AA

AA Data File Handling

in C++
AA

AA
Guided by:
N Rakhesh
AA
PGT (Comp. Science)
Kendriya Vidyalaya Railway Colony
AA Bangalore
 Topics - Agenda
• Introduction
• Opening & closing of files
• Stream state member functions
• File operations
• Binary file operations
• Random access file operations
• CBSE Question Pattern from this topic
• Conclusion

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 Introduction
• Computer programs are associated to work
with files as it helps in storing data &
information permanently.
• File - itself a bunch of bytes stored on
some storage devices.
• In C++ this is achieved through a
component header file called fstream.h
• The I/O library manages two aspects- as
interface and for transfer of data.
• The library predefine a set of operations
for all file related handling through certain
classes.

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 The
The fstream.h
fstream.h header
header file
file
Streams act as an interface between files and
programs.
They represent as a sequence of bytes and deals with
the flow of data.
Every stream is associated with a class having member
functions and operations for a particular kind of data
flow.

File  Program ( Input stream) - reads

Program  File (Output stream) – write

All designed into fstream.h and hence needs to be

included in all file handling programs.
Diagrammatically as shown in next slide
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 File Handling Classes
Hierarchy Diagram

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 Why
Why to
to use
use Files:
Files:

•Convenient way to deal large quantities of data.

•Store data permanently (until file is deleted).
•Avoid typing data into program multiple times.
•Share data between programs.
We need to know:
how to "connect" file to program
how to tell the program to read data
how to tell the program to write data
error checking and handling EOF
// Initial experience reading and writing files
#include <fstream.h>
#include <iostream.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int main()
{ ifstream in_stream;
ofstream out_stream;
int num;
in_stream.open("numbers.dat");
if (in_stream.fail()) { cout << "Input file could not be opened.\n";
exit(1); }
out_stream.open("squares.dat");
if (out_stream.fail()) { cout <<"Output file could not opened.\n";
exit(1); }
in_stream >> num;
out_stream << "The square of " << num << " is " <<num * num;
in_stream.close();
out_stream.close();
} All rights reserved 9
 File Handling Classes
• When working with files in C++, the following
classes can be used:
– ofstream – writing to a file
– ifstream – reading for a file
– fstream – reading / writing
• What does it all have to do with cout?
– When ever we include <iostream.h>, an ostream
object, pointing to stdout is automatically defined –
this object is cout.
• ofstream inherits from the class ostream
(standard output class).
• ostream overloaded the operator >> for standard
output.…thus an ofstream object can
use methods and operators defined in
ostream. All rights reserved
 Opening
Opening &
& Closing
Closing aa File
File
 A file can be open by the method “open()” or
immediately in the constructor (the natural and
preferred way).
void ofstream / ifstream::open(const char* filename, int mode);
 filename – file to open (full path or local)
 mode – how to open (1 or more of following – using | )
ios::app – append
ios::ate – open with marker at the end of the file
ios::in / ios::out – (the defaults of ifstream and
ofstream)
ios:nocreate / ios::noreplace – open only if the file
exists / doesn’t exist
ios::trunc – open an empty file
ios::binary – open a binary file (default is textual)
 Don’t forget to close the file using the method
“close()”
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 1: To access file handling routines:
#include <fstream.h>
2: To declare variables that can be used to access file:
ifstream in_stream;
ofstream out_stream;
3: To connect your program's variable (its internal name) to
an external file (i.e., on the Unix file system):
in_stream.open("infile.dat");
out_stream.open("outfile.dat");
4: To see if the file opened successfully:
if (in_stream.fail())
{ cout << "Input file open failed\n";
exit(1); // requires <stdlib.h>}

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5: To get data from a file (one option), must declare
a variable to hold the data and then read it using the
extraction operator:
int num;
in_stream >> num;
[Compare: cin >> num;]
6: To put data into a file, use insertion operator:
out_stream << num;
[Compare: cout << num;]
NOTE: Streams are sequential – data is read and
written in order – generally can't back up.
7: When done with the file:
in_stream.close();
out_stream.close();
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Stream
Stream state
state member
member functions
functions
•In C++, file stream classes inherit a stream state
member from the ios class, which gives out the
information regarding the status of the stream.
For e.g.:
–eof() –used to check the end of file character
–fail()- used to check the status of file at opening
for I/O
–bad()- used to check whether invalid file
operations or unrecoverable error .
–good()- used to check whether the previous file
operation has been successful
 File operations

The following member functions are used

for reading and writing a character from a
specified file.
get()- is used to read an alphanumeric
character from a file.
put()- is used to write a character to a
specified file or a specified output stream
 Reading /Writing from/to
Binary Files
• To write n bytes:
– write (const unsigned char* buffer, int n);
• To read n bytes (to a pre-allocated buffer):
– read (unsighed char* buffer, int num)
#include <fstream.h>
main()
{
int array[] = {10,23,3,7,9,11,253};
ofstream OutBinaryFile("my_b_file.txt“, ios::out |
ios::binary);
OutBinaryFile.write((char*) array, sizeof(array));
OutBinaryFile.close(); All rights reserved
}
 CHARACTER I/O
C++ has some low-level facilities for character I/O.
char next1, next2, next3;
cin.get(next1);
Gets the next character from the keyboard. Does not skip over
blanks or newline (\n). Can check for newline (next == '\n')
Example:
cin.get(next1);
cin.get(next2);
cin.get(next3);
Predefined character functions must #include <ctype.h> and can be
used to
convert between upper and lower case
test whether in upper or lower case
test whether alphabetic character or digit
test for space
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//#include, prototypes, void main() omitted for space
ifstream fin;
char Chem1, Chem2;
double ratio;
fin.open("input.dat"); // open error check omitted for space
fin.get(Chem1);
while (!fin.eof())
{
if (isdigit(Chem1))
cout << "Test Code: " << Chem1 << endl;
else
{
fin >> ratio;
fin.get(Chem2);
Chem2 = toupper(Chem2);
cout << "Ratio of " << Chem1 << " to " << Chem2 << " is " << ratio << endl;
}
new_line(fin);
fin.get(Chem1);
}
}
void new_line(istream& in)
{
char symbol;
do {
in.get(symbol);
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} while (symbol != '\n');
}
 Reading /Writing from/to Textual Files
#include <fstream.h>
• To write: main()
– put() – writing single {
character // Writing to file
ofstream OutFile("my_file.txt");
– << operator – writing OutFile<<"Hello "<<5<<endl;
an object OutFile.close();
• To read:
int number;
– get() – reading a char dummy[15];
single character of a
buffer
// Reading from file
– getline() – reading a ifstream InFile("my_file.txt");
single line InFile>>dummy>>number;
– >> operator –
reading a object InFile.seekg(0);
InFile.getline(dummy,sizeof(dummy));
InFile.close();
} All rights reserved
Binary file operations
In connection with a binary file, the file
mode must contain the ios::binary mode
along with other mode(s)

To read & write a or on to a binary

file, as the case may be blocks of
data are accessed through the use
of C++ read() and write()
respectively.

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 Random access file
operations
Every file maintains two internal pointers:

get_pointer and put_pointer

They enable to attain the random access in file
otherwise which is sequential in nature.

In C++ randomness is achieved by manipulating

certain functions

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 Moving within the File
• seekg() / seekp() – moving the reading
(get) / writing (put) marker
– two parameters: offset and anchor

• tellg() / tellp() – getting the position

of the reading (get) / writing (put)
marker

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 EOF and File I/O Within Functions
When using a file within a function, the file parameter
MUST BE a reference parameter:
int read_file(ifstream& infile);
As with keyboard input, it is often desirable to process
some unknown amount of data. We use the end-of-file
(EOF) to accomplish this. EOF is automatically included
in text files we create.
Can test for EOF in several ways.
while (in_stream >> num)
OR
in_stream >> num; // priming read
while (! in_stream.eof())
{loop body
in_stream >> num;}
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int main()
{
ofstream out_stream;
double d1, d2;
char file_name[20]; // cstring
cout << "Enter output file name: ";
cin >> file_name;
out_stream.open(file_name);
if (out_stream.fail())
{
cout << "Output file could not be opened.\n";
exit(1);
}
out_stream.setf(ios::fixed);
out_stream.setf(ios::showpoint);
cout << "Enter two numbers: ";
cin >> d1 >> d2;
out_stream << setprecision(2) << setw(10) << d1 << setw(10) << d1 * d1 << endl;
out_stream << setprecision(2) << setw(10) << d2 <<setw (10) << d2 * d2 << endl;
out_stream.close();
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}
int main()
{
int side1, side2, side3, perimeter;
double area;
ifstream in_stream;
cout.setf(ios::fixed);
cout.setf(ios::showpoint);
cout.precision(2);
open_input_file(in_stream);
cout << setw(7) << "Side 1" << setw(7) << "Side 2" << setw(7) << "Side 3" <<
setw(7) << "Area" << setw(12) << "Perimeter\n";
in_stream >> side1;
while (! in_stream.eof()) // true AFTER attempt to read beyond eof
{
in_stream >> side2 >> side3;
compute(side1, side2, side3, perimeter, area);
cout << setw(5) << side1 << setw(7) << side2 <<setw(7) << side3 << setw(9) <<
area << setw(10) << perimeter << endl;
in_stream >> side1;
}
in_stream.close(); All rights reserved 25
}
void open_input_file(ifstream& instream)
{ instream.open("lengths.dat");
if (instream.fail())
{ cout << "Input file could not be opened.\n";
exit(1); }
}
void compute(int side1, int side2, int side3, int&
perimeter, double& area)
{ double s;
perimeter = side1 + side2 + side3;
s = perimeter / 2.0;
area = sqrt (s * (s - side1) * (s - side2) * (s - side3));
}
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CBSE
CBSE QUESTION
QUESTION PATTERN
PATTERN
RELATED
TO
DATA FILE HANDLING

☼
☼
 Summary
• Files in C++ are interpreted as a sequence of
bytes stored on some storage media.
• Bases classes are used to perform I/O
operations.
• The data of a file is stored in either
readable form or in binary code called as
text file or binary file.
• The flow of data from any source to a sink
is called as a stream.

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 More Information on File I/O
1. When getting data from a file, there is no need to prompt for input.
2. One program may have multiple input and/or output files, and may
intermix keyboard/ display I/O with file I/O.
3. The file name may be obtained from the user, rather than hard coded in
the program.
4. The layout of a program's output is called the format. A variety of
options are available for controlling the appearance of the output.
5. Flags to control floating point display:
• out_stream.setf(ios::fixed);
• out_stream.setf(ios::showpoint);
• out_stream.precision(2);
6. rd_state() – returns a variable with one or more (check with AND) of the
following options:
• ios::goodbit – OK
• ios::eofbit – marker on EOF
• ios::failbit – illegal action, but alright to continue
• ios:badbit – corrupted file, cannot be used.
7. We can also access the bit we wish to check with eof(), good(), fail(),
bad(),
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8. clear() is used to clear the status bits (after they were checked).
Questions
Questions ?? ??

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Presented by:
N RAKHESH
PGT Comp. Science
KVS
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