Namespace: System.IO

The IO namespace contains types that allow synchronous and asynchronous reading and writing on data streams and files.

Members of System.IO Namespace

Classes
Class Description
class BinaryReader Reads primitive data types as binary values in a specific encoding. 
class BinaryWriter Writes primitive types in binary to a stream and supports writing strings in a specific encoding. 
class BufferedStream Reads and writes to another stream. This class cannot be inherited. 
class Directory Exposes static methods for creating, moving, and enumerating through directories and subdirectories. 
class DirectoryInfo Exposes instance methods for creating, moving, and enumerating through directories and subdirectories. 
class DirectoryNotFoundException The exception that is thrown when part of a file or directory cannot be found. 
class EndOfStreamException The exception that is thrown when reading is attempted past the end of a stream. 
class File Provides static methods for the creation, copying, deletion, moving, and opening of files, and aids in the creation of FileStream objects. 
class FileInfo Provides instance methods for the creation, copying, deletion, moving, and opening of files, and aids in the creation of FileStream objects. 
class FileLoadException The exception that is thrown when a file is found but cannot be loaded. 
class FileNotFoundException The exception that is thrown when an attempt to access a file that does not exist on disk fails. 
class FileStream Exposes a Stream around a file, supporting both synchronous and asynchronous read and write operations. 
class FileSystemInfo Provides the base class for both FileInfo and DirectoryInfo objects. 
class IOException The exception that is thrown when an I/O error occurs. 
class MemoryStream Creates a stream whose backing store is memory. 
class Path Performs operations on String instances that contain file or directory path information. These operations are performed in a cross-platform manner. 
class PathTooLongException The exception that is thrown when a pathname or filename is longer than the system-defined maximum length . 
class Stream Provides a generic view of a sequence of bytes. 
class StreamReader Implements a TextReader that reads characters from a byte stream in a particular encoding. 
class StreamWriter Implements a TextWriter for writing characters to a stream in a particular encoding. 
class StringReader Implements a that reads from a string. 
class StringWriter Writes information to a string. The information is stored in an underlying StringBuilder
class TextReader Represents a reader that can read a sequential series of characters.  
class TextWriter Represents a writer that can write a sequential series of characters. This class is abstract. 

Enumerations
Enumeration Description
enumeration FileAccess Defines constants for read, write, or read/write access to a file. 
enumeration FileAttributes Provides attributes for files and directories. 
enumeration FileMode Specifies how the operating system should open a file. 
enumeration FileShare Contains constants for controlling the kind of access other FileStreams can have to the same file. 
enumeration SeekOrigin Provides the fields that represent reference points in streams for seeking. 

Namepace hierarchy

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