I've found this class of functions useful for exchanging and saving game settings and/or data. Very easy to use and apply. If the file doesn't exist it will be created when using the write function. Anyway, some may find this useful for data storage.
Class
Public Class inifile
' API functions
Private Declare Ansi Function GetPrivateProfileString _
Lib "kernel32.dll" Alias "GetPrivateProfileStringA" _
(ByVal lpApplicationName As String, _
ByVal lpKeyName As String, ByVal lpDefault As String, _
ByVal lpReturnedString As System.Text.StringBuilder, _
ByVal nSize As Integer, ByVal lpFileName As String) _
As Integer
Private Declare Ansi Function WritePrivateProfileString _
Lib "kernel32.dll" Alias "WritePrivateProfileStringA" _
(ByVal lpApplicationName As String, _
ByVal lpKeyName As String, ByVal lpString As String, _
ByVal lpFileName As String) As Integer
Private Declare Ansi Function GetPrivateProfileInt _
Lib "kernel32.dll" Alias "GetPrivateProfileIntA" _
(ByVal lpApplicationName As String, _
ByVal lpKeyName As String, ByVal nDefault As Integer, _
ByVal lpFileName As String) As Integer
Private Declare Ansi Function FlushPrivateProfileString _
Lib "kernel32.dll" Alias "WritePrivateProfileStringA" _
(ByVal lpApplicationName As Integer, _
ByVal lpKeyName As Integer, ByVal lpString As Integer, _
ByVal lpFileName As String) As Integer
Dim strFilename As String
' Constructor, accepting a filename
Public Sub New(ByVal Filename As String)
strFilename = Filename
End Sub
' Read-only filename property
ReadOnly Property FileName() As String
Get
Return strFilename
End Get
End Property
Public Function GetString(ByVal Section As String, _
ByVal Key As String, ByVal [Default] As String) As String
' Returns a string from your INI file
Dim intCharCount As Integer
Dim objResult As New System.Text.StringBuilder(256)
intCharCount = GetPrivateProfileString(Section, Key, _
[Default], objResult, objResult.Capacity, strFilename)
If intCharCount > 0 Then GetString = _
Left(objResult.ToString, intCharCount)
End Function
Public Function GetInteger(ByVal Section As String, _
ByVal Key As String, ByVal [Default] As Integer) As Integer
' Returns an integer from your INI file
Return GetPrivateProfileInt(Section, Key, _
[Default], strFilename)
End Function
Public Function GetBoolean(ByVal Section As String, _
ByVal Key As String, ByVal [Default] As Boolean) As Boolean
' Returns a boolean from your INI file
Return (GetPrivateProfileInt(Section, Key, _
CInt([Default]), strFilename) = 1)
End Function
Public Sub WriteString(ByVal Section As String, _
ByVal Key As String, ByVal Value As String)
' Writes a string to your INI file
WritePrivateProfileString(Section, Key, Value, strFilename)
Flush()
End Sub
Public Sub WriteInteger(ByVal Section As String, _
ByVal Key As String, ByVal Value As Integer)
' Writes an integer to your INI file
WriteString(Section, Key, CStr(Value))
Flush()
End Sub
Public Sub WriteBoolean(ByVal Section As String, _
ByVal Key As String, ByVal Value As Boolean)
' Writes a boolean to your INI file
WriteString(Section, Key, CStr(CInt(Value)))
Flush()
End Sub
Private Sub Flush()
' Stores all the cached changes to your INI file
FlushPrivateProfileString(0, 0, 0, strFilename)
End Sub
End Class
Usage:
Dim objIniFile As New IniFile("c:\data.ini")
objIniFile.WriteString("Settings", "ClockTime", "12:59")
Dim strData As String = _
objIniFile.GetString("Settings", "ClockTime", "(none)")