DETECTING END-OF FILE:
• Detection of the end-of-file condition is necessary for
preventing any further attempt to read data from the
file.
while(fin)
• Here, the while loop terminates when fin returns a
value of zero on reaching the end–of–file condition.
• This loop may terminate due to other failures as well.
• we have another one approach to detect end-of-file.
if(fin.eof()!=0)
{
exit();
}
• eof is a member function of ios class.
• The eof returns a non zero value if the end-of-file (EOF)
condition is encountered, otherwise zero.
• The above statement terminates the program on
reaching the end of the file.
• FILE MODES:
• We have used IFSTREAM and OFSTREAM constructors
and the function OPEN() to create a file as well as to
open the existing file.
• The OPEN() function can take two arguments, the
second one for specifying the file mode.
• SYNTAX:
stream.object.open(“filename”,mode);
• The second argument specifies the purpose for
which the file is opened.
• The file mode parameter can take one or
more constants in ios class.
MODE VALUE EFFECT ON THE MODE
Ios::in Open for reading
Ios::out Open for writing
Ios::ate Go to the end of the file at opening
time.
Ios::app Append mode:all writes occur at
end of file.
Ios::trunc Truncate the file if it already
exists.
Ios::nocreate Open fails if file
does not exist.
Ios::noreplace Open fails if file
already exists.
Ios::binary Open as a binary
file.
• Opening a file in ios::out mode also opens it
in the ios::trunc mode by default.
• Both ios::app and ios::ate take us to the end-
of-file when it is opened.
• The difference between them is
• ios::app allows us to add data to the end-of-
file only.
• ios::ate mode permits us to add data or
modify the existing data anywhere in the file.
• The mode combine two or more parameters
fout.open(“data”,ios::app | ios::nocreate)
FILE POINTERS AND THEIR MANIPULATIONS:
• Each file has two pointers which are knows as file
pointer. They are
1) input pointer (get pointer)
2) output pointer (put pointer)
• We can use this pointer to move through the files while
reading and writing.
• An input or output operation takes place, the
appropriate pointer is automatically advanced.
DEFAULT ACTIONS:
CASE (1)
• when we open a file in read-only mode, the input
pointer is automatically set at the beginning of the file,
so that we can read from the start
H E L L O WO R L D
input pointer
CASE(2):
• when we open a file in write-only mode, the existing
contents are deleted and the output pointer is set at
the beginning.
output pointer
CASE(3):
• when we open a file in append mode, the output pointer is set at the
end of file. (ie., end of the existing contents)
H E L L O W O R L D
output pointer
FUNCTIONS FOR MANIPULATION OF FILE POINTERS:
• How do we move a file pointer to a desired position inside the file?
• for that, we are using in-build functions which are supported by file
stream classes.
FUNCTIONS ACTION PERFORMED
Seekg() Moves get file pointer to a
specific location
Seekp() Moves put file pointer to a
specific location
Tellg() Returns the current
position of the get pointer
Tellp() Returns the current
position of the put pointer.
• For example,
infile.seekg(10);
• Moves the input file pointer to the byte number 10.
• The bytes in a file are numbered beginning from
zero . Therefore , the pointer will pointing to the 11th
byte in the file.
• Consider the following example.
ofstream fileout;
fileout.open(“hello”,ios::app);
int p=fileout.tellp();
• The output pointer is moved to the end of the file
“hello” and the value of p will represent the number of
bytes in the file.
SPECIFYING THE OFFSET:
• seek function is used to move the file pointer to a
desired location.
• The argument to these functions represents the
absolute position in the file.
start
FILE
end
M bytes
Outfile.seekp(m);
seek functions seekg() and seekp() can also used
with two arguments as follows.
seekg(offset,repostion);
Offset- represents the of bytes the
• Offset – represents the number of bytes the file
pointer is to be moved from the location
specified by the reposition
• Reposition – reposition takes one of the
following three constants specified in the ios
class
ORIGIN VALUE SEEKS FROM….
Ios::beg Start of the file
Ios::cur Current position of pointer
Ios::end End of file
SEEK CALL ACTION
Fout.seekg(0,ios::beg) Go to the start
Fout.seekg(0,ios::cur) Stay at the current
positon
Fout.seekg(0,ios::end) Go to the end of file
Fout.seekg(m,ios::beg) Move to(m+1) byte in
the file
Fout.seekg(m,ios::cur) Go forward by m bytes
from the current
position
Fout.seekg(-m,ios::cur) Go backward by m
bytes from the current
position
Fout.seekg(-m,ios::end) Go backward by m
bytes from the end
