Saving game data to Zune HDD

[ShotgunSnipist]

Okay so how would I make it so I could save... I think 4 different types of data?

and int and 3 bytes,
and then be able to read them back as soon as the game starts again.


On a side note:
Does anyone know how to display how long the song has been playing/how long it is?
So it would look like: 1:53/47

[LedZepp]

MediaPlayer.PlayPostition is where you are
MediaPlayer.Queue.ActiveSong.Duration is how long it is

There are a couple ways to save/read data, but both need to start like:

IAsyncResult result;
result = Guide.BeginShowStorageDeviceSelector(PlayerIndex.One, null, null);
StorageDevice device = Guide.EndShowStorageDeviceSelector(result);

Then as a precaution you can have

if (device.IsConnected)
{

but i think its always connected.
You then have to open a storagecontainer for your game/app and specify where you want the file saved and named

StorageContainer container = device.OpenContainer("MyApp");
String filename = Path.Combine(container.Path, "My File.txt");

Now this is where it changes based on if you are reading or writing
to read

if (File.Exists(filename))
{
StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(filename);

You first check if the file exists then if it does you can load it into a reader(I used to use the Serializer class, but Netrix pointed out to me that streamreader/writer works better on the zune and causes less errors)
If you are writing to a file you dont need the file check, and instead of StreamReader you use StreamWriter.

For writing your int and bytes you would use you streamwriter variable like so

writer.WriteLine(YourInt);
writer.WriteLine(1stByte);
writer.WriteLine(2ndByte);
writer.WriteLine(3rdByte);

Then you would close the stream like Writer.Close() and close the container Container.Dispose();

For reading your values, you would just use the reader variable like

while (reader.Peek() >= 0) 
{
variable = reader.ReadLine();
}

Its a bit tricky with your situation, you could create a string array, with a length of 4, and store each line in to it and then just parse the first array variable as int and store it into your int variable and then do the same for the next 3 but for bytes.

After finishing reading you would again close the reader and dispose the container.

You also need this at the very top

using System.IO;

[ShotgunSnipist]

Originally Posted by LedZepp

MediaPlayer.PlayPostition is where you are
MediaPlayer.Queue.ActiveSong.Duration is how long it is

There are a couple ways to save/read data, but both need to start like:

IAsyncResult result;
result = Guide.BeginShowStorageDeviceSelector(PlayerIndex.One, null, null);
StorageDevice device = Guide.EndShowStorageDeviceSelector(result);

Then as a precaution you can have

if (device.IsConnected)
{

but i think its always connected.
You then have to open a storagecontainer for your game/app and specify where you want the file saved and named

StorageContainer container = device.OpenContainer("MyApp");
String filename = Path.Combine(container.Path, "My File.txt");

Now this is where it changes based on if you are reading or writing
to read

if (File.Exists(filename))
{
StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(filename);

You first check if the file exists then if it does you can load it into a reader(I used to use the Serializer class, but Netrix pointed out to me that streamreader/writer works better on the zune and causes less errors)
If you are writing to a file you dont need the file check, and instead of StreamReader you use StreamWriter.

For writing your int and bytes you would use you streamwriter variable like so

writer.WriteLine(YourInt);
writer.WriteLine(1stByte);
writer.WriteLine(2ndByte);
writer.WriteLine(3rdByte);

Then you would close the stream like Writer.Close() and close the container Container.Dispose();

For reading your values, you would just use the reader variable like

while (reader.Peek() >= 0) 
{
variable = reader.ReadLine();
}

Its a bit tricky with your situation, you could create a string array, with a length of 4, and store each line in to it and then just parse the first array variable as int and store it into your int variable and then do the same for the next 3 but for bytes.

After finishing reading you would again close the reader and dispose the container.

You also need this at the very top

using System.IO;

Awesome!
I'll see if I can get this to work.
Thanks!

[LedZepp]

Heres a small example
http://pastebin.com/m75792695
I havent tested it but it should work

[Tiptup300]

Wait, potentionally, that wouldn't work. Would it? There is a chance it wouldn't find a storage device...I think....

[Anachostic]

I'm making do by taking a class and running it through the XML serializer into an XML document, then saving the XML document to the local storage. Ditto coming back out: load the XML, deserialize into a class.

[itsnotabigtruck]

@Tiptup300: No, there isn't. The API is designed for the Xbox, where it can prompt the user for a location to store their stuff, however, on the Zune, it allocates a folder and returns the path to it no matter what.

@ShotgunSnipist: You might also want to try BinaryWriter/BinaryReader. Those classes let you write strings, numbers, and byte arrays to a file in raw form. Using XML will cause a large delay when users start your game, as it doesn't have to load the XML parser (System.Xml.dll) unless you use it. System.Xml.dll is by far the largest file in the XNA runtime.

[shutout5591]

Fantastic answer LedZepp - very helpful for my new game im workign on, asteroids:

http://www.zuneboards.com/forums/dev...asteroids.html

But really, VERY helpful!!!!!!

[Rockman87]

Is there a way to write or save any other file to the hardrive than a txt file? Would it be possible to make like a paint program and then save the image that is on the screen to the hd for access later?

[SimReality]

You can save any data to the hard drive that you want. Images, text, XML, or even completely arbitrary binary data.

[DiNoGames]

Originally Posted by itsnotabigtruck

@ShotgunSnipist: You might also want to try BinaryWriter/BinaryReader. Those classes let you write strings, numbers, and byte arrays to a file in raw form.

Yup, Nick is right, and Trucky already posted "how" before...

[Rockman87]

Originally Posted by DiNoGames

Yup, Nick is right, and Trucky already posted "how" before...

I'm sorry I've tried searching for how to do it... I can't find the thread. Do I just use the Filewriter?

[LedZepp]

Originally Posted by itsnotabigtruck

@ShotgunSnipist: You might also want to try BinaryWriter/BinaryReader. Those classes let you write strings, numbers, and byte arrays to a file in raw form. Using XML will cause a large delay when users start your game, as it doesn't have to load the XML parser (System.Xml.dll) unless you use it. System.Xml.dll is by far the largest file in the XNA runtime.

[Rockman87]

ok thanks... I just didn't understand properly... my bad.

[CouchPotato99]

If anyone's confused about how to write and read binary files, this is the code I used in my game:

public void GetOptions()
{
    if (File.Exists(Path.Combine(container.Path, "options.dat")))
    {
        BinaryReader dataFile;
        dataFile = new BinaryReader(new FileStream(Path.Combine(container.Path, "options.dat"), FileMode.Open));
        cantSelectRevealed = dataFile.ReadBoolean();
        flagWithPlay = dataFile.ReadBoolean();
        selectedSkin = dataFile.ReadInt32();
        dataFile.Close();
    }
    else SetOptions();
}

public void SetOptions()
{
    BinaryWriter dataFile;
    dataFile = new BinaryWriter(new FileStream(Path.Combine(container.Path, "options.dat"), FileMode.Create));
    dataFile.Write(cantSelectRevealed);
    dataFile.Write(flagWithPlay);
    dataFile.Write(selectedSkin);
    dataFile.Close();
}

Note that, for all I know, that could be horrible inefficient code... but it does work...

[Rockman87]

Is there a way to save the current zune screen to a jpeg file or someother kind of file that will know the color of the pixels on the screen.

[itsnotabigtruck]

Originally Posted by Rockman87

Is there a way to save the current zune screen to a jpeg file or someother kind of file that will know the color of the pixels on the screen.

Well, you could render to a RenderTarget, which lets you get a Texture2D of everything you rendered. Not sure what you would want a JPEG for, as XNA itself can't read JPEG files, and there isn't an effective way of uploading files back to the computer.

[Rockman87]

Originally Posted by itsnotabigtruck

Well, you could render to a RenderTarget, which lets you get a Texture2D of everything you rendered. Not sure what you would want a JPEG for, as XNA itself can't read JPEG files, and there isn't an effective way of uploading files back to the computer.

oh ok... however this sparks another question. So if you RenderTarget and get a Texture2D of the screen, would it then be possible to save the Texture to the HDD and then load it when you start the app again?

[Netrix]

Originally Posted by Rockman87