File Handling

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Operations on Files

• Typical operations on a file are

• Open : To open a file to store/retrieve data in it

• Read : The file is used as an input

• Write : The file is used as output

• Close : Preserve the file for a later use

• Access: Random accessing data in a file

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Opening and Closing a File

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File Handling Commands
• Include header file <stdio.h> to access all file handling
utilities.
• A data type namely FILE is there to create a pointer to a file.
Syntax
FILE * fptr; // fptr is a pointer to file

• To open a file, use fopen() function

Syntax
FILE * fopen(char *filename, char *mode)

• To close a file, use fclose() function

Syntax
int fclose(FILE *fptr);

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fopen() function

• The first argument is a string to characters indicating the name of

the file to be opened.
• The convention of file name should follow the convention of giving file
name in the operating system.

Examples:
xyz12.c student.data File PDS.txt

myFile

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fopen() function
• The second argument is to specify the mode of file opening.
There are five file opening modes in C
• "r" : Opens a file for reading

• "w" : Creates a file for writing (overwrite, if it contains data)

• "a" : Opens a file for appending - writing on the end of the file

• “rb” : Read a binary file (read as bytes)

• “wb” : Write into a binary file (overwrite, if it contains data)

• It returns the special value NULL to indicate that it couldn't

open the file.
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fopen() function
• If a file that does not exist is opened for writing or appending,
it is created as a new.
• Opening an existing file for writing causes the old contents to
be discarded.
• Opening an existing file for appending preserves the old
contents, and new contents will be added at the end.
• File opening error
• Trying to read a file that does not exist.
• Trying to read a file that doesn’t have permission.
• If there is an error, fopen() returns NULL.

Lecture #07: © DSamanta CS 10001 : Programming and Data Structures 7

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Example: fopen()
#include <stdio.h>
void main()
{
FILE *fptr; // Declare a pointer to a file
char filename[]= "file2.dat";
fptr = fopen(filename,"w");
// Also, alternatively
// fptr = fopen (“file2.dat”,"w");
if (fptr == NULL) {
printf (“Error in creating file”);
exit(-1); // Quit the function
}
else /* code for doing something */
}

Lecture #07: © DSamanta CS 10001 : Programming and Data Structures 8

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Reading from a File

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 Reading from a File
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• Following functions in C (defined in stdio.h) are

usually used for reading simple data from a file
• fgetc(…)

• fscanf(…)

• fgets(…)

• getc(…)

• ungetc(…)

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 Reading from a File: fgetc()
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Syntax for fgetc(…)

int fgetc(FILE *fptr)

• The fgetc() function returns the next character in the stream fptr as an
unsigned char (converted to int).

• It returns EOF if end of file or error occurs.

FILE *fptr;
int c;
/* Open file and check it is open */
while ((c = fgetc(fptr)) != NULL)
{
printf ("%c",c);
} 11
 Reading from a File:
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fscanf()

Syntax for fscanf(…)

int fscanf(FILE *fptr, char *format, ...);

• fscanf reads from the stream fptr under control of format and assigns
converted values through subsequent assignments, each of which must be a
pointer.
• It returns when format is exhausted.

• fscanf returns EOF if end of file or an error occurs before any conversion.

• it returns the number of input items converted and assigned.

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Example: Using fscanf(…)
input.dat
FILE *fptr;
20 30 40 50
fptr= fopen (“input.dat”,“r”);
int n;
/* Check it's open */
if (fptr == NULL)
{
printf(“Error in opening file \n”);
}
x = 20
x = 30
n = fscanf(fptr,“%d %d”,&x,&y);

...

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 Reading from a File:
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fgets(…)

Syntax for fgets(…)

char *fgets(char *s, int n, FILE *fptr)
s The array where the characters that are read will be stored.
n The size of s.
fptr The stream to read.

• fgets() reads at most n-1 characters into the array s, stopping if a

newline is encountered.
• The newline is included in the array, which is terminated by ‘\0’.

• The fgets() function returns s or NULL if EOF or error occurs.

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Example: Using fgets(…)

FILE *fptr;
char line [1000];
/* Open file and check it is open */

while (fgets(line,1000,fptr) != NULL)

{
printf ("Read line %s\n",line);
}

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 Reading a File: getc(…)
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Syntax for getc(…)

int getc(FILE *fptr)
• getc(…) is equivalent to fgetc(…) except that it is a macro.

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Example: Using getc(…)
C program to read a text file and then print the content on the screen.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int main()
{
int ch, fileName[25];
FILE *fp;
printf("Enter the name of file you wish to read\n");
gets(fileName);
fp = fopen(fileName,"r"); // read mode

if( fp == NULL )
{
printf("Error while opening the file.\n");
exit(-1);
}
OUTPUT
printf("The contents of %s file are :\n", fileName);
while( ( ch = getc(fp) ) != EOF )
Enter the name of file you wish to read
printf("%c",ch);
test.txt
fclose(fp); The contents of test.txt file are :
return 0; C programming is fun.
}

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 Undo a File Reading:
Greater Noida Campus ungetc()

ungetc(): Push a character back onto an input stream.

Syntax:
int ungetc(int c, FILE *fptr)
Arguments:
c The character that you want to push back.
fptr The stream you want to push the character back on.
• Only one character of pushback is guaranteed per file.
• ungetc may be used with any of the input functions like
scanf, getc, or getchar.
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 Example: ungetc()
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#include <stdio.h>
int main(void)
{ OUTPUT
int ch;
a
while ((ch = getchar()) != '1') // reads characters from the stdin a
putchar(ch); // and show them on stdout until encounters
v '1'
v
ungetc(ch, stdin); // ungetc() returns '1' previously read back to stdin
c
c
ch = getchar(); // getchar() attempts to read next character from stdin
u
// and reads character '1' returned back to the stdin by ungetc()
u
putchar(ch); // putchar() displays character 1
puts(""); 1
Thank you!
printf("Thank you!\n");
return 0;
}

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Writing into a File

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Greater Noida Campus Writing into a File
• Following functions in C (defined in stdio.h) are usually used
for writing simple data into a file
• fputc(…)

• fprintf(…)

• fputs(…)

• putc(…)

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 Writing into a File:
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fputc(…)
Syntax for fputc(…)
int fputc(int c, FILE *fptr)

• The fputc() function writes the character c to file fptr and returns the
character#include <stdio.h>
written, or EOF if an error occurs.

filecopy(File *fpIn, FILE *fpOut)

{
int c;

while ((c = fgetc(fpIn) != EOF)

fputc(c, fpOut);
}
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 Writing into a File:
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fprintf(…)
Syntax for fprintf(…)
int fprintf(FILE *fptr, char *format,...)
• fprintf() converts and writes output to the steam fptr under the control
of format.

• The function is similar to printf() function except the first argument

which is a file pointer that specifies the file to be written.

• The fprintf() returns the number of characters written, or negative if an

error occur.

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 Writing into a File:
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fprintf(…)
#include <stdio.h>

void main()

{
FILE *fptr;
fptr = fopen(“test.txt”, “w”);

fprintf(fptr, “Programming in C is really a fun!\n”);

fprintf(fptr, “Let’s enjoy it\n”);

fclose(fptr);

return;
}

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 Writing into a File:
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fputs()
Syntax for fputs:
int fputs(char *s, FILE *fptr)

• The fputs() function writes a string (which need not contain a newline) to
a file.

• It returns non-negative, or EOF if an error occurs.

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 Example: fputs(…)
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#include Campus
<stdio.h>

void main()

{
FILE *fptr;
fptr = fopen(“test.txt”, “w”);

fputs(“Programming in C is really a fun!”, fptr);

fputs(“\n”, fptr);
fputs(“Let’s enjoy it \n”, fptr);

fclose(fptr);

return;
}

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putc(…)
Syntax for putc(…)
int putc(FILE *fptr)

• The putc() function is same as the putc(…).

#include <stdio.h>

filecopy(File *fpIn, FILE *fpOut)

{
int c;

while ((c = getc(fpIn) != EOF)

putc(c, fpOut);
}
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Writing into a File: Example
• A sample C program to write some text reading from the
keyboard and writing them into a file and then print the content
from the file<stdio.h>
#include on the screen.

main()

{
FILE *f1;

char c;

printf("Data Input\n\n");
/* Open the file INPUT */
Contd…
f1 = fopen("INPUT", "w");

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Writing into a File
while((c=getchar()) != EOF) /* Get a character from keyboard*/
OUTPUT
putc(c,f1); /* Write a character to INPUT*/
Data Input

fclose(f1); /* Close the file INPUT*/ This is a program to test

printf("\nData Output\n\n"); the file handling features on
this system
f1 = fopen("INPUT","r"); /* Reopen the file INPUT */
Data Output
while((c=getc(f1)) != EOF) /* Read a character from INPUT*/
printf("%c",c); /* Display a character on screen */
This is a program to test
fclose(f1); /* Close the file INPUT */ the file handling features on
this system
}

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Special Streams in C

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Special Streams
• When a C program is started, the operating system environment is
responsible for opening three files and providing file pointer for
them. These files are

• stdin Standard input. Normally it is connected to keyboard

• stdout Standard output, In general, it is connected to display

screen

• stderr It is also an output stream and usually assigned to a

program in
the same way that stdin and stderr are. Output written on
stderr normally appears on the screen

Note:
getc(stdin) is same as fgetc (stdin)
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 Special Streams
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fprintf (stdout,"Hello World!\n");

printf(“"Hello World!\n");

The above two statements are same!

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 Example: Special Streams
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#include <stdio.h>
main()
{
int i;

fprintf(stdout,"Give value of i \n");

fscanf(stdin,"%d",&i);
fprintf(stdout,"Value of i=%d \n",i);

OUTPUT
Give value of i
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Value of i=15

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Error Handling : stderr and exit
• What happens if the errors are not shown in the screen instead
if it's going into a file or into another program via a pipeline.
• To handle this situation better, a second output stream, called
stderr, is assigned to a program in the same way that
stdin and stdout are.
• Output written on stderr normally appears on the screen
even if the standard output is redirected.

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Example: Error Handling

#include <stdio.h>

/* cat: concatenate files */

main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
FILE *fp;
void filecopy(FILE *, FILE *);
char *prog = argv[0]; /* program name for errors */

if (argc == 1 ) /* no args; copy standard input */

filecopy(stdin, stdout);
else
while (--argc > 0)

Contd…
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Example: Error Handling

if ((fp = fopen(*++argv, "r")) == NULL) {

fprintf(stderr, "%s: can't open %s\n", prog, *argv);
exit(1);
} else {
filecopy(fp, stdout);
fclose(fp);
}

if (ferror(stdout)) {
fprintf(stderr, "%s: error writing stdout\n", prog);
exit(2);
}
exit(0);
}

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Direct Input and Output

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Structured Input/Output for Files
• Other than the simple data, C language provides the following
two functions for storing and retrieving composite data.

• fwrite() To write a group of structured data

• fread() To read a group of structured data

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Writing Records: fwrite()
fwrite() writes data from the array pointed to, by ptr to the
given stream fptr.
Syntax:

int fwrite(void *ptr, int size, int nobj, FILE *fptr);

• ptr This is the pointer to a block of memory with a minimum size of

size *nobj bytes.
• size This is the size in bytes of each element to be written.
• nobj This is the number of elements, each one with a size of size bytes.
• fptr This is the pointer to a FILE object that specifies an output stream.

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Example: fwrite()
#include<stdio.h>

struct Student
{
int roll;
char name[25];
float marks;
};

void main()
{
FILE *fp;
int ch;
struct Student Stu;

fp = fopen("Student.dat","w"); //Statement 1

if(fp == NULL)
{
printf("\nCan't open file or file doesn't exist.");
exit(0);
}
Contd…
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Example: fwrite()
do
{
printf("\nEnter Roll : ");
scanf("%d",&Stu.roll);

printf("Enter Name : ");

scanf("%s",Stu.name);

printf("Enter Marks : ");

scanf("%f",&Stu.marks);

fwrite(&Stu,sizeof(Stu),1,fp);

printf("\nDo you want to add another data (y/n) : ");

ch = getchar();

}while(ch=='y' || ch=='Y');

printf("\nData written successfully...");

fclose(fp);
}

Contd…
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Example: fwrite()
OUTPUT

Enter Roll : 1
Enter Name : AA
Enter Marks : 78.53
Do you want to add another data (y/n) : y

Enter Roll : 2
Enter Name : BB
Enter Marks : 72.65
Do you want to add another data (y/n) : y

Enter Roll : 3
Enter Name : CC
Enter Marks : 82.65
Do you want to add another data (y/n) : n

Data written successfully...

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Reading Records: fread()
fread() reads data from the given stream into the array pointed
to, by ptr.
Syntax:

int fread(void *ptr, int size, int nobj, FILE *fptr);

• ptr This is the pointer to a block of memory with a minimum size of

size *nobj bytes.
• size This is the size in bytes of each element to be read.
• nobj This is the number of elements, each one with a size of size bytes.
• fptr This is the pointer to a FILE object that specifies an input stream.

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Example: fread()
#include<stdio.h>

struct Student
{
int roll;
char name[25];
float marks;
};

void main()
{
FILE *fp;
int ch;
struct Student Stu;

fp = fopen("Student.dat","r"); //Statement 1

if(fp == NULL)
{
printf("\nCan't open file or file doesn't exist.");
exit(0);
}

Contd…
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Example: fread()
printf("\n\tRoll\tName\tMarks\n");

while(fread(&Stu,sizeof(Stu),1,fp)>0)
printf("\n\t%d\t%s\t
%f",Stu.roll,Stu.name,Stu.marks);

fclose(fp);
}

OUTPUT

Roll Name Marks

1 AA 78.53
2 BB 72.65
3 CC 82.65

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