Private Sub MergeFiles(ByVal inputDir As String, ByVal inputMask As String, ByVal outputPath As String)

'store files in datatable with their created times to sort by later

Dim files As New DataTable

files.Columns.Add("filepath", GetType(String))

files.Columns.Add("creationtime", GetType(Date))

'find partial files

For Each f As String In IO.Directory.GetFiles(inputDir, inputMask)

files.Rows.Add(New Object() {f, IO.File.GetCreationTime(f)})

Next

'make sure output file does not exist before writing

If IO.File.Exists(outputPath) Then

IO.File.Delete(outputPath)

End If

'loop through file in order, and append contents to output file

For Each dr As DataRow In files.Select("", "creationtime")

Dim contents As String = My.Computer.FileSystem.ReadAllText(CStr(dr("filepath")))

My.Computer.FileSystem.WriteAllText(outputPath, contents, True)

Next

End Su