can't read from file

[ittarter]

Hi guys,

I've tried and tried and tried but to no avail. Why can't I do this simple task of putting some text in my .txt into a field?
I've tried the open/read commands. Nothing. Now I've tried to steamline it with the url command. Still nothing.
Any ideas? What's my problem, or how can I debug it?

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   put "C:/Users/Ivan/Desktop/tll audio/" into defaultfolder
   put URL "file:levels.txt" into field "fld.leveldata" ## does nothing

This is one debugging bit of code that I used:

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if there is a file "levels.txt" then answer "Found it!" ## yields "Found it!"
else
end if

So I know that my app can find the file... but it still can't read it. I can't yield text from my .txt file with either an answer or a put/into command.

Help is much appreciated. Let me know if you need more information.

[zaxos]

try

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put URL "file:levels.txt"

and see if you get anything in the message box

[ittarter]

Nope, nothing.

By the way, levels.txt definitely contains about 15 lines of text.

Also, don't know if it helps, but sometimes I was getting "OK" printed to the field "lbl.leveldata" -- I think that was when I was using the code "if there is a file [filename]" but it was funny because I was never asking "OK" to print anywhere...

[zaxos]

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set the folder to "C:/Users/Ivan/Desktop/tll audio/"
put URL "file:levels.txt" into fld "fld.leveldata"

or

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put URL"file:C:/Users/Ivan/Desktop/tll audio/levels.txt" into fld "fld.levelData"

these should both work, in case they dont, do some debuging:

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set the folder to "C:/Users/Ivan/Desktop/tll audio/"
put the folder -- to check if it is set properly
breakpoint
put the files -- to check if it finds the files
put URL "file:levels.txt" into fld "fld.leveldata"

[ittarter]

The second code works, thanks!

The problem is resolved when I use the full file address instead of the defaultfolder variable.

I don't understand why I can't get the defaultfolder variable to work.

Code: Select all

   put "C:/Users/Ivan/Desktop/tll audio/" into defaultfolder
put URL"file:levels.txt" into fld "fld.levelData"

yields nothing. Do I explictly have to SAY defaultfolder every time I want to reference a file in that folder? All the resources I've looked at suggest that it's automatic...

[zaxos]

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put "C:/Users/Ivan/Desktop/tll audio/" into defaultfolder

-- this is wrong, i dont see how this could work, instead:

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put "C:/Users/Ivan/Desktop/tll audio/" into tDefaultFolder
set the defaultFolder to tDefaultFolder
put URL"file:levels.txt" into fld "fld.levelData"

OR

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put "C:/Users/Ivan/Desktop/tll audio/" into tDefaultFolder
put URL ("file:"&tDefaultFolder&slash&"levels.txt) into fld "fld.levelData"

I think your problem is that you are trying to put something into defaultFolder, instead you have to set the defaultFolder like the first example
the defaultFolder is a property used by livecode, see the dictionary for more info on how to use it

[Thierry]

The problem is resolved when I use the full file address instead of the defaultfolder variable.

I don't understand why I can't get the defaultfolder variable to work.

From the dictionary, defaultfolder is a property.
Better try this instead:

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set the defaultfolder to "..."

HTH,

Thierry

[Klaus]

And again a look into the dictionary might have saved a lot of time...

[FourthWorld]

Whenever you encounter an unexpected result in LiveCode, check the value of "the result" for an indication of the cause.

With file I/O or other things dependent on the host OS, it can also be good to include a call to the sysError function.

e.g.:

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put url ("file:somepath/somefile.txt") into tData
if the result is not empty then
     answer "Couldn't read file: "& the results &"("& sysError() &")"
end if

[ittarter]

And again a look into the dictionary might have saved a lot of time...

Believe me, I'm in the dictionary all the time. I probably don't often understand it.

[Klaus]

And again a look into the dictionary might have saved a lot of time...

Believe me, I'm in the dictionary all the time. I probably don't often understand it.

OK, but if the example code in the dictionary and my code are THAT different, I really would think it over...

Dictionary:

set the defaultfolder to XYZ

VS:

put XYZ into defaultfolder

[ittarter]

Thanks for all your help and patience, everyone.

[ittarter]

Whenever you encounter an unexpected result in LiveCode, check the value of "the result" for an indication of the cause.

With file I/O or other things dependent on the host OS, it can also be good to include a call to the sysError function.

e.g.:

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put url ("file:somepath/somefile.txt") into tData
if the result is not empty then
     answer "Couldn't read file: "& the results &"("& sysError() &")"
end if

Thanks for the syserror code, Richard. I'll try it out tomorrow.