Read from TextAsset line by line

I've done a lot of searching for an answer before posting here but I don't seem to be getting anywhere.

Essentially I have a streamreader that reads a text file line by line to populate a list. The issue is that after it has been compiled, it will no longer read from this list unless I store the text file as a textasset. I have declared the textasset but I'm unsure of how to access it line by line for the streamreader as using .text reads the whole lot in one go.

Here is what I have so far

Code (CSharp):

1.   TextAsset spellData = Resources.Load("spelldata.txt") as TextAsset;
2.  
3.         Debug.Log("Compiling spell database...");
4.  
5.         string line;
6.         System.IO.StreamReader file = new System.IO.StreamReader(Application.dataPath + "/Resources/spelldata.txt"); //load text file with data
7.         while ((line = file.ReadLine()) != null)
8.         { //while text exists.. repeat
9.  
10.             char[] delimiterChar = { '#' };//variable separation
11.             string[] split = line.Split(delimiterChar, StringSplitOptions.None); //each line splits parts with # character
12.             Spell spellIn = new Spell(split[0], Convert.ToInt32(split[1]), Convert.ToInt32(split[2]), Convert.ToBoolean(split[3]), split[4], Convert.ToInt32(split[5]), split[6],
13.                                       split[7], split[8], split[9]); //create new spell and populate
14.             Debug.Log(spellIn.spell_name + " found...");
15.             spellDB.Add(spellIn); //add to database
16.         }
17.         file.Close();

Currently it reads from "Application.dataPath + "/Resources/spelldata.txt" but I'd like it from the declared textasset. Thanks in advance!

 

Well you are declaring spellData at the top, but you are using while on the file variable. Or how do you mean?

 

Instead of reading from the current file path, how would I read from the textAsset instead. I know i'd have to restructure the streamreader but I'm not sure how.

 

Don't have to use the StreamReader:

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. public static Spell parseTextAsset ( TextAsset ft ) {
3.  
4.   string fs = ft.text;
5.   string[] fLines = Regex.Split ( fs, "\n|\r|\r\n" );
6.  
7.   for ( int i=0; i < fLines.Length; i++ ) {
8.  
9.   string valueLine = fLines[i];
10.   string[] values = Regex.Split ( valueLine, ";" ); // your splitter here
11.  
12.   Spell newSpell = new Spell ( values[0], ... ) // etc
13.   return newSpell;
14.   // spellDB.Add ( newSpell );
15.   }
16. }

 

Thank you for you help, but now I'm unsure how to populate my spellDB list with each of these? Apologies if I'm overlooking something simple!

 

Well, not like this?

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. TextAsset spellData = Resources.Load("spelldata.txt") as TextAsset;
3. List<Spell> spellDB = new List<Spell>();
4.  
5. // put the parseTextAsset function in a static public class
6. // that doesn't derive from MonoBehavior
7. Spell newSpell = TextAssetParser.parseTextAsset ( spellData);
8. spellDB.Add ( newSpell );

 

Thank you again, but there is still one more issue. The function is erroring saying that it doesn't return a value on all paths. What should I be returning for null if I'm understanding this correctly?

 

Don't use @Bradamante's code directly; I think he was in a hurry, because he's got a "for" loop that exits (returns) on the very first iteration through the loop. I'm pretty sure that's not what you want!

But take the big idea — just split the TextAsset.text into lines (for example, with Regex.Split as @Bradamante showed), and then do whatever you want with each line.

 

make a public TextAsset property and drag the text into it in editor
the TextAsset has a text property and that text property has a Split method

Code (CSharp):

1.         public void Import()
2.         {
3.             Clear();
4.             var splitFile = new string[] { "\r\n", "\r", "\n" };
5.             var splitLine = new char[] { ',' };
6.             // name
7.             var NameLines = NameFile.text.Split(splitFile, StringSplitOptions.None);
8.             for (uint i = 0; i < NameLines.Length; i++)
9.             {
10.                 var line = NameLines[i].Split(splitLine, StringSplitOptions.None);
11.                 Utility.Assert(line.Length == _nameFieldCount);
12.                 // male
13.                 Add(line[0], Male);
14.                 // female
15.                 Add(line[1], Female);
16.                 // both
17.                 Add(line[2], Male);
18.                 Add(line[2], Female);
19.             }
20.             // syllable
21.             var SyllableLines = SyllableFile.text.Split(splitFile, StringSplitOptions.None);
22.             for (uint i = 0; i < SyllableLines.Length; i++)
23.             {
24.                 var line = SyllableLines[i].Split(splitLine, StringSplitOptions.None);
25.                 Utility.Assert(line.Length == _syllableFieldCount);
26.                 // male
27.                 Add(line[0], MaleStart);
28.                 Add(line[1], MaleMiddle);
29.                 Add(line[2], MaleEnd);
30.                 // female
31.                 Add(line[3], FemaleStart);
32.                 Add(line[4], FemaleMiddle);
33.                 Add(line[5], FemaleEnd);
34.                 // both
35.                 Add(line[6], MaleStart);
36.                 Add(line[7], MaleMiddle);
37.                 Add(line[7], MaleEnd);
38.                 Add(line[6], FemaleStart);
39.                 Add(line[7], FemaleMiddle);
40.                 Add(line[8], FemaleEnd);
41.             }
42.             // title
43.             var TitleLines = TitleFile.text.Split(splitFile, StringSplitOptions.None);
44.             for (uint i = 0; i < TitleLines.Length; i++)
45.             {
46.                 var line = TitleLines[i].Split(splitLine, StringSplitOptions.None);
47.                 Utility.Assert(line.Length == _titleFieldCount);
48.                 // male
49.                 Add(line[0], MalePre);
50.                 Add(line[1], MalePost);
51.                 // female
52.                 Add(line[2], FemalePre);
53.                 Add(line[3], FemalePost);
54.                 // both
55.                 Add(line[4], MalePre);
56.                 Add(line[5], MalePost);
57.                 Add(line[4], FemalePre);
58.                 Add(line[5], FemalePost);
59.             }
60.             Sort();
61.         }
62.  

 

Try this

Code (CSharp):

1. string[] linesFromfile = sourceTexts.text.Split("\n"[0]);

 

Might be an old-ish post but I created a little function that has a TextAsset as input parameter, and returns a list of each line (split by \n(enters)).

Code (CSharp):

1.  private List<string> TextAssetToList(TextAsset ta)
2.     {
3.         var listToReturn = new List<string>();
4.         var arrayString = ta.text.Split('\n');
5.         foreach (var line in arrayString)
6.         {
7.             listToReturn.Add(line);
8.         }
9.         return listToReturn;
10.     }

 

I think this would be more efficient...

Code (CSharp):

1. private List<string> TextAssetToList(TextAsset ta) {
2.         return new List<string>(ta.text.Split('\n'));
3. }

 

Or you could just use File.ReadAllLines
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.io.file.readalllines(v=vs.110).aspx

Instead of having to split, if your text file has each spell on a different line, this will load the file and populate your array for you.

 

How would you use that on a TextAsset, exactly? I didn't think there was (in a compiled game) an actual file to read from in this case.

 

Extension method version of JoeStrouts solution, call with myTextAsset.TextAssetToList()

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2.     public static class TextAssetExtensionMethods {
3.         public static List<string> TextAssetToList(this TextAsset textAsset) {
4.             return new List<string>(textAsset.text.Split(System.Environment.NewLine));
5.         }
6.     }
7.  

 

Should this perhaps use

Code (csharp):

1. System.Environment.NewLine

instead of just \n ?

I've always used \n but I'm wondering if we can rely on that with all of Unity's target platforms.

 

Yeah, I can't say for sure, but in other cross-platform work I've been bitten by making assumptions about line endings. So using System.Environment.NewLine is probably a good idea — it can't hurt, and it just might help.

 

There is also the System.IO.StringReader way... I haven't tried that yet. Might be safe to assume that takes into account System.Environment.NewLine internally.

Also, don't forget it is an IDisposable, as so many example codelets seem to forget.

 

you are the best!!!! thank you wery much

 

comparision not working always returns false, can you help me out for searching.
Debug.Log( words.Contains(inputField.text));

if (words.Contains(inputField.text, StringComparer.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase)) {
Debug.Log("Contains");
} else{
Debug.Log("not");
}

 

Thank you!!! This works!

 

You need to move that asset into StreamingAssets directory and open it from there. After your game is build, files in Assest and Resources folder will not be available as files anymore. This is because assets storage format in build is different for any platform and when built, they are may be not files anymore. StreamingAssets is special folder for distributing arbitrary files with your app.
Also I sugges you put your File.Open into using() { } clause so it be closed automatically in case of any error.

 

This works, but what it does?

1. read whole file from HDD to RAM
2. check every character in file if it is line break
3. in RAM, create copy of all characters inbetween line breaks

if file is small and you okay with that, then it probably best way to go
But if you're trying to read file line by line for loading optimization, this is not best optimization you can make because using reader to read directly from file as in your initial code version is 2x more effective in terms of memory consumption and speed - it checks chars as they are read from hdd and creates new string from them without having whole file loaded in memory

 

@Warped your simple solutions was exactly what I happened to be searching for. Thanks.