Computer Programming and Data Structures Technology

Unit VI

Vignana Bharathi Institute of

Files
A file is an external collection of related data treated as a unit. The primary purpose of a file is to keep a record of data. Since he contents of primary memory are lost when the computer is shut down, we need files to store our data in a more permanent form. Files are stored in auxiliary or secondary storage devices. The two most common forms of secondary storage are disk and tape. When the computer reads, the data move from the external device to memory; when it writes, the data move from memory to the external device. This data movement often uses a special work area called buffer. A buffer is a temporary storage area that holds data while they are being transferred to or from memory. As a file is being read, there eventually comes a point when all the data have been input. At the point, the file is said to be at end of file. The end of file in an auxiliary storage device is detected automatically by the device and passed to the programs. It is the programmers job to test for end of file. Every operating system uses a set of rules for naming its files. When we want to read or write auxiliary storage files, we must use the name of the file. We refer this as file name. A program that reads or write files needs to know several pieces of information, such as the file name, the position of the current character in the file and so on. C has predefined a file structure to hold this information. The stdio.h header file defines the file structure; its identifier is FILE. When we need a file in our program, we declare it using FILE type.

Streams
Although the source and destination of data is a file or a physical device in C. Data is input to and output from a stream. A stream can be associated with a physical device such as a terminal, or with a file stored in auxiliary memory.

Text and Binary Streams

C uses two types of streams : text and binary. A text stream consists of sequence of characters divided into lines with each line terminated by a new line. A binary stream consists of a sequence of data values such as integer, real or complex using their memory representation.

Stream File Processing

A file exists as an independent entity with a name known to the operating system. A stream is an entity created by the program. To use a file in our program, we must associate the programs stream name with the operating systems file name. In general, there are four steps to processing a file. Create the stream Open the file Process the file Close the file

Create the Stream A stream is created when we declare it. The declaration uses the FILE type as shown below
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FILE* spDate; In this example, spData is a pointer to the stream. The sp stands for stream pointer. Asterick after FILE indicates that spData is a pointer variable that contains the address of the stream created. It is an error to omit the asterick. Opening a File Once a stream has been created, we are ready to associate the stream to a file. When the file is opened, the stream and the file are associated with each other, and the FILE type is filled with pertinent file information. Using the Stream Name After a stream is created, the stream pointer is used in all functions that are needed to access the corresponding file input or output. Closing the Stream When the file processing is complete, we close the file. Closing the file breaks the association between the stream name and the file name. After the close, the stream is no longer available and any attempt to use it results in an error.

System Created Streams

C provides standard streams to communicate with a terminal. These streams must be created and associated with their terminal devices just like files. The difference is that C does it automatically for us. C declares and defines three stream pointers in the stdio.h header file. stdin, points to the standard input stream. stdout, points to the standard output stream. stderr, points to the standard error stream

These streams are created when the program starts and we cannot declare them. The association between the three standard streams and the keyboard and the monitor is also done automatically when the program starts. There is no need to open and close the standard streams. It is done automatically by the operating system. C includes many standard functions to input data form the keyboard and output data to the monitor automatically without the need for explicitly using these standard streams. Examples of such functions are scanf and printf.

Standard Library Input/Output Functions

The stdio.h header file contains several different input/output function declarations. They are grouped into eight categories. They are : 1. File Open/Close Functions 2. Formatted Input/Output Functions 3. Character Input/Output Functions 4. Line Input/Output Functions

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5. Block Input/Output Functions 6. File Positioning Functions 7. System File Operations 8. File Status Operations

File Open and Close Functions

File Open The function that prepares a file for processing is fopen. It does two things: First, it makes the connection between the physical file and the file stream in the program. Second, it creates a program file structure to store the information needed to process the file.

To open a file, we need to specify the physical filename and its mode, as shown below fopen(filename, mode); The filemode is a string that tells C how we intend to use the file. A filename is a string that supplies the name of the physical file as it is known to the external world. The address of the file structure that contains the file information is returned by fopen. The actual contents of FILE are hidden from our view. Ex : spData = fopen(MyFile.doc, w); The stream pointer spData is assigned the address of the file structure when we open the file; the return value from the fopen function contains the file structure address. File Modes When we open a file, we explicitly define its mode. The mode shows how we will use the file : for reading, for writing, or for appending. C has six different file modes. Mode Read Only Symbol r Meaning Open text file in read mode Write Only w If file exits, the marker is positioned at beginning.

If file doesnt exist, error returned Open text file in write mode. If file exits, the previous data is erased and positioned at beginning.

Append Only

If file doesnt exist, it is created. Open text file in append mode If file exits, the marker is positioned at end.

Read and Write Write and Read Append and Read File Close

r+ w+ a+

If file doesnt exist, it is created. Opens text file for reading as well as writing modes. Opens text file for writing as well as reading modes. Opens text file for reading as well as appending modes.

When a file is no longer needed, it should be closed to free system resources such as buffer space. A file is closed using close function, fclose, it is declared as follows fclose(stream pointer); The example is as follows
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fclose(spData); Open and Close File Errors Open and close errors occur for a number of reasons. One of the most common errors occurs when the external filename in the open function call does not match a name on the disk. When we create a new file, the open fails if there isnt enough room on the disk. Always check to make sure that a stream has opened successfully. If it has, then we have a valid address in the file variable. But if it failed for any reason, the stream pointer variable contains NULL, which is a C-defined constant for no address in stdio.h. The fclose function returns an integer that is zero if the close succeeds and EOF if there is an error. EOF is defined in the stdio.h. Traditionally it is -1 but the standard defines it in any non character value.

Formatting Input/Output Functions

Frequently used formatting Input/Output functions are scanf and printf. The scanf function receives a text stream from the keyboard and converts it to data values to be stored in variables. The printf function receives data values from the program and converts them into text stream to be displayed on the monitor. scanf(control string, address list); printf(control string, address list); C library defines two more general functions, fscanf and fprintf, that can be used with any text stream. The syntax of these functions are as follows fscanf(stream pointer, format string, address list); fprintf(stream pointer, format string, address list); When we want to read data from key board, the stream pointer stdin is used in fscanf. Similarly when we want to write to monitor, the stream pointer stdout is used in fprintf. /*Program to demonstrate writing into file and reading from file */ #include<stdio.h> void main() { FILE* fp; int a,b,c,d,e,f; clrscr(); fp=fopen("one.c","w"); if(fp==NULL) { printf("cannot open file"); exit(); } printf("Enter values of a,b,c = "); scanf("%d%d%d",&a,&b,&c); fprintf(fp,"%d %d %d",a,b,c); fclose(fp); fp=fopen("one.c","r"); if(fp==NULL) { printf("cannot open file"); exit(); } fscanf(fp,"%d%d%d",&d,&e,&f); printf("From file : %d %d %d",d,e,f); Page 4

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Vignana Bharathi Institute of

fclose(fp); getch(); } Output Enter values of a,b,c : 10 20 30 From file : 10 20 30

Character Input/Output Functions

Character input functions read one character at a time form a text stream. Character output functions write one character at the time to a text stream. These functions can be divided into two general categories : input/output functions used exclusively with a terminal device and input/output functions that can be used with both terminal devices and text files. Terminal Character I/O C declares a set of character input/output functions that can only be used with the standard streams : standard input(stdin) and standard output (stdout). Read a character : getchar() The getchar() function reads the next character from the standard input stream and returns its value. Only two input conditions stop it : end of file or read error. The function declaration is as follows int getchar(void); The return type is an integer not a character because EOF is defined as an integer in the standard definition stddef.h and other header files. Write a character : putchar() The putchar() function writes one character to the monitor. If any error occurs during the write operation, it returns EOF. The function declaration is as shown below int puthcar(int out_char); The return type is an integer. When it succeeds, it returns the character it wrote as an integer. Terminal and File Character I/O The terminal character input/output functions are designed for convenience; we dont need to specify the stream. These functions require an argument that specifies the stream associated with a terminal device or a file. When used with terminal device; the streams are declared and opened by the system the standard input stream (stdin) for the keyboard and the standard output stream (stdout) for the monitor. When used with a file, we need to explicitly declare the stream. It is our responsibility to open the stream and associate it with the file. Read a character : getc and fgetc The get functions read the next character from the file stream, which can be a user-defined stream or stdin, and convert it to an integer. If the read detects an end of file, the function returns EOF. EOF is also returned if any error occurs. The prototype functions are as follows int getc(FILE* spIn); int fgetc(File* spIn);

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Example: nextChar = fgetc(spMyFile);

Write a character : putc and fputc The put functions write a character to the file stream specified, which can be user defined stream, stdin or stderr. For fputc, the first parameter is the character to be written and the second parameter is the file. If the character is successfully written, the function returns it. If any error occurs, they return EOF. The prototype functions are as follows int putc(int oneChar, FILE* spOut); int fputc(int oneChar, FILE* spOut); Ex : fputc(ch, spMyFile); 1. /*Program to create a text file */ #include<stdio.h> void main() { FILE* fp; int c; clrscr(); fp=fopen("one.c","w"); if(fp==NULL) { printf("cannot open file"); exit(); } while((c=getchar()) != EOF) fputc(c, fp); fclose(fp); printf("From file:"); fp=fopen("one.c","r"); if(fp==NULL) { printf("cannot open file"); exit(); } while((c=fgetc(fp)) != EOF) printf("%c",c); fclose(fp); getch(); } Output C programming and Data structures ^Z From File : C Programming and Data structures 2. /*Program to display contents of file*/ #include<stdio.h> void main() { FILE *fp; char ch; clrscr(); fp=fopen("one.txt","r"); if(fp==NULL) { printf("cannot open file");
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} Output Contents of File : C Programming

exit(); } printf("Contents of file :"); while((ch=fgetc(fp))!=EOF) printf("%c",ch); fclose(fp); getch();

3. /*Program to copy contents of one file to another*/ #include<stdio.h> void main() { FILE *fp1, *fp2; char ch; clrscr(); fp1=fopen("one.txt","r"); fp2=fopen("two.txt","w"); if(fp2==NULL || fp1==NULL) { printf("cannot open file"); exit(); } while((ch=fgetc(fp1)) != EOF) fputc(ch, fp2); fclose(fp1); fclose(fp2); } 4. /*Program to reverse n contents of file*/ #include<stdio.h> void main() { FILE *fp; char ch,fname[20],nchars[30]; int i,n; clrscr(); printf("Enter the file name :"); scanf("%s",fname); fp=fopen(fname,"r"); if(fp==NULL) { printf("cannot open file"); exit(); } printf("Enter no. of characters to be read : "); scanf("%d",&n); for(i=0; i<n; i++) { ch=fgetc(fp); nchars[i]=ch; } nchars[i]='\0'; fclose(fp); strrev(nchars); printf("Reverse = %s",nchars); getch(); } Output
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Enter file name : one.txt Enter no.of characters to be read : 6 Reverse = ihsmav

5. /*Program to merge contents of two files to third file*/ #include<stdio.h> void main() { FILE *fp1, *fp2, *fp3; char ch; clrscr(); fp1=fopen("comp.c","r"); fp2=fopen("count.c","r"); fp3=fopen("three.txt","a"); if(fp1==NULL || fp2==NULL) { printf("cannot open file"); exit(); } while((ch=fgetc(fp1))!=EOF) { fprintf(fp3,"%c",ch); } fclose(fp1); while((ch=fgetc(fp2))!=EOF) { fprintf(fp3,"%c",ch); } fclose(fp2); fclose(fp3); getch(); }

Text versus Binary Streams

For text input/output we convert a data type to a sequence of characters. For binary input/output, we transfer data without changing their memory representations. Text Files A text file is a file in which data are stored using only characters, a text file is written using a text stream. Noncharacter data types are converted into a sequence of characters before they are stored in the file. When data are input from a text file, they are read as a sequence of characters and converted into the correct internal formats before being stored in memory. We read and write text files using input/output functions that convert the characters to data types. The converting functions consists of three categories : formatting, character and string. The formatting functions such as scanf and printf, reformat a series of input characters into standard types or reformat standard type data into characters for output. The character input and output functions such as getchar and putchar input or output one character at a time. The string functions, such as fgets and fputs input and output strings of characters. Binary Files A binary file is a collection of data stored in the internal format of the computer. Unlike text files, the data do not need to be reformatted as they are read and written: rather, the data are stored in the file in the same format that
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they are stored in memory. Binary files are read and written using binary streams known as block input/output functions.

Differences between Text and Binary Files Text File All data in a text file are human-readable graphic characters. Each line of data ends with a new line character. There is a special character called end-of-file (EOF) marker at the end of the file. State of a File An opened file is either in a read state, a write state, or an error state. If we want to read from a file, it must be in the read state. To open a file in the read state, we specify the read mode in the open statement. A file opened in the read mode must already exist. If it doesnt then the open fails. A file can be opened in the write state using either the write or append mode. In write mode, the writing starts at the beginning of the file. If the file already exists, its data are lost. In append mode, the data are added at the end of the file. In addition to read, write and append files can be opened in the update mode. Updating allows a file to be both read and written. To open a file for updating, we add a plus sign(+) to basic mode. The initial state of a file opened for updating is determined by the basic mode : r+ opens the file in the read state, while w+ and a+ open the file in write state Opening Binary Files The basic open operation is unchanged for binary files only the mode changes. The function declaration for fopen is repeated here for convenience FILE* fopen(const char* filename, const char* mode); To indicate the file is binary, we add a binary indication (b) to the mode. The six binary file modes are : read binary (rb), write binary (wb), append binary (ab) , read and updata binary (r+b), write and update binary (w+b), and append and update binary (a+b). Few examples are spReadBin = fopen(myFile.txt, rb); spWriteUp = fopen(myFile.txt,w+b); Closing Binary Files Just like text files, binary files must be closed when they are not needed anymore. Closing destroys the file table and erases the logical file name. The function declaration of the close function is given below int fclose(FILE* sp); Binary File Data are stored in the same format as they are stored in memory. There are no lines or new line characters. There is an end-of-file marker.

Block Input/Output Functions

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The C language uses the block input and output functions to read and write data to binary files. When we read and write binary files, the data are transferred just as they are found in memory. There are no format conversions. The block read function is file read (fread). The block write function is file write (fwrite). File Read : fread The function fread whose declaration is shown below reads a specified number of bytes from a binary file and places them into memory at the specified location. int fread(void* pInArea, int elementSize, int cout, FILE* sp); The first parameter, pInArea is pointer to the input area in memory. The next two elements, elementSize and count are multiplied to determine how much data are to be transferred. The size is normally specified using the sizeof operator and the count is normally one when reading structures. The last parameter is the associated stream. The fread does not return end of file it returns the number of elements read. C provides another input/output function feof to test for end of file. File Write : fwrite The function fwrite whose declaration is shown below, writes a specified number of items to a binary file. int fwrite(void* pInArea, int elementSize, int cout, FILE* sp); Functionally, fwrite copies elementSize x count bytes from the address specified by pOutArea to the file. It retusn the number of items written. If the number of items written is fewer than count, then an error has occurred. Depending on the device we are working with, it may be possible to repeat the write, but generally the program should be aborted when we get a write error.

File Status Functions

C provides three functions to handle file status questions : test end of file ( feof), test error (ferror) and clear error(clearerr). Test End of file : feof The feof function is used to check if the end of file has been reached. If the file is at the end that is, if all data have been read the function returns nonzero (true). If end of file has not been reached, zero (false) is returned. The function declaration is shown below: int feof(FILE* stream); In general, two different techniques can be used to detect end of file. We can detect the end of file at the same time that we read the last data from the file. The second technique, the one used by C, detects end of file when we attempt to read and there is nothing left on the file. Test Error : ferror Test error (ferror) is used to check the error status of the file. Errors can be created for many reasons, ranging from bad physical media to illogical operations, such as trying to read a file in the write state. The ferror function returns true(nonzero) if an error has occurred. It returns false (zero) if no error has occurred. The function declaration is shown below int ferror(FILE* stream); Clean Error : clearer
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When an error occurs, the subsequent calls to ferror return nonzero, until the error status of the file is reset. The function clearer is used for this purpose. The function declaration is as follows void clearer(FILE* stream);

Positioning Functions
Positioning Functions have two uses. First, for randomly processing data in disk files, we need to position the file to read the desired data. Second, we can use positioning functions to change a files state. Rewind File : rewind The rewind function simply sets the file position indicator to the beginning of the file. The function declaration is as follows; void rewind (FILE* stream); A common use of the rewind function is to change a work file from a write state to a read state. Often it is necessary to place data in a file temporarily for later processing. When all the data have been written and we are ready to begin reading, we rewind the file and simply start reading. Current Location : ftell The ftell function reports the current position of the file marker in the file, relative to the beginning of the file. It measures the position in the file by the number of bytes, relative to zero, from the beginning of the file. The function declaration for ftell is as follows : long int ftell(FILE* stream); Note that ftell returns a long integer. This is necessary because many files have more than 32,767 bytes, which is the maximum integer value on many computers. Ex: numChar = ftell(sp); If ftell encounters an error, it returns -1. Only two conditions cause an error. First, using ftell with a device that cannot store data, such as keyboard. Second, when position is larger than can be represented in a long integer. The primary purpose of ftell is to provide a data address(offset) that can be used in a file seek. It is especially useful when we are dealing with text files for which we cannot calculate the position of data. Set Position : fseek The fseek function positions the file location indicator to a specified byte position in a file. It gets its name from the disk-positioning operation, seek. Seek moves the access arm on a disk to a position in the file for reading or writing. The function declaration is as shown below int fseek(FILE* stream, long offset, int wherefrom); The first parameter is a pointer to an open file. Since the seek is used with both reading and writing files, the file state can be either read or write. The second parameter is a signed integer that specifies the number of bytes the position indicator must move absolutely or relatively. The third parameter is based on three constants that specify the starting point of the seek #define SEEK_SET 0 #define SEEK_CUR 1 #define SEEK_END 2

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Ex :

fseek(sp, 99L, SEEK_SET);

The above example points to the 99 bytes from the beginning of file. We can also use 0, 1, 2 in place of SEEK_SET, SEEK_CUR, SEEK_END -o0o-

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