Group
File Handling in C#
Objective
1. Open the DBF file in binary mode and read its content.
2. Parse the header section, extracting information about each field.
3. For each field, display its name and type.
4. Use the field size information to understand how the data is organized.
5. Implement error handling for cases where the file format may be corrupted or non-compliant.
6. After running the program, you should see a list of field names and their types.
Create a program that displays the list of fields stored in a DBF file.
Example C# Exercise
Show C# Code
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Text;
class DBFReader
{
// Main method to execute the program
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Path to the DBF file (change to the actual file path)
string dbfFilePath = "path_to_your_file.dbf";
// Open the DBF file in binary mode
using (FileStream fs = new FileStream(dbfFilePath, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read))
{
// Create a BinaryReader to read the file's content
using (BinaryReader reader = new BinaryReader(fs))
{
// Read the DBF header (32-byte general header and field header blocks)
byte[] header = reader.ReadBytes(32);
// Print general information from the header (e.g., file identifier, date, etc.)
Console.WriteLine("General Header Information:");
Console.WriteLine($"Product Identifier: {header[0]}");
Console.WriteLine($"Last Update Date: {header[1]}/{header[2]}/{header[3]}");
// Move the reader to the position of the fields' header (after the first 32 bytes)
reader.BaseStream.Seek(32, SeekOrigin.Begin);
// Loop to read and display field headers (32 bytes per field header)
Console.WriteLine("\nFields in the DBF file:");
while (reader.BaseStream.Position < reader.BaseStream.Length)
{
byte[] fieldHeader = reader.ReadBytes(32); // Read the field header block
string fieldName = Encoding.ASCII.GetString(fieldHeader, 0, 11).Trim(); // Extract field name
char fieldType = (char)fieldHeader[11]; // Field type (C, D, F, etc.)
// Display the field name and type
Console.WriteLine($"Field Name: {fieldName}, Type: {fieldType}");
// Skip the remaining bytes in the header
reader.BaseStream.Seek(21, SeekOrigin.Current);
}
}
}
}
}
Output
General Header Information:
Product Identifier: 3
Last Update Date: 21/5/2025
Fields in the DBF file:
Field Name: Name, Type: C
Field Name: DateOfBirth, Type: D
Field Name: Amount, Type: F
Field Name: IsActive, Type: L