Contributor: MICHAEL VINCZE The following example shows how to write and read data to and from a file. It is intended merely as a starting point for those that are struggling to get started with file related IO. Please read the documentation on each object for more information. Some very minimal exception handling is thrown in and by no means constitutes a robust solution. Best regards, Michael Vincze mav@asd470.dseg.ti.com ---------- In order to setup the program, place a TMemo component on a form with a Write captioned and a Read captioned button. Run the program, place some lines in the "memo", then press on Write. Clear the "memo", and press on Read. procedure TForm1.BtnWriteClick(Sender: TObject); { by: Michael Vincze } var FileStream: TFileStream; Writer : TWriter; I : Integer; begin FileStream := TFileStream.Create ('c:\delphi\projects\delta40\fileio\stream.txt', fmCreate or fmOpenWrite or fmShareDenyNone); Writer := TWriter.Create (FileStream, $ff); Writer.WriteListBegin; for I := 0 to Memo1.Lines.Count - 1 do Writer.WriteString (Memo1.Lines[I]); Writer.WriteListEnd; Writer.Destroy; FileStream.Destroy; end; procedure TForm1.BtnReadClick(Sender: TObject); { by: Michael Vincze } var FileStream: TFileStream; Reader : TReader; begin { try opening a non existent file } try FileStream := TFileStream.Create ('c:\delphi\projects\delta40\fileio\bogus.txt', fmOpenRead); except ; { no need to Destroy since the Create failed } end; FileStream := TFileStream.Create ('c:\delphi\projects\delta40\fileio\stream.txt', fmOpenRead); Reader := TReader.Create (FileStream, $ff); Reader.ReadListBegin; Memo1.Lines.Clear; while not Reader.EndOfList do Memo1.Lines.Add (Reader.ReadString); Reader.ReadListEnd; Reader.Destroy; FileStream.Destroy; end;