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docs/en/manuals/file_access.md

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 # Working with files
+There are many different ways to create and/or access files. The file paths and the ways your access these files varies depending on the type of file and the location of the file.
 
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+## Functions for file and folder access
+Defold provides several different functions to work with files:
+
+* You can use the standard [`io.*` functions](https://defold.com/ref/stable/io/) to read and write files. These functions give you very fine-grained control over the entire I/O process.
+* You can use [`os.rename()`](https://defold.com/ref/stable/os/#os.rename:oldname-newname) and [`os.remove()`](https://defold.com/ref/stable/os/#os.remove:filename) to rename and remove files.
+* You can use [`sys.save()`](https://defold.com/ref/stable/sys/#sys.save:filename-table) and [`sys.load()`](https://defold.com/ref/stable/sys/#sys.load:filename) to read and write Lua tables. Additional [sys.*](https://defold.com/ref/stable/sys/) functions exist to help with platform independent file path resolution.
+
+## File and folder locations
+File and folder locations can be divided into three categories:
+
+* Files and folders bundled with your application
+* Application specific files created by your application
+* System specific files accessed by your application
+
+### How to save and load application specific files
+When saving and loading application specific files such as high scores, user settings and game state it is recommended to do so in a location provided by the operating system and intended specifically for this purpose. You can use [`sys.get_save_file()`](https://defold.com/ref/stable/sys/#sys.get_save_file:application_id-file_name) to get the OS specific absolute path to a file. Once you have the absolute path you can use the [sys.*](https://defold.com/ref/stable/sys/), [io.*](https://defold.com/ref/stable/io/) and [os.*](https://defold.com/ref/stable/os/) functions.
+
+### How to access files bundled with the application
+You can bundle files with your application in two ways:
+
+1. As part of the game archive using the [*Custom Resources* field](https://defold.com/manuals/project-settings/#project) in *game.project*. You can read these files using [`sys.load_resource()`](https://defold.com/ref/sys/#sys.load_resource). Note that these aren't actual files on the file system. Files included this way becomes part of the binary game archive and the only way to access them is through `sys.load_resource()`.
+
+2. As additional files and folders located as a part of your application bundle using the [*Bundle Resources* field](https://defold.com/manuals/project-settings/#project) in *game.project*. You can use [`sys.get_application_path()`](https://defold.com/ref/stable/sys/#sys.get_application_path:) to get the path to where the application is stored. Use this application base path to create the final absolute path to the files you need access to. Once you have the absolute path of these files you can use the [io.*](https://defold.com/ref/stable/io/) and [os.*](https://defold.com/ref/stable/os/) functions to access the files.
+
+### System file access
+Access to system files may be restricted by the operating system for security reasons. You can use the [`extension-directiories`](https://defold.com/assets/extensiondirectories/) native extension to get the absolute path to some common system directories (ie documents, resource, temp). Once you have the absolute path of these files you can use the [io.*](https://defold.com/ref/stable/io/) and [os.*](https://defold.com/ref/stable/os/) functions to access the files.
+
+## Extensions
+The [Asset Portal](https://defold.com/assets/) contains several assets to simplify file and folder access. Some examples:
+
+* [Lua File System (LFS)](https://defold.com/assets/luafilesystemlfs/) - Functions to work with directories, file permissions etc
+* [DefSave](https://defold.com/assets/defsave/) - A module to help you save / load config and player data between session.