Chapter 12:
Advanced File
Operations
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.
12.1
File Operations
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File Operations
• File: a set of data stored on a computer,
often on a disk drive
• Programs can read from, write to files
• Used in many applications:
– Word processing
– Databases
– Spreadsheets
– Compilers
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Using Files
1. Requires fstream header file
– use ifstream data type for input files
– use ofstream data type for output files
– use fstream data type for both input, output
files
2. Can use >>, << to read from, write to a file
3. Can use eof member function to test for
end of input file
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fstream Object
• fstream object can be used for either input or output
• Must specify mode on the open statement
• Sample modes:
ios::in – input
ios::out – output
• Can be combined on open call:
dFile.open("class.txt", ios::in | ios::out);
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File Access Flags
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Using Files - Example
// copy 10 numbers between files
// open the files
fstream infile("input.txt", ios::in);
fstream outfile("output.txt", ios::out);
int num;
for (int i = 1; i <= 10; i++)
{
infile >> num; // use the files
outfile << num;
}
infile.close(); // close the files
outfile.close();
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Default File Open Modes
• ifstream:
– open for input only
– file cannot be written to
– open fails if file does not exist
• ofstream:
– open for output only
– file cannot be read from
– file created if no file exists
– file contents erased if file exists
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More File Open Details
• Can use filename, flags in definition:
ifstream gradeList("grades.txt");
• File stream object set to 0 (false) if
open failed:
if (!gradeList) ...
• Can also check fail member function to
detect file open error:
if (gradeList.fail()) ...
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12.2
File Output Formatting
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File Output Formatting
• Use the same techniques with file stream
objects as with cout: showpoint,
setw(x), showprecision(x), etc.
• Requires iomanip to use manipulators
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Program 12-3 (Continued)
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12.3
Passing File Stream Objects to
Functions
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Passing File Stream Objects to
Functions
• It is very useful to pass file stream objects
to functions
• Be sure to always pass file stream objects
by reference
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.
12.4
More Detailed Error Testing
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More Detailed Error Testing
• Can examine error state bits to determine stream
status
• Bits tested/cleared by stream member functions
ios::eofbit set when end of file detected
ios::failbit set when operation failed
ios::hardfail set when error occurred and no recovery
ios::badbit set when invalid operation attempted
ios::goodbit set when no other bits are set
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Member Functions / Flags
eof() true if eofbit set, false otherwise
fail() true if failbit or hardfail set, false otherwise
bad() true if badbit set, false otherwise
good() true if goodbit set, false otherwise
clear() clear all flags (no arguments), or clear a specific flag
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From Program 12-6
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12.5
Member Functions for Reading
and Writing Files
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Member Functions for Reading
and Writing Files
• Functions that may be used for input with
whitespace, to perform single character
I/O, or to return to the beginning of an input
file
• Member functions:
getline: reads input including whitespace
get: reads a single character
put: writes a single character
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The getline Function
• Three arguments:
– Name of a file stream object
– Name of a string object
– Delimiter character of your choice
– Examples, using the file stream object myFile,
and the string objects name and address:
getline(myFile, name);
getline(myFile, address, '\t');
– If left out, '\n' is default for third argument
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.
Single Character I/O
• get: read a single character from a file
char letterGrade;
gradeFile.get(letterGrade);
Will read any character, including whitespace
• put: write a single character to a file
reportFile.put(letterGrade);
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12.6
Working with Multiple Files
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Working with Multiple Files
• Can have more than file open at a time in
a program
• Files may be open for input or output
• Need to define file stream object for each
file
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Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.
12.7
Binary Files
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Binary Files
• Binary file contains unformatted, non-ASCII
data
• Indicate by using binary flag on open:
inFile.open("nums.dat", ios::in |
ios::binary);
12-35
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Binary Files
• Use read and write instead of <<, >>
char ch;
// read in a letter from file
inFile.read(&ch, sizeof(ch));
address of where to put
the data being read in. how many bytes to
The read function expects read from the file
to read chars
// send a character to a file
outFile.write(&ch, sizeof(ch));
12-36
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Binary Files
• To read, write non-character data, must use a
typecast operator to treat the address of the data
as a character address
int num;
// read in a binary number from a file
inFile.read(reinterpret_cast<char *>&num,
treat the address of num as sizeof(num));
the address of a char
// send a binary value to a file
outf.write(reinterpret_cast<char *>&num,
sizeof(num));
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12.8
Creating Records with Structures
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Creating Records with
Structures
• Can write structures to, read structures
from files
• To work with structures and files,
– use ios::binary file flag upon open
– use read, write member functions
12-39
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Creating Records with
Structures
struct TestScore
{
int studentId;
double score;
char grade;
};
TestScore oneTest;
...
// write out oneTest to a file
gradeFile.write(reinterpret_cast<char *>
(&oneTest), sizeof(oneTest));
12-40
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12.9
Random-Access Files
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Random-Access Files
• Sequential access: start at beginning of
file and go through data in file, in order,
to end
– to access 100th entry in file, go through 99
preceding entries first
• Random access: access data in a file in
any order
– can access 100th entry directly
12-42
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Random Access Member
Functions
• seekg (seek get): used with files open for
input
• seekp (seek put): used with files open for
output
• Used to go to a specific position in a file
12-43
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Random Access Member
Functions
• seekg,seekp arguments:
offset: number of bytes, as a long
mode flag: starting point to compute offset
• Examples:
inData.seekg(25L, ios::beg);
// set read position at 26th byte
// from beginning of file
outData.seekp(-10L, ios::cur);
// set write position 10 bytes
// before current position
12-44
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Important Note on Random
Access
• If eof is true, it must be cleared before
seekg or seekp:
gradeFile.clear();
gradeFile.seekg(0L, ios::beg);
// go to the beginning of the file
12-45
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Random Access Information
• tellg member function: return current
byte position in input file
long int whereAmI;
whereAmI = inData.tellg();
• tellp member function: return current
byte position in output file
whereAmI = outData.tellp();
12-46
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12.10
Opening a File for
Both Input and Output
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Opening a File for
Both Input and Output
• File can be open for input and output simultaneously
• Supports updating a file:
– read data from file into memory
– update data
– write data back to file
• Use fstream for file object definition:
fstream gradeList("grades.dat",
ios::in | ios::out);
• Can also use ios::binary flag for binary data
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