looking for simple file “database” or file bundles in .net/c#

Question

I am looking for a way to conveniently store image files or any kind of file, ie without just saving them somewhere in my project folders and keeping track of the files in some list/xml/something.

What I am looking for is something like a 'bundle', which I can easily access and query in c#/.net .. eg I can easily find out what files it contains.

The whole point is that I don't want to have a messy subfolder containing all those files and I want to avoid using the filesystem's querying, access and referencing methods.

Is there something out there you could recommend?

Answer 1

Learn about resources in NET. Resources in Applications

Basically you can package resources to a dll and access them with a ResourceManager and a ResourceSet

Answer 2

As George already said simply use this procedure:

• Right click on your project and select Add - New Item .
• From the dialog select Resource File and give that file a meaningful name.
• Double click on the file in the Solution Explorer
• Click on the Add Resource Button at the top and add the file(s) you want.

Now you can access these resources within your project by simply entering

var myResource = ResourceFileName.ResourceName

Within the Resource Editor you can also select an already selected resource and take a look into the Properties window. There you can change the FileType of the resource. This has an impact on the return type you'll get within your code (eg a binary file will be returned as byte[] , but a text file as string ).