Summary

In this chapter, you learned how to read and write sequential and random access data files. We've used only a small fraction of all the file I/O building blocks that Visual Basic .NET makes available to you. If you find that you need to do something different when working with disk files, check the online help first. Chances are pretty good that your question has already been answered .

You should experiment with the SequentialFile project and try to add new features to it. A good starting point would be to add an Edit button to the random access files portion of the program. Again, use the debugger to single-step through the program to follow exactly what the program is doing. Also, try messing things up (for example, opening a file that doesn't exist) and see what happens. Such experiments are the best way to gain a thorough understanding of what the code is doing.