FileRead()
OutputVar := Mfunc.FileRead(Filename)
Reads a file's contents and returns them.
Filename
The name of the file to read, which is assumed to be in %A_WorkingDir% if an absolute path isn't specified.
Options: Zero or more of the following strings may be also be present immediately before the name of the file. Separate each option from the next with a single space or tab. For example: t m5000 C:\Log Files\200601.txt.
*c: Load a ClipboardAll file or other binary data. All other options are ignored when *c is present.
*m1024: If this option is omitted, the entire file is loaded unless there is insufficient memory, in which case an error message is shown and the thread exits (but Try can be used to avoid this). Otherwise, replace 1024 with a decimal or hexadecimal number of bytes. If the file is larger than this, only its leading part is loaded. Note: This might result in the last line ending in a naked carriage return (`r) rather than `r`n.
*t: Replaces any/all occurrences of carriage return & linefeed (`r`n) with linefeed (`n). However, this translation reduces performance and is usually not necessary. For example, text containing `r`n is already in the right format to be added to a Gui Edit control. Similarly, FileAppend detects the presence of `r`n when it opens a new file; it knows to write each `r`n as-is rather than translating it to `r`r`n. Finally, the following parsing loop will work correctly regardless of whether each line ends in `r`n or just `n: Loop, parse, MyFileContents, `n, `r.
*Pnnn: AutoHotkey [v1.0.90+]: Overrides the default encoding set by FileEncoding, where nnn must be a numeric code page identifier.
Can be MfString instance or var containing string.
Returns the contents of the file represented by parameter Filename
Throws MfException if a problem occurs such as the file being "in use", not existing or files greater then 1 GB.
Wrapper for AutoHotkey Docs - FileRead.
Static method.
When the goal is to load all or a large part of a file into memory, FileRead performs much better than using a file-reading loop.
FileRead does not obey #MaxMem. If there is concern about using too much memory, check the file size beforehand with Mfunc.FileGetSize.
FileOpen() provides more advanced functionality than FileRead, such as reading or writing data at a specific location in the file without reading the entire file into memory. See File Object for a list of functions.
Reading Binary Data
Depending on the file, parameters and default settings, FileRead may interpret the file data as text and convert it to the native encoding used by the script. This is likely to cause problems if the file contains binary data, except in the following cases:
Note that once the data has been read into OutputVar, only the text before the first binary zero (if any are present) will be "seen" by most AutoHotkey commands and functions. However, the entire contents are still present and can be accessed by advanced methods such as NumGet().
Finally, FileOpen() and File.RawRead or File.ReadNum may be used to read binary data without first reading the entire file into memory.
Also See:AutoHotkey Docs - FileRead