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What is the proper way of finding an end of file condition while reading
a file ?

How does feof() detects that end of file is reached ?
Does this require support from OS ?

Thanx in advance for any help ...

"junky_fellow" <> wrote in message
news: m...
> What is the proper way of finding an end of file condition while reading
> a file ?
>
> How does feof() detects that end of file is reached ?

feof() does not detect that end of file is reached, it reports that end of file
was reached during a previous read operation.

> Does this require support from OS ?

if files are implemented with the OS, feof() will rely on the OS reporting such
a condition for read operations.
if files are implemented within the C library, the OS is not an issue.

It is important to notice that feof() is counterintuitive:
- Whether a read operation that reaches the end of a file set the condition is
not specified : fgets() reading the last line will probably not set it, while
fscanf() eating trailing white space might.
- If the file is being written by another function (or process where that makes
sense), feof() may return non 0 even after more data becomes available for
reading (clearerr() or fseek() may be needed before reading).

As a rule of thumb, only use feof() to disambiguate end of file from read error
after a read operation fails.
Idioms such as while (!feof(f)) { ... } and do { ... } while (!feof(f)); are
bogus and must be avoided.

--
Chqrlie.

PS: I know about 7.19.6.2 example 3 verse 19. This code snipplet is bogus and
useless. AAMOF most do/while loops are bogus anyway.

junky_fellow wrote:
> What is the proper way of finding an end of file condition while reading
> a file ?
>
> How does feof() detects that end of file is reached ?
> Does this require support from OS ?

You can do it yourself without feof(), by doing

struct stat statstruct;

stat("filename", &statstruct);

statstruct.st_size is the number of bytes in the file.

> Thanx in advance for any help ...

Using feof() is easier though.

FILE *fp = fopen(...);

while (!feof(fp)) {
... read stuff
}

> Using feof() is easier though.
>
> FILE *fp = fopen(...);
>
> while (!feof(fp)) {
> ... read stuff
> }

And of course as the previous poster said, you may have a short count or
even an error, so take that into account.

while (!feof(fp)) {

/* Short count ? */
n = fread(buffer, ..., fp);

if (n != whatever) {
if (ferror())
... some kind of error
if (feof())
... end of file
}
}

Johnathan Doe <No-spam-here-johnathan_doe@!!!nospamthanks!!!fastmail.com.au> scribbled the following:
> junky_fellow wrote:
>> What is the proper way of finding an end of file condition while reading
>> a file ?
>>
>> How does feof() detects that end of file is reached ?
>> Does this require support from OS ?

> You can do it yourself without feof(), by doing

> struct stat statstruct;

> stat("filename", &statstruct);

> statstruct.st_size is the number of bytes in the file.

No you can't. There is no struct stat or stat() in the C language.

--
/-- Joona Palaste () ------------- Finland --------\
\-------------------------------------------------------- rules! --------/
"You have moved your mouse, for these changes to take effect you must shut down
and restart your computer. Do you want to restart your computer now?"
- Karri Kalpio

"Johnathan Doe" <No-spam-here-johnathan_doe@!!!NOSPAMTHANKS!!!fastmail.com.au>
wrote in message
news:41b6c124$0$25761$...
> > Using feof() is easier though.
> >
> > FILE *fp = fopen(...);
> >
> > while (!feof(fp)) {
> > ... read stuff
> > }
>
> And of course as the previous poster said, you may have a short count or
> even an error, so take that into account.

The previous poster said to avoid this stupid bogus idiom !

> while (!feof(fp)) {
>
> /* Short count ? */
> n = fread(buffer, ..., fp);
>
> if (n != whatever) {
> if (ferror())
> ... some kind of error
> if (feof())
> ... end of file
> }
> }

Instead do this :

for (; {
n = fread(buffer, sizeof(type), count, fp);
if (n != count) {
... handle partial read.
if (ferror(f)) {
... handle error and break or return
break;
}
if (feof(f)) {
.. handle end of file and break or return
break;
}
} else {
... handle normal read
}
}

--
Chqrlie.

Joona I Palaste wrote:
> No you can't. There is no struct stat or stat() in the C language.

Assuming you're working on 99% of OSes out there, yes you can.

Johnathan Doe <No-spam-here-johnathan_doe@!!!nospamthanks!!!fastmail.com.au> scribbled the following:
> Joona I Palaste wrote:
>> No you can't. There is no struct stat or stat() in the C language.

> Assuming you're working on 99% of OSes out there, yes you can.

Here we discuss 100% of the OSes out there.

--
/-- Joona Palaste () ------------- Finland --------\
\-------------------------------------------------------- rules! --------/
"A computer program does what you tell it to do, not what you want it to do."
- Anon

Johnathan Doe wrote:
>
> Joona I Palaste wrote:
> > No you can't. There is no struct stat or stat() in the C language.
>
> Assuming you're working on 99% of OSes out there, yes you can.

Read the welcome message. This group deals with the language as
defined by the ISO standards, not some imaginary uncontrolled
offshoot. Reference to non-standard features is off-topic. Also
use of feof for any purpose other than to disambiguae a read error
is almost always an error. You would know all this is you had
bothered to read this group for a period before breaking in with
misinformation.

--
Chuck F () ()
Available for consulting/temporary embedded and systems.
<http://cbfalconer.home.att.net> USE worldnet address!

cuz he is using a file pointer can he seek using fseek to the end of th
file, and use ftell to tell him the filesize.

for example:
i assume cuz he is using fgets, feof...ftell and fseek are defined. o
they should be defined.


Code
-------------------


long filesize( FILE *fp )
{
if (fp==NULL) return 0L;
fseek( fp, 0, SEEK_END );
return ftell(fp);
}

-------------------


-
MarcSmit
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