sp_OAMethod 'OpenTextFile' clarification

Question

I can seem to find an answer to this even on Microsoft sites I am using this:

EXECUTE @RetCode = sp_OAMethod @FileSystem, 
 'OpenTextFile',
 @FileHandle OUTPUT,
 @FilePath,
 8,
 1

I would like to know what the finale int parameter (1) does and what other options there are for this. I experimented and used 2 but did not see any difference.

I know that the second last int parameter (8) specifies an append vs using 2 a write but do not know of other values for this parameter either.

Answer 1

The sp_OAMethod is executing method of the given object, in this case is a FileSystemObject OpenTextFile has 4 parameters in this order:

1. FilePath -Required. The name of the file to open
2. Mode - Optional. How to open the file
   • 1 = Reading - Open a file for reading. You cannot write to this file.
   • 2 = Writing - Open a file for writing.
   • 8 = Appending - Open a file and write to the end of the file.
     
3. Create - Optional. Sets whether a new file can be created if the filename does not exist. True indicates that a new file can be created, and False indicates that a new file will not be created. False is default.
4. Format - Optional. The format of the file
   • 0 = TristateFalse - Open the file as ASCII. This is default.
   • 1 = TristateTrue - Open the file as Unicode.
   • 2 = TristateUseDefault - Open the file using the system default.

In your case (8) is the Mode, and (1) is the Create. You can read more about it here.