How to Save Console.WriteLine Output to Text File

Question

I have a program which outputs various results onto a command line console.

How do I save the output to a text file using a StreamReader or other techniques?

System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable<String> lines = File.ReadAllLines(@"C:\Test\ntfs8.txt");

foreach (String r in lines.Skip(1))
{
    String[] token = r.Split(',');
    String[] datetime = token[0].Split(' ');
    String timeText = datetime[4];
    String actions = token[2];
    Console.WriteLine("The time for this array is: " + timeText);
    Console.WriteLine(token[7]);
    Console.WriteLine(actions);
    MacActions(actions);
    x = 1;
    Console.WriteLine("================================================");
}

if (x == 2)
{
    Console.WriteLine("The selected time does not exist within the log files!");
}

System.IO.StreamReader reader = ;
string sRes = reader.ReadToEnd();
StreamWriter SW;
SW = File.CreateText("C:\\temp\\test.bodyfile");
SW.WriteLine(sRes);
SW.Close();
Console.WriteLine("File Created");
reader.Close();

Answer 1

Using only configuration in your app.config:

    <system.diagnostics> 
        <trace autoflush="true" indentsize="4"> 
              <listeners> 

              <add name="consoleListener" type="System.Diagnostics.ConsoleTraceListener"/>

            <!--
            <add name="logListener" type="System.Diagnostics.TextWriterTraceListener" initializeData="TextWriterOutput.log" /> 
            <add name="EventLogListener" type="System.Diagnostics.EventLogTraceListener" initializeData="MyEventLog"/>
             -->

             <!--
              Remove the Default listener to avoid duplicate messages
              being sent to the debugger for display
             -->
             <remove name="Default" />

             </listeners> 
        </trace> 
  </system.diagnostics>

For testing, you can use DebugView before running the program, then we can easily view all of the log messages.

References:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/jjameson/archive/2009/06/18/configuring-logging-in-a-console-application.aspx http://www.thejoyofcode.com/from_zero_to_logging_with_system_diagnostics_in_15_minutes.aspx
Redirect Trace output to Console
Problem redirecting debug output to a file using trace listener
https://ukadcdiagnostics.codeplex.com/
http://geekswithblogs.net/theunstablemind/archive/2009/09/09/adventures-in-system.diagnostics.aspx

Answer 2

Try this example from this article - Demonstrates redirecting the Console output to a file

using System;
using System.IO;

static public void Main ()
{
    FileStream ostrm;
    StreamWriter writer;
    TextWriter oldOut = Console.Out;
    try
    {
        ostrm = new FileStream ("./Redirect.txt", FileMode.OpenOrCreate, FileAccess.Write);
        writer = new StreamWriter (ostrm);
    }
    catch (Exception e)
    {
        Console.WriteLine ("Cannot open Redirect.txt for writing");
        Console.WriteLine (e.Message);
        return;
    }
    Console.SetOut (writer);
    Console.WriteLine ("This is a line of text");
    Console.WriteLine ("Everything written to Console.Write() or");
    Console.WriteLine ("Console.WriteLine() will be written to a file");
    Console.SetOut (oldOut);
    writer.Close();
    ostrm.Close();
    Console.WriteLine ("Done");
}

Answer 3

Try if this works:

FileStream filestream = new FileStream("out.txt", FileMode.Create);
var streamwriter = new StreamWriter(filestream);
streamwriter.AutoFlush = true;
Console.SetOut(streamwriter);
Console.SetError(streamwriter);

Answer 4

For the question:

How to save Console.Writeline Outputs to text file?

I would use Console.SetOut as others have mentioned.

---

However, it looks more like you are keeping track of your program flow. I would consider using Debug or Trace for keeping track of the program state.

It works similar the console except you have more control over your input such as WriteLineIf.

Debug will only operate when in debug mode where as Trace will operate in both debug or release mode.

They both allow for listeners such as output files or the console.

TextWriterTraceListener tr1 = new TextWriterTraceListener(System.Console.Out);
Debug.Listeners.Add(tr1);

TextWriterTraceListener tr2 = new TextWriterTraceListener(System.IO.File.CreateText("Output.txt"));
Debug.Listeners.Add(tr2);

-http://support.microsoft.com/kb/815788

Answer 5

do you want to write code for that or just use command-line feature 'command redirection' as follows:

app.exe >> output.txt

as demonstrated here: http://discomoose.org/2006/05/01/output-redirection-to-a-file-from-the-windows-command-line/ (Archived at archive.org)

EDIT: link dead, here's another example: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/commandlinereference/a/redirect-command-output-to-file.htm

Answer 6

Use Console.SetOut to redirect to a TextWriter as described here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.console.setout.aspx