VBScript in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition

Name

FileSystemObject.CreateTextFile Method

Syntax

                  oFileSysObj
                  .CreateTextFile Filename [, Overwrite[, Unicode]])

oFileSysObj

Use: Required

Data Type: FileSystemObject object

A FileSystemObject object.

Filename

Use: Required

Data Type: String

Any valid filename, along with an optional path.

Overwrite

Use: Optional

Data Type: Boolean

Flag indicating if an existing file of the same name should be overwritten.

Unicode

Use: Optional

Variant Sub Type: Boolean

Flag indicating if Filename is to be written in Unicode or ASCII.

Return Value

A TextStream object.

Description

Creates a new file and returns its TextStream object.

Rules at a Glance

• Wildcard characters aren’t allowed in Filename.

• Filename can be a relative or absolute path.

• If no path is specified in Filename, the script’s current drive and directory are used. If no drive is specified in Filename, the script’s current drive is used.

• If the path specified in Filename doesn’t exist, the method fails. To prevent this error, you can use the FileSystemObject object’s FolderExists method to insure that the path is valid.

• The default value for Overwrite is False.

• If Unicode is set to True, the file is created in Unicode; otherwise, it’s created as an ASCII text file. The default value for Unicode is False.

Programming Tips and Gotchas

• The newly created text file is automatically opened only for writing. If you subsequently wish to read from the file, you must first close it and reopen it in read mode.

• If the path referred to in Filename is set to read-only, the CreateTextFile ...