File system

We recommend you use the static class VirtualFileSystem to access files across platforms. It offers all basic operations such as reading, writing, copying, checking existence and deleting files.

Note

The path separator is / (Unix/Linux convention).

Code example

// Open a file through VirtualFileSystem
var gamesave1 = VirtualFileSystem.OpenStream("/roaming/gamesave001.dat", VirtualFileMode.Open, VirtualFileAccess.Read);
// Alternatively, directly access the same file through its file system provider (mount point)
var gamesave2 = VirtualFileSystem.ApplicationRoaming.OpenStream("gamesave001.dat", VirtualFileMode.Open, VirtualFileAccess.Read);

Default mount points

Mount point	Description	Writable	Cloud	Notes	PC	Android	iOS	Windows Phone 8.1
data	Application data, deployed by package	✗	✗		Output directory/data	APK itself	Deployed package directory	InstalledLocation.Path
binary	Application binaries, deployed by package	✗	✗	Usually the same as app_data (except on Android)	Assembly directory	Assembly directory	Assembly directory	Assembly directory
roaming	User specific data (roaming)	✓	✓	Backup	Output directory/roaming, %APPDATA%	$(Context.getFilesDir)/roaming	Library/roaming	Roaming
local	User application data	✓	✓	Backup	Output directory/local	$(Context.getFilesDir)local	Library/local	Local
cache	Application cache	✓	✗	DLC, etc. Might be deleted manually by user (restore, clear data, etc…)	Output directory/cache, with do-not-back-up flags	$(Context.getFilesDir)/cache	Library/caches	LocalCache
tmp	Application temporary data	✓	✗	Might be deleted without notice by OS	Output directory/temp, %TEMP%/%APPNAME%	$(Context.getCacheDir)	tmp	Temporary