Reading embedded file

Question

I included couple text files in my C# app by going to Tools | Projects, going to the Resources tab, clicking on "Add Resource" and selected "Add Existing File" and selected two existing text files.  In addition to showing
in the Resources pane, the files are also listed in the Resources folder in the Solution Explorer pane.
But, I'm unable to retrieve the files.  I found this code sample:
var assembly = System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
using (System.IO.Stream stream = assembly.GetManifestResourceStream(fileName))
using (System.IO.StreamReader reader = new System.IO.StreamReader(stream))
textFile = reader.ReadToEnd();
but, the file wasn't found.  After the GetExecutingAssembly statement, I added this statement:
string[] f = assembly.GetManifestResourceNames();
In examining the contents of f, the embedded text files are not listed.  There are 5 entries in f, 3 of them related to my EF model.  The other two entries are "TestPgm.g.resources" and "TestPgm.Properties.Resources.resources". 
(TestPgm is name of my project)
So, why aren't my embedded text files listed?
Anyone have any ideas of why I'm not able to access my embedded text files?
Thanks,
Richard

Answer 1

You should use the designer-generated Resources class to access your resources. It hides the details from you.  You only need to work with ResourceManager in cases where you don't have strongly typed access to a resource.
When you insert a resource the name of the resource is determined by taking the default namespace of the project (at the time of insertion) and appending that to the file name.  Once it is set it persists.  If you change the project default namespace
then the resource file is not changed.  This can cause resources to "disappear".  You can use a disassembler like JustDecompile to view the resources in your assembly and their names to help you get the correct name if needed.  But
prefer the Resources-generated class for general access.
Michael Taylor
http://blogs.msmvps.com/p3net