(response.GetResponseStream(), Encoding.Default)
    Dim fileStr As String = reader.ReadToEnd()  ' fileStr contains the contents of the file
End Using

Upvotes: 1

user2480047
user2480047

Reputation:

The best thing you can do is reading the file as a webpage (basically, this is what it is) and then parsing all the information you get. I have used the code below many times and works pretty well:

Public Class Form1
    Friend WithEvents webBrower0 As New WebBrowser
    Friend WithEvents tabs As New TabControl
    Friend WithEvents tabPage0 As New TabPage

    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        startBrowser()
    End Sub
    Public Sub startBrowser()

        Dim url As String = "http://..."

        tabs.Controls.Add(tabPage0)
        tabPage0.Controls.Add(webBrower0)
        AddHandler webBrower0.Navigating, AddressOf WebBrowser_Navigating
        AddHandler webBrower0.DocumentCompleted, AddressOf WebBrowser_DocumentCompleted
        tabPage0.Refresh()

        webBrower0.Navigate(url)

    End Sub
    Private Sub WebBrowser_Navigating(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.WebBrowserNavigatingEventArgs)
    End Sub
    Private Sub WebBrowser_DocumentCompleted(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.WebBrowserDocumentCompletedEventArgs)
        Dim source_string As String = webBrower0.DocumentText 'content of the file
    End Sub
End Class

After reading everything, the string source_string will be populated with the file content. It follows the html format but you shouldn't find any problem to extract the information you want.

Upvotes: 1

Related Questions