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How to make QByteArray read Full Text file?

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  • A ambershark

    Wrote a quick little test and there should not be any need for a QByteArrayList. My test (shown below) reads a 1.3mb text file which is about 13k lines with no problem. If you are still reading wrong sizes in a single BA then I'm guessing there is actually a problem with your text file. Here is the test:

    #include <QCoreApplication>
    #include <QByteArray>
    #include <QFile>
    #include <QDebug>
    
    int main(int ac, char **av)
    {
        QCoreApplication app(ac, av);
        
        QFile f("/home/mike/last_backup.log");
        if (!f.open(QIODevice::ReadOnly | QIODevice::Text))
        {
            qDebug() << "failed to open";
            return 1;
        }
        
        QByteArray ba = f.readAll();
        qDebug() << "read" << ba.size();
        qDebug() << "file size is" << f.size();
        
        return 0;
    }
    

    And here is the output:

    read 1224526
    file size is 1224526
    

    One other thing I noticed, when you are reading via a QTextStream, which is a nice way to go line by line, you are appending to a strings variable, which seems wrong. Wouldn't you want strings = ts.readLine() rather than an append? Append would continually add line after line to that variable which would test keywords over and over (unintentionally?). Here is the code I'm talking about:

    QTextStream ts(&file);
    while (!ts.atEnd()) {
    	strings.append(ts.readLine());   <-- this line here
    	list = strings.split(QRegExp("[\r\n]"), QString::SkipEmptyParts);
    	qDebug() << list;
    
    	for (int i = 0; i <list.size(); i++) {
    	    hashKeywordLoadList[list.at(i)] = 0;
    	options[4]->keywordLoadListOptions = hashKeywordLoadList;
    	}
    }
    

    Edit:

    Tested with a 59mb file just to be sure everything was happy even on quite large text files and QByteArray was fine with that too:

    read 61226300
    file size is 61226300
    

    658850 lines in that one.

    T Offline
    T Offline
    tshoats
    wrote on last edited by
    #11

    @ambershark , and @JonB ,thanks sooo much!!! You've been a great help. Yup you were totally right about strings and binary issues. I forgot in my header file, I was using a QHash<QString, int> keywordLoadListOptions, with QString as a type. This is where keywordLoadListOptions come into play. I changed my code to use QTextStream to read the file using file.readLine(). I then used processEvents() inside the while loop to prohibit my GUI from freezing. Some where along the lines my QString within my Qlist keywordLoadListOptions was ending my string. Below is what is currently working. I've heard good and bad things about using processEvents(), so I will keep testing.

    QString fileName = QFileDialog::getOpenFileName(this, "Open text file", "");
    QFile file(fileName);
    QFileInfo fi(file.fileName());
    QString fileExt = fi.completeSuffix();;
    QString strings;
    QString str;
    
    if (!file.open(QIODevice::ReadOnly)) {
    	//QMessageBox::warning(this,"...","error in opening keyword file");
    	return;
    }
    QTextStream ts(&file);
    while (!ts.atEnd()) {
    	QApplication::processEvents();
    	str = ts.readLine();
    	*fileList << str;
    }
    
    
    for (int row = 0; row < fileList->size(); row++)
    {
    	for (int col = 0; col < 2; col++)
    	{
    		if (col == 0) 
            {
    		      ui->tableWidget_Keywords_Queue->setItem(row, col, new QTableWidgetItem(fileList->at(row)));
    
    		}
    		if (col == 1)
                    {
    			ui->tableWidget_Keywords_Queue->setItem(row, col, new QTableWidgetItem(""));
    		}
    	}
    }
      qDebug() << fileList->size();
      file.close();
    
    aha_1980A JonBJ 2 Replies Last reply
    1
    • T tshoats

      @ambershark , and @JonB ,thanks sooo much!!! You've been a great help. Yup you were totally right about strings and binary issues. I forgot in my header file, I was using a QHash<QString, int> keywordLoadListOptions, with QString as a type. This is where keywordLoadListOptions come into play. I changed my code to use QTextStream to read the file using file.readLine(). I then used processEvents() inside the while loop to prohibit my GUI from freezing. Some where along the lines my QString within my Qlist keywordLoadListOptions was ending my string. Below is what is currently working. I've heard good and bad things about using processEvents(), so I will keep testing.

      QString fileName = QFileDialog::getOpenFileName(this, "Open text file", "");
      QFile file(fileName);
      QFileInfo fi(file.fileName());
      QString fileExt = fi.completeSuffix();;
      QString strings;
      QString str;
      
      if (!file.open(QIODevice::ReadOnly)) {
      	//QMessageBox::warning(this,"...","error in opening keyword file");
      	return;
      }
      QTextStream ts(&file);
      while (!ts.atEnd()) {
      	QApplication::processEvents();
      	str = ts.readLine();
      	*fileList << str;
      }
      
      
      for (int row = 0; row < fileList->size(); row++)
      {
      	for (int col = 0; col < 2; col++)
      	{
      		if (col == 0) 
              {
      		      ui->tableWidget_Keywords_Queue->setItem(row, col, new QTableWidgetItem(fileList->at(row)));
      
      		}
      		if (col == 1)
                      {
      			ui->tableWidget_Keywords_Queue->setItem(row, col, new QTableWidgetItem(""));
      		}
      	}
      }
        qDebug() << fileList->size();
        file.close();
      
      aha_1980A Offline
      aha_1980A Offline
      aha_1980
      Lifetime Qt Champion
      wrote on last edited by
      #12

      hi @tshoats,

      processEvents() is a crutch, you should avoid it.

      if reading your file lasts more then a few milliseconds, you have two options:

      1. use a QTimer with small timeout and read some lines from the file in the slot. when the timer fires again, read the next lines.
      2. put the whole file reading in a thread

      both will keep your app responsive and you can even have a progress bar.

      just my two cent
      regards

      Qt has to stay free or it will die.

      J.HilkJ 1 Reply Last reply
      6
      • T tshoats

        @ambershark , and @JonB ,thanks sooo much!!! You've been a great help. Yup you were totally right about strings and binary issues. I forgot in my header file, I was using a QHash<QString, int> keywordLoadListOptions, with QString as a type. This is where keywordLoadListOptions come into play. I changed my code to use QTextStream to read the file using file.readLine(). I then used processEvents() inside the while loop to prohibit my GUI from freezing. Some where along the lines my QString within my Qlist keywordLoadListOptions was ending my string. Below is what is currently working. I've heard good and bad things about using processEvents(), so I will keep testing.

        QString fileName = QFileDialog::getOpenFileName(this, "Open text file", "");
        QFile file(fileName);
        QFileInfo fi(file.fileName());
        QString fileExt = fi.completeSuffix();;
        QString strings;
        QString str;
        
        if (!file.open(QIODevice::ReadOnly)) {
        	//QMessageBox::warning(this,"...","error in opening keyword file");
        	return;
        }
        QTextStream ts(&file);
        while (!ts.atEnd()) {
        	QApplication::processEvents();
        	str = ts.readLine();
        	*fileList << str;
        }
        
        
        for (int row = 0; row < fileList->size(); row++)
        {
        	for (int col = 0; col < 2; col++)
        	{
        		if (col == 0) 
                {
        		      ui->tableWidget_Keywords_Queue->setItem(row, col, new QTableWidgetItem(fileList->at(row)));
        
        		}
        		if (col == 1)
                        {
        			ui->tableWidget_Keywords_Queue->setItem(row, col, new QTableWidgetItem(""));
        		}
        	}
        }
          qDebug() << fileList->size();
          file.close();
        
        JonBJ Offline
        JonBJ Offline
        JonB
        wrote on last edited by
        #13

        @tshoats
        @ambershark is a touch harsh on processEvents() :) It's lazy and has issues but it's often employed!

        If you do stick with it, you are calling it for each line read. It needs to be called, but not that often, and it has a performance penalty. Put in a counter and call it every 10 or 100 lines read, enough so that you retain responsiveness but not too often.

        If all you are doing with the lines is populating some data structure, and not directly doing anything to the GUI (e.g. not putting them into a widget, you just store them in your read loop and only later put them into your table), @ambershark's suggestion of read in its own thread is not hard to implement and is neatest.

        A 1 Reply Last reply
        2
        • aha_1980A aha_1980

          hi @tshoats,

          processEvents() is a crutch, you should avoid it.

          if reading your file lasts more then a few milliseconds, you have two options:

          1. use a QTimer with small timeout and read some lines from the file in the slot. when the timer fires again, read the next lines.
          2. put the whole file reading in a thread

          both will keep your app responsive and you can even have a progress bar.

          just my two cent
          regards

          J.HilkJ Online
          J.HilkJ Online
          J.Hilk
          Moderators
          wrote on last edited by
          #14

          @aha_1980 said in How to make QByteArray read Full Text file?:

          processEvents() is a crutch, you should avoid it.

          would you be surprised, if I told you, that using processEvents() is an advice I once got from the Qt support team?


          Be aware of the Qt Code of Conduct, when posting : https://forum.qt.io/topic/113070/qt-code-of-conduct


          Q: What's that?
          A: It's blue light.
          Q: What does it do?
          A: It turns blue.

          1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • aha_1980A Offline
            aha_1980A Offline
            aha_1980
            Lifetime Qt Champion
            wrote on last edited by
            #15

            @J.Hilk

            I still think if you have a better solution, you should avoid it.

            you may have good reasons to use it anyway, but you should know what you are doing. therefore I wouldn't recommend it in the forum or elsewhere.

            Qt has to stay free or it will die.

            J.HilkJ 1 Reply Last reply
            1
            • aha_1980A aha_1980

              @J.Hilk

              I still think if you have a better solution, you should avoid it.

              you may have good reasons to use it anyway, but you should know what you are doing. therefore I wouldn't recommend it in the forum or elsewhere.

              J.HilkJ Online
              J.HilkJ Online
              J.Hilk
              Moderators
              wrote on last edited by
              #16

              @aha_1980
              very true, in the End I came up, in my humble opinion :-), with a smart(er) alternative.


              Be aware of the Qt Code of Conduct, when posting : https://forum.qt.io/topic/113070/qt-code-of-conduct


              Q: What's that?
              A: It's blue light.
              Q: What does it do?
              A: It turns blue.

              1 Reply Last reply
              1
              • JonBJ JonB

                @tshoats
                @ambershark is a touch harsh on processEvents() :) It's lazy and has issues but it's often employed!

                If you do stick with it, you are calling it for each line read. It needs to be called, but not that often, and it has a performance penalty. Put in a counter and call it every 10 or 100 lines read, enough so that you retain responsiveness but not too often.

                If all you are doing with the lines is populating some data structure, and not directly doing anything to the GUI (e.g. not putting them into a widget, you just store them in your read loop and only later put them into your table), @ambershark's suggestion of read in its own thread is not hard to implement and is neatest.

                A Offline
                A Offline
                ambershark
                wrote on last edited by ambershark
                #17

                @JonB said in How to make QByteArray read Full Text file?:

                @tshoats
                @ambershark is a touch harsh on processEvents() :) It's lazy and has issues but it's often employed!

                Well to be fair that wasn't me that said that. ;) However harsh or not I do agree with @aha_1980. I think if it lasts long enough to freeze your GUI, you are much better offloading it to a thread.

                Qt makes this super easy with QObject::moveToThread().

                I have nothing against processEvents, but I wouldn't really use it personally. :)

                My L-GPL'd C++ Logger github.com/ambershark-mike/sharklog

                JonBJ 1 Reply Last reply
                1
                • A ambershark

                  @JonB said in How to make QByteArray read Full Text file?:

                  @tshoats
                  @ambershark is a touch harsh on processEvents() :) It's lazy and has issues but it's often employed!

                  Well to be fair that wasn't me that said that. ;) However harsh or not I do agree with @aha_1980. I think if it lasts long enough to freeze your GUI, you are much better offloading it to a thread.

                  Qt makes this super easy with QObject::moveToThread().

                  I have nothing against processEvents, but I wouldn't really use it personally. :)

                  JonBJ Offline
                  JonBJ Offline
                  JonB
                  wrote on last edited by JonB
                  #18

                  @ambershark
                  Whoops, sorry, it was @aha_1980. It's your faults for having the same starting character in your name when this forum auto-completes ;-)

                  A 1 Reply Last reply
                  1
                  • JonBJ JonB

                    @ambershark
                    Whoops, sorry, it was @aha_1980. It's your faults for having the same starting character in your name when this forum auto-completes ;-)

                    A Offline
                    A Offline
                    ambershark
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #19

                    @JonB Lol totally, I take full responsibility for that and apologize. ;)

                    My L-GPL'd C++ Logger github.com/ambershark-mike/sharklog

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    1
                    • S Offline
                      S Offline
                      stokito
                      wrote last edited by
                      #20

                      Java has Files.readFileContent() and even Files.readAllLines(), similar .NET has File.ReadAllText(). Why does the QT/CPP doesn't provide a simple way to do this?

                      SGaistS 1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • S stokito

                        Java has Files.readFileContent() and even Files.readAllLines(), similar .NET has File.ReadAllText(). Why does the QT/CPP doesn't provide a simple way to do this?

                        SGaistS Offline
                        SGaistS Offline
                        SGaist
                        Lifetime Qt Champion
                        wrote last edited by
                        #21

                        @stokito said in How to make QByteArray read Full Text file?:

                        Java has Files.readFileContent() and even Files.readAllLines(), similar .NET has File.ReadAllText(). Why does the QT/CPP doesn't provide a simple way to do this?

                        Hi,

                        It has: QFile::readAll.

                        Interested in AI ? www.idiap.ch
                        Please read the Qt Code of Conduct - https://forum.qt.io/topic/113070/qt-code-of-conduct

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        4

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