PROGRAMMING ASSIGNMENT - 2

(TRY ALL MARKED EXAMPLE PROGRAMS IN THIS NOTE)

CS-101 CHAPTER: FILE HANDLING

Introduction using Files in c, Declaration of File pointer, Opening a file, Closing and Flushing
files, working with Text Files, Character Input and Output, End of File (EOF). Working with
Binary Files, Direct File Input and Output, Sequential Versus Random File Access, Files of
Records, working with Files of Records, Random Access to Files of Records, Other File
Management Functions, Deleting a File Renaming a File. Low- Level I/O, Creating the header
file using in the C program, Working with C Graphics functions.

1. Introduction to Files in C:

A File is a collection of data stored in the secondary memory. So far data was entered
into the programs through the keyboard. So Files are used for storing information that can be
processed by the programs. Files are not only used for storing the data, programs are also stored
in files. In order to use files, we have to learn file input and output operations. That is, how data
is read and how to write into a file.
A Stream is the important concept in C. The Stream is a common, logical interface to the
various devices that comprise the computer. So a Stream is a logical interface to a file. There are
two types of Streams, Text Stream and Binary Stream. A Text File can be thought of as a stream
of characters that can be processed sequentially. It can only be processed in the forward
direction.

2. Using Files in C:

To use a file four essential actions should be carried out. These are,
a. Declare a file pointer variable.
b. Open a file using the fopen() function.
c. Process the file using suitable functions.
d. Close the file using the fclose() and fflush() functions.

2.1. Declaration of file pointer:

A pointer variable is used to points a structure FILE. The members of the FILE structure are
used by the program in various file access operation, but programmers do not need to concerned
about them.
FILE *file_pointer_name;
Eg : FILE *fp;
2.2. Opening a file
To open a file using the fopen() function. Its syntax is,
FILE *fopen(const char *fname,const char* mode);
const char *fname represents the file name. The file name is like “D:\\501\example.txt”.
Here D: is a drive, 501 is the directory, example.txt is a file name.
const char *mode represents the mode of the file. It has the following values.
Mode Description
r Opens a text file in reading mode
w Opens or create a text file in writing mode
a Opens a text file in append mode
r+ Opens a text file in both reading and writing mode
w+ Opens a text file in both reading and writing mode
a+ Opens a binary file in reading mode
rb Opens a binary file in reading mode
wb Opens or create a binary file in writing mode
Ab Opens a binary file in append mode
rb+ Opens a binary file in both reading and writing mode
wb+ Opens a binary file in both reading and writing mode
ab+ Opens a binary file in both reading and writing mode
Difference between write mode and append mode is,
Write (w) mode and Append (a) mode, while opening a file are almost the same. Both are
used to write in a file. In both the modes, new file is created if it doesn't exists already.
The only difference they have is, when you open a file in the write mode, the file is reset,
resulting in deletion of any data already present in the file. While in append mode this will not
happen. Append mode is used to append or add data to the existing data of file(if any). Hence, when
you open a file in Append(a) mode, the cursor is positioned at the end of the present data in the file.

2.3. Closing and Flushing Files

The file must be closed using the fclose() function. Its prototype is ,
int fclose(FILE *fp);
The argument fp is the FILE pinter associated with the stream. Fclose() returns 0 on success and -1
on error.
fflush() used when a file’s buffer is to be written to disk while still using the file. Use of
fflushall() to flush the buffers of all open streams. The prototype of these two functions are,
int flushall(void);
int fflush(FILE *fp);

Examples:
/* Program to check whether the file exist or not */
void main()
{
 FILE *fp;
char *x;
clrscr();
printf("\n enter the file name : ");
gets(x);
fp=fopen(x,"r");
if(fp==NULL)
{
printf("The file ---%s--- is not found in the present directory",x);
}
else
{
printf("The file ---%s--- is found in the present directory",x);
}
fclose(fp);
getch();
}

3. Character input / output:

Two functions are used to read the character from the file and write it into another file. These
functions are getc() & putc() functions.
Its prototype is,
int getc(FILE *file_pointer);
putc( char const_char, FILE *file_pointer);

3.1Detecting the end of a file:

When reading from a text-mode file character by character, one can look for the end-of-file
character. The symbolic constant EOF is defined in stdio.h as -1, a value never used by a real
character.
Eg: while((c=getc(fp)!=EOF). This is the general representation of the End Of the File.

Examples:
/* Read a string into a text file */
void main()
{
 FILE *fp;
char text[80];
int i;
clrscr();
fp=fopen("Sample.txt","w");
printf("\n Enter the text : ");
gets(text);
for(i=0;i<strlen(text);i++) // Read a stream of charcters
putc(text[i],fp);
if(fp!=NULL)
printf("\n The string copied into a text file ");
fclose(fp);
getch();
}

4. Working with Text files :

C provides various functions to working with text files. Four functions can be used to read
text files and four functions that can be used to write text files into a disk.
These are,
fscanf() & fprintf()
fgets() & fputs()
fgetc() & fputc()
fread() & fwrite()
The prototypes of the above functions are,
1. int fscanf(FILE *stream, const char *format,list);
2. int getc(FILE *stream);
3. char *fgets(char *str,int n,FILE *fp);
4. int fread(void *str,size_t size,size_t num, FILE *stream);
5. int fprintf(FILE *stream, const char *format,list);
6. int fputc(int c, FILE *stream);
7. int fputs(const char *str,FILE *stream);
8. int fwrite(const void *str,size_t size, size_t count,FILE *stream);

Example programs on text files:

/* Read a string into a text file using fputs() function */
void main()
{
FILE *fp;
char text[80];
int i;
clrscr();
fp=fopen("Sample.txt","w");
printf("\n Enter the text : ");
gets(text);
fputs(text,fp); //write a string into a file
if(fp!=NULL)
printf("\n The string copied into a text file ");
fclose(fp);
getch();
}

/* Program to copy from one file to another file */

void main()
{
FILE *fp,*fp1;
int ch;
clrscr();
fp=fopen("ex_file4.c","r");
fp1=fopen("ex_file2.c","w");
if(fp==NULL)
printf(“File is not available”);
ch=getc(fp);
while(ch!=EOF)
{
putc(ch,fp1);
ch=getc(fp);
}
fclose(fp);
fclose(fp1);
getch();
}
/* Program to display the content of the file */
void main()
{
FILE *fp;
int ch;
clrscr();
fp=fopen("ex_file4.c","r");
if(fp==NULL)
printf(“File is not available”);
ch=getc(fp);
while(ch!=EOF)
{
printf("%c",ch);
ch=getc(fp);
}
fclose(fp);
getch();
}

/* read and write the content of the file using fprintf() and fscanf() functions */
void main()
{
FILE *fptr;
char name[20];
int age;
float salary;
clrscr();
/* open for writing */
fptr = fopen("abc.txt", "w");
if (fptr == NULL)
{
printf("File does not exists \n");
return;
}
printf("Enter the name \n");
scanf("%s", name);
 fprintf(fptr, "Name = %s\n", name);
printf("Enter the age\n");
scanf("%d", &age);
fprintf(fptr, "Age = %d\n", age);
printf("Enter the salary\n");
scanf("%f", &salary);
fprintf(fptr, "Salary = %f\n", salary);
getch();
fclose(fptr);
}

5. Working with binary files

A Binary file is similar to the text file, but it contains only large numerical data. The Opening
modes are mentioned in the table for opening modes above.
Following steps are sued for copying a binary file into another are as follows,
1. open the source file for reading in binary mode.
2. Open the destination file for writing in binary mode.
3. Read a character from the source file. Remember, when a file is first opened, the pointer is
at the start of the file, so there is no need to position the file pointer explicitly.
4. If the function feof() indicates that the end of thesource file has been reached, then close
both files and return to the calling program.
5. If end-of- file has not been reached, write the character to the destination file, and then go to
step 3.
Example:
/* program to copy the binary file from another file */
void main()
{
FILE *fp,*fp1;
char *s,*s1;
int ch;
clrscr();
printf("\n enter the source file : ");
gets(s);
printf("\n enter the destination file : ");
gets(s1);
fp=fopen(s,"rb");
 fp1=fopen(s1,"wb");
ch=fgetc(fp);
while(!feof(fp))
{
fputc(ch,fp1);
ch=fgetc(fp);
}
fclose(fp);
fclose(fp1);
getch();
}

6. Direct File Input and Output:

Direct input and output is only with binary-mode files. With direct output, blocks of data are
written from the memory to disk. Direct input reverses the process. A block of data is read from a
disk file into memory.
fread() and fwrite() functions are used to read and write the binary files on direct I/O.
example:
const char *mytext = "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog";
FILE *bfp= fopen("test.txt", "wb");
if (bfp)
{
fwrite(mytext, sizeof(char), strlen(mytext), bfp) ;
fclose(bfp) ;
}

6.1. Sequential versus Random File Access

Every open file has an associated file position indicator, which describes where read and
write operations take place in the file. The position is always specified in bytes from the beginning of
the file. When a new file is opened, the position indicator is always at the beginning of the file, i.e., at
position 0. Because the file is new and has a length of 0, there is no other location to indicate. When
an existing file is opened, the position indicator is at the end of the file if the file was opened in the
append mode, or at the beginning of the file if the file was opened in any other mode.
Sequential files are generally used in cases where the program processes the data in a
sequential fashion – i.e. counting words in a text file – although in some cases, random access can
be feigned by moving backwards and forwards over a sequential file.
 True random access file handling, however, only accesses the file at the point at which the
data should be read or written, rather than having to process it sequentially. A hybrid approach is
also possible whereby a part of the file is used for sequential access to locate something in the
random access portion of the file, in much the same way that a File Allocation Table (FAT) works.

7. File of Records:
Most C program files may be binary files, which can logically be divided into fixed-length
records. Each record will consist of data that conforms to a previously defined structure. In C, This
structure can be formed using a struct data type. The records are written into disk sequentially. This
happens because as each record is written to disk, the file position indicator is moved to the bye
immediately after the last byte in the record just written. Binary files can be written sequentially to the
disk or in a random access manner.

7.1. Working with files of records:

Example:
/* Program to append , modify and display the records using files of records */
struct item
{
int itemcode;
char name[30];
double price;
};
void append();
void modify();
void dispall();
void dele();
int main()
{
int ch;
struct item it;
FILE *fp;
fp=fopen(“item.dat”,”w”);
if(fp==NULL)
printf(“\n Error in opening the file … ”);
printf(“\n enter the ITEM code :”);
scanf(“%d”,&it.itemcode);
 printf(“\n Enter the ITEM name : ”);
scanf(“%s”,&it.name);
printf(“\n Enter the price : ”);
scanf(“%lf”,&it.price);
fprintf(fp,”%d \t %s \t %lf \n”,it.itemcode,it.name,it.price);
fprintf(fp,”%d”,0);
fclose(fp);
while(1)
{
printf(“\n 1. Append records …”);
printf(“\n 2. Display all the records …”);
printf(“\n 3. Edit the records …”);
printf(“\n 4. Delete the records …”);
printf(“\n 5. Exit …”);
printf(“\n Enter your choice …”);
scanf(“%d”,&ch);
}
switch(ch)
{
case 1: append(); break;
case 2: dispall(); break;
case 3: modify(); break;
case 4: dele(); break;
case 5: exit(0); break;
}
}
void append()
{
FILE *fp;
struct item it;
fp=fopen(“item.dat”,”r”);
if(fp==NULL)
printf(“\n Error in opening a file …”);
printf(“\n enter the ITEM code :”);
scanf(“%d”,&it.itemcode);
printf(“\n Enter the ITEM name : ”);
 scanf(“%s”,&it.name);
printf(“\n Enter the price : ”);
scanf(“%lf”,&it.price);
fprintf(fp,”%d \t %s \t %lf \n”,it.itemcode,it.name,it.price);
fprintf(fp,”%d”,0);
fclose(fp);
}
void dispall()
{
FILE *fp;
struct item it;
fp=fopen(“item.dat”,”r”);
if(fp==NULL)
printf(“\n Error in opening a file …..”);
while(1)
{
fscanf(fp,”%d”,&it.itemcode);
if(it.itemcode==0)
break;
fscanf(fp,”%s”,it.name);
fscanf(fp,”%lf”,&it.price);
fprintf(fp,”%d \t %s \t %lf \n”,it.itemcode,it.name,it.price);
}
fclose(fp);
}
void modify()
{
FILE *fp,*fptr;
struct item it;
int icd,found=0;
fp=fopen(“item.dat”,”r”);
if(fp==NULL)
printf(“\n Error in opening a file ”);
fptr=fopen(“temp.dat”,”w”);
if(fptr==NULL)
printf(“\n Error in opening a file ”);
 printf(“\n Enter the Item code to edit”);
scanf(“%d”,&icd);
while(1)
{
fscanf(fp,”%d”,&it.itemcode);
if(it.itemcode==0)
break;
if(it.itemcode==icd)
{
found=1;
fscanf(fp,”%s”,it.name);
fscanf(fp,”%lf”,&it.price);
printf(“\n Existing record is ………. \n”);
fprintf(fp,”%d \t %s \t %lf \n”,it.itemcode,it.name,it.price);
printf(“\n Enter the new ITEM name : ”);
scanf(“%s”,&it.name);
printf(“\n Enter the new item price : ”);
scanf(“%lf”,&it.price);
fprintf(fp,”%d \t %s \t %lf \n”,it.itemcode,it.name,it.price);
}
else
{
fscanf(fp,”%s”,it.name);
fscanf(fp,”%lf”,&it.price);
fprintf(fp,”%d \t %s \t %lf \n”,it.itemcode,it.name,it.price);
}
}
fclose(fptr);
fclose(fp);
}
void dele()
{
FILE *fp,*fptr;
struct item it;
int icd,found=0;
fp=fopen(“item.dat”,”r”);
 if(fp==NULL)
printf(“\n Error in opening a file ”);
fptr=fopen(“temp.dat”,”w”);
if(fptr==NULL)
printf(“\n Error in opening a file ”);
printf(“\n Enter the Item code to delete”);
scanf(“%d”,&icd);
while(1)
{
fscanf(fp,”%d”,&it.itemcode);
if(it.itemcode==0)
break;
if(it.itemcode==icd)
{
found=1;
fscanf(fp,”%s”,it.name);
fscanf(fp,”%lf”,&it.price);
}
else
{
fscanf(fp,”%s”,it.name);
fscanf(fp,”%lf”,&it.price);
fprintf(fp,”%d \t %s \t %lf \n”,it.itemcode,it.name,it.price);
}
}
fclose(fptr);
fclose(fp);
}
8. Random Access to files of records
For random access to files of record, the following functions are used.
1. fseek() -- by using fseek(), one can set the position indicator anywhere in the file. It’s prototype is,
int fseek(FILE *fp,long offset,int origin);
It has the origins as, SEEK_SET, SEEK_CUR,SEEK_END
2. ftell() --- To determine the value of a file’s position indicator, use ftell(). The prototype is,
long ftell(FILE *fp);
3. rewind() ------ To set the position indicator to the beginning of the file, use the function rewind().
Its prototype is,
void rewind(FILE *fp);

Example:
/* program to copy the content from one file to another file using fseek() function. */
void main()
{
/*
File_1.txt is the file with content and,
File_2.txt is the file in which content of File_1
will be copied.
*/
FILE *fp1, *fp2;
char ch;

int pos;
clrscr();
if ((fp1 = fopen("File_1.txt","r")) == NULL)
{
printf("\nFile cannot be opened");
return;
}
else
{
printf("\nFile opened for copy...\n ");
}
fp2 = fopen("File_2.txt", "w");
fseek(fp1, 0L, SEEK_END); // file pointer at end of file
pos = ftell(fp1);
fseek(fp1, 0L, SEEK_SET); // file pointer set at start
while (pos--)
{
ch = fgetc(fp1); // copying file character by character
 fputc(ch, fp2);
}
getch();
fcloseall();
}

9. Other File Management functions

The copy and delete operations are also associated with file management. Though one
could write programs for them, the C standard library contains functions for deleting and renaming
files.
9.1. Deleting a file
The library function remove() is used to delete a file. Its prototype is,
int remove(const char *filename);
9.2. Renameing a file :
The rename() function changes the name of an existing disk file. Its prototype is,
int rename(const char *oldname, const char *newname);

Example:
int main()
{
char file[80];
/* prompt for filename to delete */
printf(“File to delete :”);
gets(file);
/* delete the file */
if(remove(file)==0)
printf(“removed %s”,file);
else
printf(“file cannot be removed”);
}

10. Low – Level I/O

This form of I/O is unbuffered. That is, each read or write request results in accessing the
disk directly to fetch/put a specific number of bytes. There are now formatting facilities. Instead of file
pointers, we use low-level file handles or file descriptors, which give a unique integer number to
identify each file.
To open a file the following function is used.
int open(char *filename, int flag, int perms);
To create a file the following function is used.
creat(char *filename, int perms);
To close the file the following function is used.
int close(int handle);

11. Creating the header files in C

Creating the header files using the following steps,

Step 1: Create the function, using function header and function body.
Example:
int add(int a,int b)
{
c=a+b;
return c;
}

Step 2: Save the above function using [ .h ] extension. and compile the code.
Example:
above function can be save as myhead.h.

Step 3: Write the main program, include our own header file in the program. Now main function
automatically includes the function available in the header file.
Example:
#include<stdio.h>
#include ”myhead.h”
void main()
{
int num1=10,num2=20,num3;
` num3=add(num1,num2);
printf(“\n Sum of two numbers is : %d”,num3);
}

Note : When running the program, header file and the program must be present in the same folder.