File Processing

• Stream definition :

          A sequence of character. All input and  output data is a stream. C sees file as a stream.

• File Definition :

There are 2 types of  File

      • Text File

          - Saved in a text format or ASCII File

- Storage size depends on its data: 10000 needs 5 byte

- Can be open using standard text editor application

- Or c:>TYPE file_name

• Binary File 

storing numerical data in affixed format in line with micro-processor format definition

(example: format sign-magnitude 2’s complement).

–File is a collection of record

–Record is a collection of field

–Field is a block of byte

–Byte is collection of bit

• How to open a File ?

Opening a File using fopen():

  FILE *fopen (const char *filename, const char *mode );

fopen() defined at <stdio.h>

fopen() return a pointer to the start of a buffer area. Null will be returned if file unable to open.

Types of mode you can use

     Mode        Description

“r”       Opening a file to be read.

“w”      Creating a file to be written.

“a”       Opening a File for data append.

“r+”     Opening a File for read/write.

“w+”    Creating file for read/write.

“a+”     Opening a File for read/append

“rb”      Opening a File (binary) to be read.

“wb”     Creating a file (binary) for write operation.

Don't forget to close your opened file by using

int fclose (FILE *stream);