VB.NET Language in a Nutshell, Second Edition

Name

FreeFile Function

Class

Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileSystem

Syntax

FreeFile(  )

Return Value

An integer representing the next available file number

Description

Returns the next available file number for use in a FileOpen function

Programming Tips and Gotchas

• It is good programming practice to always use FreeFile to obtain a file number to use in the FileOpen procedure.

• You should call FreeFile and store the returned file number to a variable rather than passing the FreeFile function directly as the filenumber argument of the FileOpen procedure. In this way, you save the file handle for a subsequent call to the FileClose procedure.

• After using the FreeFile function to retrieve a file handle, you should immediately call the FileOpen procedure, particularly if your file access code resides in a multithreaded application or component. Failure to do so may cause the same handle to be assigned to two different variables, so that one of the calls to FileOpen fails.

• The names of function parameters become the function’s named arguments. Because of this, it is best to use meaningful names for parameters, and to avoid the use of Hungarian notation.