How to Read the Contents of a Text File Using VBScript

At times, when programming with VBScript, a programmer will need to read the contents of a text file.
This can be accomplished by accessing the Windows Script Host via VBScript and making use of the FileSystemObject.

The program below will walk you through the steps necessary to accomplish this task and give you a real world example to learn from.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Computer
• Windows(98 or newer)

1. Create a Text File
   
   Create a text file with the following name at the following location.
   C:\Temp\TextToRead.txt
   
   Within the text file, add the following lines.
   If you get this message,
   you have successfully
   completed this
   programming task.

2. Open Notepad
   
   Go to Start - All Programs - Accessories - Notepad
   Save your file as C:\Temp\ReadTextFile.vbs

3. Copy Code
   
   Copy and Paste the following code into Notepad.
   
   '*****************************************************************
   Option Explicit
   
   Const conForReading = 1
   
   'Declare variables
   Dim objFSO, objReadFile, contents
   
   'Set Objects
   Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
   Set objReadFile = objFSO.OpenTextFile("C:\Temp\TextToRead.txt", 1, False)
   
   'Read file contents
   contents = objReadFile.ReadAll
   
   'Close file
   objReadFile.close
   
   'Display results
   wscript.echo contents
   
   'Cleanup objects
   Set objFSO = Nothing
   Set objReadFile = Nothing
   
   'Quit script
   WScript.Quit()
   '******************************************************************
   Save your file and exit Notepad

4. 
    
   Success!

   Run Script
   
   Double click on your ReadTextFile.vbs VBScript file.
   You should get the window shown.
   Select "OK"
   
   
   Congratulations! You've written a VBScript capable of reading a text file.

Tips & Warnings

• When viewing or editing VBScript, make sure you right-click on the file and choose Edit, otherwise you will run the script

Resources

• VisualBasicScript.com