std::fopen

C++

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Language support library

Concepts library (C++20)

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Technical Specifications

Input/output library

I/O manipulators

C-style I/O

Buffers

basic_streambuf

basic_filebuf

basic_stringbuf

strstreambuf (deprecated)

basic_syncbuf (C++20)

Streams

Abstractions

ios_base

basic_ios

basic_istream

basic_ostream

basic_iostream

File I/O

basic_ifstream

basic_ofstream

basic_fstream

String I/O

basic_istringstream

basic_ostringstream

basic_stringstream

Array I/O

istrstream (deprecated)

ostrstream (deprecated)

strstream (deprecated)

Synchronized Output

basic_osyncstream (C++20)

Types

streamoff

streamsize

fpos

Error category interface

iostream_category (C++11)

io_errc (C++11)

C-style I/O

Functions
File access
fopen freopen fclose fflush	fwide setbuf setvbuf
Direct input/output
fread
fwrite
Unformatted input/output
fgetc fgets fputc fputs getchar gets (until C++14) putchar puts ungetc	fgetwc fgetws fputwc fputws getwchar putwchar ungetwc
Formatted input/output
scanffscanfsscanf vscanfvfscanfvsscanf (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) printffprintfsprintfsnprintf (C++11) vprintfvfprintfvsprintfvsnprintf (C++11)	wscanffwscanfswscanf vwscanfvfwscanfvswscanf (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) wprintffwprintfswprintf vwprintfvfwprintfvswprintf
File positioning
ftell
fgetpos
fseek
fsetpos
rewind
Error handling
clearerr
feof
ferror
perror
Operations on files
remove
rename
tmpfile
tmpnam

Defined in header <cstdio>
std::FILE* fopen( const char* filename, const char* mode );

Opens a file indicated by filename and returns a file stream associated with that file. mode is used to determine the file access mode.

Parameters

filename	-	file name to associate the file stream to
mode	-	null-terminated character string determining file access mode File access mode string Meaning Explanation Action if file already exists Action if file does not exist "r" read Open a file for reading read from start failure to open "w" write Create a file for writing destroy contents create new "a" append Append to a file write to end create new "r+" read extended Open a file for read/write read from start error "w+" write extended Create a file for read/write destroy contents create new "a+" append extended Open a file for read/write write to end create new File access mode flag "b" can optionally be specified to open a file in binary mode. This flag has no effect on POSIX systems, but on Windows, for example, it disables special handling of '\n' and '\x1A'. On the append file access modes, data is written to the end of the file regardless of the current position of the file position indicator. File access mode flag "x" can optionally be appended to "w" or "w+" specifiers. This flag forces the function to fail if the file exists, instead of overwriting it. (C++17) The behavior is undefined if the mode is not one of the strings listed above. Some implementations define additional supported modes (e.g. Windows).

Return value

If successful, returns a pointer to the object that controls the opened file stream, with both eof and error bits cleared. The stream is fully buffered unless filename refers to an interactive device.

On error, returns a null pointer. POSIX requires that errno is set in this case.

Notes

The format of filename is implementation-defined, and does not necessarily refer to a file (e.g. it may be the console or another device accessible through filesystem API). On platforms that support them, filename may include absolute or relative filesystem path.

For portable directory and file naming, see C++ filesystem library or boost.filesystem

Example

Run this code

#include <cstdio>
#include <cstdlib>

int main()
{
    FILE* fp = std::fopen("test.txt", "r");
    if(!fp) {
        std::perror("File opening failed");
        return EXIT_FAILURE;
    }

    int c; // note: int, not char, required to handle EOF
    while ((c = std::fgetc(fp)) != EOF) { // standard C I/O file reading loop
       std::putchar(c);
    }

    if (std::ferror(fp))
        std::puts("I/O error when reading");
    else if (std::feof(fp))
        std::puts("End of file reached successfully");

    std::fclose(fp);
}

See also

fclose	closes a file (function)
fflush	synchronizes an output stream with the actual file (function)
freopen	open an existing stream with a different name (function)