C Programming File Handling
File handling in C - opening and closing. Reading from and writing to files. Special file streams stdin, stdout & stderr. How we SHOULD read input from the user. What are STRUCTURES? What is dynamic memory allocation?
File handling in C
In C we use FILE * to represent a pointer to a file. fopen is used to open a file. It returns the special value NULL to indicate that it couldn't open the file.
FILE *fptr; char filename[]= "file2.dat"; fptr= fopen (filename,"w"); if (fptr == NULL) { fprintf (stderr, ERROR); /* DO SOMETHING */ }
Modes for opening files
The second argument of fopen is the mode in which we open the file. There are three modes available :
"r" opens a file for reading "w" opens a file for writing - and writes over all previous contents (deletes the file so be careful!) "a" opens a file for appending - writing on the end of the file
The exit() function
Sometimes error checking means we want an "emergency exit" from a program. We want it to stop dead. In main we can use "return" to stop. In functions we can use exit to do this. Exit is part of the stdlib.h library exit(-1); in a function is exactly the same as return -1; in the main routine
Writing to a file using fprintf
fprintf works just like printf and sprintf except that its first argument is a file pointer.
FILE *fptr; fptr= fopen ("file.dat","w"); /* Check it's open */ fprintf (fptr,"Hello World!\n");
We could also read numbers from a file using fscanf but there is a better way.
Reading from a file using fgets
fgets is a better way to read from a file We can read into a string using fgets
FILE *fptr; char line [1000]; /* Open file and check it is open */ while (fgets(line,1000,fptr) != NULL) { printf ("Read line %s\n",line); }
fgets takes 3 arguments, a string, a maximum number of characters to read and a file pointer. It returns NULL if there is an error (such as EOF)
Closing a file
We can close a file simply using fclose and the file pointer. Here's a complete "hello files".
FILE *fptr; char filename[]= "myfile.dat"; fptr= fopen (filename,"w"); if (fptr == NULL) { printf ("Cannot open file to write!\n"); exit(-1); } fprintf (fptr,"Hello World of filing!\n"); fclose (fptr);
Three special streams
Three special file streams are defined in the stdio.h header file :
stdin reads input from the keyboard stdout send output to the screen stderr prints errors to an error device (usually also the screen)
What might this do:
fprintf (stdout,"Hello World!\n");
Reading loops
It is quite common to want to read every line in a program. The best way to do this is a while loop using fgets.
/* define MAXLEN at start using enum */ FILE *fptr; char tline[MAXLEN]; /* A line of text */ fptr= fopen ("sillyfile.txt","r"); /* check it's open */ while (fgets (tline, MAXLEN, fptr) != NULL) { printf ("%s",tline); // Print it } fclose (fptr);
fgets and stdin can be combined to get a safe way to get a line of input from the user
#include <stdio.h> int main() { const int MAXLEN=1000; char readline[MAXLEN]; fgets (readline,MAXLEN,stdin); printf ("You typed %s",readline); return 0; }
Using fgets to read from the keyboard
Getting numbers from strings
Once we've got a string with a number in it (either from a file or from the user typing) we can use atoi or atof to convert it to a number The functions are part of stdlib.h
char numberstring[]= "3.14"; int i; double pi; pi= atof (numberstring); i= atoi ("12"); Both of these functions return 0 if they have a problem
Structures in C
In C, we can create our own data types - FILE is an example of this. If programmers do a good job of this, the end user doesn't even have to know what is in the data type.
struct is used to describe a new data type. typedef is used to associate a name with it. int, double and char are types of variables. With struct you can create your own. It is a new way to extend the C programming language.
The struct statement
Here is an example struct statement.
#include <stdio.h> struct line { int x1, y1; /* co-ords of 1 end of line*/ int x2, y2; /* co-ords of other end */ }; main() { struct line line1; . This defines the variable line1 to be . a variable of type line }
Typedef
Typedef allows us to associate a name with a structure (or other data type). Put typedef at the start of your program.
typedef struct line { int x1, y1; int x2, y2; } LINE;
int main() { LINE line1; }
line1 is now a structure of line type This is what was happening with all that FILE * stuff
Accessing parts of a struct
To access part of a structure we use the dot notation
LINE line1; line1.x1= 3; line1.y1= 5; line1.x2= 7; if (line1.y2 == 3) { printf ("Y co-ord of end is 3\n"); }
What else can we do with structs?
We can pass and return structs from functions. (But make sure the function prototype is _AFTER_ the struct is declared)
typedef struct line { int x1,y1; int x2,y2; } LINE; LINE find_perp_line (LINE); /* Function takes a line and returns a perpendicular line */
What's the point of all this with structs?
It makes your programming easier and it makes it easier for other programmers. FILE * was a typedef'd struct but you could use it without knowing what was inside it. You can extend the language - for example, if you use complex numbers a lot then you can write functions which deal with complex nos.
Complex no functions typedef struct complex {
float imag; float real; } CPLX; CPLX mult_complex (CPLX, CPLX); int main() { /* Main goes here */ } CPLX mult_complex (CPLX no1, CPLX no2) { CPLX answer; answer.real= no1.real*no2.real - no1.imag*no2.imag; answer.imag= no1.imag*no2.real + no1.real*no2.imag; return answer; }
Dynamic memory allocation
How would we code the "sieve of Eratosthenes" to print all primes between 1 and n where the user chooses n? We _could_ simply define a HUGE array of chars for the sieve - but this is wasteful and how big should HUGE be? The key is to have a variable size array. In C we do this with DYNAMIC MEMORY ALLOCATION
A dynamically allocated sieve
#include <stdlib.h> void vary_sieve (int); void vary_sieve (int n) /* Sieve to find all primes from 1 - n */ { char *sieve; int i; sieve= (char *)malloc (n*sizeof(char)); /* check memory here */ for (i= 0; i < n; i++) sieve[i]= UNCROSSED; /* Rest of sieve code */ free (sieve); /* free memory */ }
A closer look at malloc
Let's look at that malloc statement again:
sieve= (char *)malloc(n*sizeof(char));
This is a CAST sizeof(char) returns how we want (remember them) much memory a char n chars that forces the variable takes to the right type (not needed) This says in effect "grab me enough memory for 'n' chars"
Free
The free statement says to the computer "you may have the memory back again"
free(sieve);
essentially, this tells the machine that the memory we grabbed for sieve is no longer needed and can be used for other things again. It is _VITAL_ to remember to free every bit of memory you malloc
Check the memory from malloc
Like fopen, malloc returns NULL if it has a problem Like fopen, we should always check if malloc manages to get the memory.
float *farray; /* Try to allocate memory for 1000 floats */ farray= malloc(1000*sizeof(float)); if (farray == NULL) { fprintf (stderr, "Out of memory!\n"); exit (-1); }
Now we KNOW all of C
