This topic, "File Access", describes operations which work with entire files. Functions which read and write the contents of files are described at Stdio Stream file operations - Buffered access of files and devices. fopen, fputc, fgetc, et al.

File filtering and processing - Methods of filtering and processing files. (character translation, comparison, search, sort, word counts, etc.)

Text File Output - Methods of printing and displaying text files.

See also: File Information - Obtaining file information (status, configuration, et al)

See also: File Access Limits - Limiting access to files (permissions, locking, et al)

How can a file be shortened in-place without completely clearing or rewriting it? []

How can I insert or delete a line in the middle of a file? []

How can I delete a file? []

What's wrong with the call "fopen("c:\newdir\file.dat", "r")"? []

Why won't my C program open a file with a path? []

How can my program open more files than DOS's limit of 20? []

How do I copyright software that I write? []

Questions and Answers

shar(1) - create a shell archive of files {oss}

tar(1) - tape archiver {oss}

cpio(1) - copy file archives in and out {oss}

mktemp(1) - make temporary file name {oss}

file-3.37 - File - determine file type

obliterate-0.4 - Securely delete file[s]

granulate-0.2 - Granulate is a program for splitting files in place

sdd-1.31 - Faster and improved version of dd

truncate-20010323 - A command-line frontend to truncate(2)

safecat-1.8 - Safely write data to a directory using D. J. Bernstein's Maildir ideology

srm-1.2.2 - Secure rm, a utility which destroys file contents before unlinking

p5-File-Binary-0.3 - Perl interface to modify and read binary files

Data::Locations - A virtual file manager which allows to read/write data to and from virtual files {GPL}

creat (3) - create a new file {oss}

remove (3) - remove a file or directory {oss}

open (2) - open or create a file for reading or writing {oss}

tempnam tmpfile tmpnam (3) - temporary file routines {oss}

mktemp mkdtemp mkstemp (3) - make temporary file name (unique) {oss}

pathconf fpathconf (2) - get configurable pathname variables {oss}

fsync (2) - synchronize a file's in-core state with that on disk {oss}

truncate ftruncate (2) - truncate a file to a specified length {oss}

link (2) - make a hard file link {oss}

mknod (2) - make a special file node {oss}

symlink (2) - make symbolic link to a file {oss}

readlink (2) - read value of a symbolic link {oss}

unlink (2) - remove directory entry {oss}

getfh (2) - get file handle {oss}

p5-Data-Buffer-0.04 - Read/write buffer class

p5-IO-Stty-0.02 - Perl5 module that hacks around IO::File deficiencies

p5-IO-1.20 - Various IO modules for Perl

p5-IO-String-1.01_1 - Simplified Perl5 module to handle I/O on in-core strings

p5-File-Temp-0.12 - Perl5 module to generate temporary files or directories safely

p5-File-Sync-0.09 - Perl5 module interface to the UNIX sync(2) and POSIX.1b fsync(2)

p5-File-Slurp-98.071901 - Perl5 module for single call read & write file routines

p5-File-Tools-2.0 - Perl5 module for several file operations: Copy, Recurse and Tools

py22-fileutils-0.4 - File I/O related functions and classes

Fupdate.C - A set of portable _commit() functions {oss,msdos}

Wb_Fcopy.C - Fast file copy {oss}

Wb_Fapnd.C - Fast file append {oss}

Update.H,Update.C - Automate .BAK file generation {oss}

Fupdate.C - A set of portable _commit() functions {oss,msdos}

Doscopy.C - Copy a file via DOS COPY command {oss,msdos}

Fchsize.C - Truncate/extend/resize DOS files using FILE pointers {oss,msdos}

FileCache - Many operating systems only let you have a small number of file descriptors open at any one time. You can bypass that limit with the FileCache module, which is bundled with Perl.

File::Copy - Lets you copy files within Perl, by either names or filehandles. Now part of the File::Tools module. [Perl] {oss}

Libraries and Functions

(The following links to subjects at this site retain your personalized selections.)

Low level file and device operations - Unbuffered access of files and devices. (ioctl, fcntl, /dev, et al)

See also: Directory Access - Accessing directories of files, browsing, management, et al.

See also: File System Information - Obtaining information of the filesystem as a whole. Status of disk subsystems, capacity, etc.

Up to File System Access - Gateway topic to file system (files and directory) access and operations.