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# External File Access - Topics Index

The following topics provide the necessary information for reading and writing data from / to external files. MAXScript provides functions to read and write both text (ASCII) and binary files. It also allows reading and writing of keys from/to INI files.

## MAX Scene Files and Properties

MAXFile Loading and Saving

  Standard file dialogs for opening and saving external files. These can be used to let the user select an external file name for the script to process

MAXScene File Properties

  The file properties are organized into three sets corresponding to the three pages in the Main Menu > File > File Properties dialog. This is standard MS Windows feature supported by .MAX files.

MAX File Asset Metadata Stream Access

  Starting with 3ds Max 2010, the MAX file stores metadata about the assets saved in the scene. The methods in this topic allow the reading and updating of the metadata.

## 3ds Max System Directories

3ds Max System Directories

  The GetDir and SetDir methodsprovide access to the 3ds Max system directories.

Symbolic Pathnames

  You can use symbolic pathnames anywhere a filename can be supplied to MAXScript..

## External File Access

Standard Open and Save File Dialogs

  These methods display the standard 3ds Max file open, file save, or folder selection browser dialogs.

File Name Parsing

  These methods let you extract parts of the file name like just the path, the base file name, the extension etc.

External File Methods

  These methods let you collect files from directories, create directories and files, move and delete files and change their attributes etc. Using these methods, you can not only write scripts to let 3ds Max interact with external files, but even write general file-management scripts unrelated to 3ds Max and your 3D work.

## Text File Input and Output

FileStream Values

  The FileStream class implements text file input and output in MAXScript. The topic lists related methods

String Parser Methods

  String parsing methods.

Append String

  This method lets you append to strings in place without creating intermediate string copies in memory, thus reducing memory usage when building incremental strings, for example for dynamic rollouts.

MemStream and MemStreamMgr Interfaces

  Interfaces for fast parsing by loading into memory.

## Binary Files:

BinStream for Binary Reading and Writing

  Methods for reading and writing data from / to binary files.

## INI Files:

Accessing INI File Keys

  Methods for reading and writing key values in .INI files