
 Area: FC_prog 
  Msg#: 1739                                         Date: 04-02-96  06:13
  From: Matthew Probert                              Read: Yes    Replied: No 
    To: All                                          Mark:                     
  Subj: C File I/O - Intro

                                  C FILE I/O

                                INTRODUCTION


                               Matthew Probert
                              Servile  Software

Unlike other computer languages, C does not include any internal commands 
for file I/O. Rather file I/O takes place through calls to functions 
provided in the standard C library. C is also unusual in providing two forms 
of file I/O, binary and ascii. 

Binary file I/O is the exchange of data between a file and the computer's 
RAM in the same numeric representation that the data is stored in RAM. 

Text file I/O is the exchange of data between a file and the computer's RAM 
in a format readable by humans. This includes translating single carriage 
returns and line feed codes into CR LF pairs. 

C considers a 'file' to be any device other than the computer's RAM. This 
includes; disk drives, serial ports, parallel ports and the console and as 
such encompasses printers, the keyboard, modems and the VDU. 

In summary, ANSI C File I/O is a method of communication between the 
computer's main RAM and any external device. It can be used for storing and 
retrieving data from disks, transfering data to and from the serial ports 
and parallel port or between the console and RAM. 


... [Servile Info Journal]
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
