Type to handle file reading and writing operations.
</brief_description>
<description>
File type. This is used to permanently store data into the user device's file system and to read from it. This can be used to store game save data or player configuration files, for example.
Here's a sample on how to write and read from a file:
In the example above, the file will be saved in the user data folder as specified in the [url=$DOCS_URL/tutorials/io/data_paths.html]Data paths[/url] documentation.
[b]Note:[/b] To access project resources once exported, it is recommended to use [ResourceLoader] instead of the [File] API, as some files are converted to engine-specific formats and their original source files might not be present in the exported PCK package.
[b]Note:[/b] Files are automatically closed only if the process exits "normally" (such as by clicking the window manager's close button or pressing [b]Alt + F4[/b]). If you stop the project execution by pressing [b]F8[/b] while the project is running, the file won't be closed as the game process will be killed. You can work around this by calling [method flush] at regular intervals.
Closes the currently opened file and prevents subsequent read/write operations. Use [method flush] to persist the data to disk without closing the file.
Returns [code]true[/code] if the file cursor has already read past the end of the file.
[b]Note:[/b] [code]eof_reached() == false[/code] cannot be used to check whether there is more data available. To loop while there is more data available, use:
[b]Note:[/b] Many resources types are imported (e.g. textures or sound files), and their source asset will not be included in the exported game, as only the imported version is used. See [method ResourceLoader.exists] for an alternative approach that takes resource remapping into account.
Writes the file's buffer to disk. Flushing is automatically performed when the file is closed. This means you don't need to call [method flush] manually before closing a file using [method close]. Still, calling [method flush] can be used to ensure the data is safe even if the project crashes instead of being closed gracefully.
[b]Note:[/b] Only call [method flush] when you actually need it. Otherwise, it will decrease performance due to constant disk writes.
Returns the next value of the file in CSV (Comma-Separated Values) format. You can pass a different delimiter [code]delim[/code] to use other than the default [code]","[/code] (comma). This delimiter must be one-character long, and cannot be a double quotation mark.
Text is interpreted as being UTF-8 encoded. Text values must be enclosed in double quotes if they include the delimiter character. Double quotes within a text value can be escaped by doubling their occurrence.
For example, the following CSV lines are valid and will be properly parsed as two strings each:
[codeblock]
Alice,"Hello, Bob!"
Bob,Alice! What a surprise!
Alice,"I thought you'd reply with ""Hello, world""."
[/codeblock]
Note how the second line can omit the enclosing quotes as it does not include the delimiter. However it [i]could[/i] very well use quotes, it was only written without for demonstration purposes. The third line must use [code]""[/code] for each quotation mark that needs to be interpreted as such instead of the end of a text value.
Returns the last time the [code]file[/code] was modified in unix timestamp format or returns a [String] "ERROR IN [code]file[/code]". This unix timestamp can be converted to datetime by using [method OS.get_datetime_from_unix_time].
Returns the next [Variant] value from the file. If [code]allow_objects[/code] is [code]true[/code], decoding objects is allowed.
[b]Warning:[/b] Deserialized objects can contain code which gets executed. Do not use this option if the serialized object comes from untrusted sources to avoid potential security threats such as remote code execution.
[b]Note:[/b] [method open_compressed] can only read files that were saved by Godot, not third-party compression formats. See [url=https://github.com/godotengine/godot/issues/28999]GitHub issue #28999[/url] for a workaround.
[b]Note:[/b] The [code]value[/code] should lie in the interval [code][0, 2^16 - 1][/code]. Any other value will overflow and wrap around.
To store a signed integer, use [method store_64] or store a signed integer from the interval [code][-2^15, 2^15 - 1][/code] (i.e. keeping one bit for the signedness) and compute its sign manually when reading. For example:
[codeblock]
const MAX_15B = 1 << 15
const MAX_16B = 1 << 16
func unsigned16_to_signed(unsigned):
return (unsigned + MAX_15B) % MAX_16B - MAX_15B
func _ready():
var f = File.new()
f.open("user://file.dat", File.WRITE_READ)
f.store_16(-42) # This wraps around and stores 65494 (2^16 - 42).
f.store_16(121) # In bounds, will store 121.
f.seek(0) # Go back to start to read the stored value.
var read1 = f.get_16() # 65494
var read2 = f.get_16() # 121
var converted1 = unsigned16_to_signed(read1) # -42
var converted2 = unsigned16_to_signed(read2) # 121
Store the given [PoolStringArray] in the file as a line formatted in the CSV (Comma-Separated Values) format. You can pass a different delimiter [code]delim[/code] to use other than the default [code]","[/code] (comma). This delimiter must be one-character long.
[b]Note:[/b] This method is intended to be used to write text files. The string is stored as a UTF-8 encoded buffer without string length or terminating zero, which means that it can't be loaded back easily. If you want to store a retrievable string in a binary file, consider using [method store_pascal_string] instead. For retrieving strings from a text file, you can use [code]get_buffer(length).get_string_from_utf8()[/code] (if you know the length) or [method get_as_text].
Stores any Variant value in the file. If [code]full_objects[/code] is [code]true[/code], encoding objects is allowed (and can potentially include code).
[b]Note:[/b] Not all properties are included. Only properties that are configured with the [constant PROPERTY_USAGE_STORAGE] flag set will be serialized. You can add a new usage flag to a property by overriding the [method Object._get_property_list] method in your class. You can also check how property usage is configured by calling [method Object._get_property_list]. See [enum PropertyUsageFlags] for the possible usage flags.
If [code]true[/code], the file is read with big-endian [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endianness]endianness[/url]. If [code]false[/code], the file is read with little-endian endianness. If in doubt, leave this to [code]false[/code] as most files are written with little-endian endianness.
[b]Note:[/b] [member endian_swap] is only about the file format, not the CPU type. The CPU endianness doesn't affect the default endianness for files written.
[b]Note:[/b] This is always reset to [code]false[/code] whenever you open the file. Therefore, you must set [member endian_swap] [i]after[/i] opening the file, not before.
Opens the file for read and write operations. The file is created if it does not exist, and truncated if it does. The cursor is positioned at the beginning of the file.
