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File Operations Guide

Complete guide to file and directory operations with EFM.

Creating Directories​

Always create your directory structure at game startup:

// Create a single directory
SavedDir = GetGameSavedDirectory() + "MyGame/"
if not DirectoryExists(SavedDir):
  CreateDirectory(SavedDir)

// Create nested directories at once
CreateDirectoryTree(GetGameSavedDirectory() + "MyGame/Saves/Slot1/")

Creating and Writing Files​

Method 1: Using CreateFile + UEFMFile​

CreateFile(GetGameSavedDirectory(), "config.txt") -> bSuccess, ConfigFile
if bSuccess:
  ConfigFile.AppendString("Setting1=Value1\n")
  ConfigFile.AppendString("Setting2=Value2\n")

Method 2: Using WriteBytes​

CreateFile(GetGameSavedDirectory(), "data.bin") -> bSuccess, DataFile
if bSuccess:
  DataFile.WriteBytes(YourByteArray)

Method 3: Using Async Write (non-blocking)​

AsyncWriteString(
  Self,
  GetGameSavedDirectory() + "log.txt",
  "Game started at " + CurrentTime,
  OnComplete(bSuccess, FilePath):
    if bSuccess:
      Log("Written: " + FilePath)
)

Reading Files​

Read as Strings​

ReadFile(GetGameSavedDirectory(), "config.txt") -> bSuccess, ConfigFile
if bSuccess:
  Lines = ConfigFile.GetStrings()
  for Line in Lines:
    ProcessLine(Line)

Read as Bytes​

ReadFile(GetGameSavedDirectory(), "data.bin") -> bSuccess, DataFile
if bSuccess:
  Bytes = DataFile.GetBytes()
  DeserializeData(Bytes)

Read as Image​

ReadFile(GetGameSavedDirectory(), "screenshot.png") -> bSuccess, ImageFile
if bSuccess:
  ImageFile.GetTexture(ConversionResult, Texture)
  if ConversionResult == EImageConversionResult.Success:
    MyImage.SetBrushFromTexture(Texture)

Read as Sound​

ReadFile(GetGameSavedDirectory(), "voice.wav") -> bSuccess, SoundFile
if bSuccess:
  SoundWave = SoundFile.GetSound()
  if SoundWave:
    PlaySound2D(Self, SoundWave)

Copying, Moving, Renaming​

Copy a File​

ReadFile(SourceDir, "file.txt") -> bSuccess, FileObj
if bSuccess:
  CopyFileObject(FileObj, DestDir + "file_copy.txt") -> bSuccess2, CopiedFile

Move a File​

ReadFile(SourceDir, "file.txt") -> bSuccess, FileObj
if bSuccess:
  MoveFileObject(FileObj, DestDir + "file.txt") -> bSuccess2

Rename a File​

ReadFile(Dir, "old_name.txt") -> bSuccess, FileObj
if bSuccess:
  RenameFileObject(FileObj, "new_name.txt") -> bSuccess2

Delete a File​

ReadFile(Dir, "temp.txt") -> bSuccess, FileObj
if bSuccess:
  DeleteFileObject(FileObj) -> bSuccess2

Directory Operations​

Copy Directory​

CopyDirectory(
  GetGameSavedDirectory() + "Saves/",
  GetGameSavedDirectory() + "Backup/Saves/",
  true  // overwrite
)

Move Directory​

MoveDirectory(
  GetGameSavedDirectory() + "OldFolder/",
  GetGameSavedDirectory() + "NewFolder/"
)

Rename Directory​

RenameDirectory(
  GetGameSavedDirectory() + "OldName",
  "NewName"
)

Delete Directory​

DeleteDirectory(
  GetGameSavedDirectory() + "Temp/",
  true  // recursively
)

Get Directory Content​

// Get only files
Files = GetDirectoryContent(Dir, true, false)

// Get only directories
Dirs = GetDirectoryContent(Dir, false, true)

// Get both
All = GetDirectoryContent(Dir, true, true)

Search by Pattern (Wildcard)​

// Find all .json files
JsonFiles = SearchFiles(Dir, "*.json", true, false)

Search by Pattern (Regex)​

// Find files matching regex pattern
LogFiles = SearchFiles(Dir, "log_\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2}\\.txt", true, true)

Search by Extension​

// Find all image files
ImageFiles = SearchFilesByExtension(Dir, [".png", ".jpg", ".bmp"], true)

Search by Date​

// Find files modified in the last week
MinDate = Today - 7 days
MaxDate = Today
RecentFiles = SearchFilesByDate(Dir, MinDate, MaxDate, true)

Search by Size​

// Find files between 1MB and 100MB
LargeFiles = SearchFilesBySize(Dir, 1048576, 104857600, true)

File Metadata​

ReadFile(Dir, "file.txt") -> bSuccess, FileObj
if bSuccess:
  // Size
  SizeBytes = FileObj.GetSizeInBytes()
  SizeMB = FileObj.GetSizeInMegaBytes()
  HumanSize = FileObj.GetHumanReadableSize()  // "1.5 MB"

  // Timestamps
  Created = FileObj.GetCreationTime()
  Modified = FileObj.GetLastModifiedTime()
  Accessed = FileObj.GetLastAccessTime()

  // Hashes
  MD5 = FileObj.GetMD5()
  SHA1 = FileObj.GetSHA1()

  // Attributes
  bReadOnly = FileObj.IsReadOnly()
  FileObj.SetReadOnly(true)

Clipboard​

// Copy text to clipboard
CopyToClipboard("Hello, World!")

// Read from clipboard
if HasClipboardText():
  Text = GetFromClipboard()
  ProcessText(Text)

// Clear clipboard
ClearClipboard()
// Create a symbolic link to a file
CreateSymbolicLink(
  GetGameSavedDirectory() + "link.txt",
  "C:/original/file.txt",
  false  // not a directory
)

// Check if a path is a symlink
if IsSymbolicLink(SomePath):
  Target = GetSymbolicLinkTarget(SomePath)
  Log("Points to: " + Target)

// Resolve symlink
ResolvedPath = ""
if ResolveSymbolicLink(SomePath, ResolvedPath):
  Log("Resolved: " + ResolvedPath)

// Create hard link
CreateHardLink(
  GetGameSavedDirectory() + "hardlink.txt",
  "C:/original/file.txt"
)

Directory Statistics​

// Get file count
Count = GetFileCount(Dir, true)  // recursive

// Get directory count
DirCount = GetDirectoryCount(Dir, true)

// Get total size
TotalSize = GetDirectorySize(Dir, true)

// Get all stats at once
GetDirectoryStatistics(Dir, true, FileCount, DirCount, TotalSize)

// Get file count by extension
ExtMap = GetFileCountByExtension(Dir, true)
// ExtMap[".txt"] = 15
// ExtMap[".png"] = 8

// Get largest files
Largest = GetLargestFiles(Dir, 10, true)  // top 10

File Hashing & Verification​

// Get hash
MD5 = GetFileMD5(Dir, "file.txt")
SHA1 = GetFileSHA1(Dir, "file.txt")

// Verify against expected hash
if VerifyFileHash(Dir, "file.txt", ExpectedMD5, EFileHashType.MD5):
  Log("File integrity verified")
else:
  LogError("File has been modified or corrupted")