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Introduction to File Handling in C

Introduction​

File handling is a very important concept in C programming. It provides a mechanism to store the output of a program in a file and to perform various operations on it. In this tutorial, we will be introducing you to the basics of file handling in C.

What is a File?​

In C programming, a file is a place on your physical disk where information is stored. C provides various functions to perform various operations. File handling provides a mechanism to store the output of a program in a file and to read from a file.

Basic File Operations​

There are four basic file operations that you should be aware of:

  • Creating a New File: C allows you to create a new file using the fopen() function.
  • Opening an Existing File: You can open an existing file in C using the fopen() function.
  • Closing a File: After completing all the operations on the file, you need to close it using the fclose() function.
  • Reading from and writing to a File: You can read from or write to a file in C using the fscanf() and fprintf() functions respectively.

Opening a File​

You can open a file in C using the fopen() function. It is used to open an existing file or to create a new file. Here is the syntax of fopen() in C language:

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

The fopen() function returns a FILE pointer. If the file cannot be opened, the fopen() function will return a NULL.

Closing a File​

You can close a file using the fclose() function. The syntax of fclose() function is:

int fclose(FILE *a_file);

If the fclose() function finishes closing the file successfully, it returns zero, otherwise it returns a non-zero value.

Writing to a File​

You can write to a file using the fprintf() function. The syntax of fprintf() function is:

int fprintf(FILE *a_file, const char *format, ...);

Reading from a File​

You can read from a file using the fscanf() function. The syntax of fscanf() function is:

int fscanf(FILE *a_file, const char *format, ...);

Conclusion​

File handling in C is a very important concept that allows us to create, read, write, and close files. It provides a way to store data permanently into a file and read from it whenever required. This was a basic introduction to file handling in C. Practice is key to mastering this, so try to implement what you have learned here in your programs.