Thread: common File_read block

Hi All,

I wanted to write a common function to retrieve file content. I do not know whether below code is upto the mark or not.

any Suggestions/modifications/tips are greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Vashek

Code:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

/*
Function Name: get_file_content
Description: fills content of the file to given buffer.
Parameters: file to be read(in), Mode(in), destination buffer(out)
Return Type: pointer to content (SUCCESS), otherwise NULL
*/
char* get_file_content (char *file_name, char *file_mode, char *file_content)
{
	FILE *fp;
	long file_size;	
	size_t bytes_read;
	
	//open file
	if (!(fp = fopen (file_name, file_mode))) {
		printf ("*** Unable to open file ***\n");	
		return NULL;
	}
	
	//get file size
	fseek (fp, 0, SEEK_END);
	file_size = ftell (fp);
	rewind (fp);
	printf("*** size = %ld ***\n", file_size);

	//check memory
	file_content = (char *) malloc (sizeof(char) * file_size+1);
	if (file_content == NULL) {
		printf("*** memory insufficient ***");
		fclose (fp);
		return NULL;
	}

	//get content
	bytes_read = fread (file_content, sizeof(char), file_size, fp);	

	//put EOS
	file_content[bytes_read] = '\0';	

	//clean	
	fclose (fp);

	//success
	return file_content;
}


int main (int argC, char *argV[])
{
	int	status = -1;
	char *file_content = NULL;
	if ((file_content = get_file_content ("metadata.txt", "r", file_content)) == NULL){
		status = 1;	
		goto FREE_BLOCK;
	}
		
	printf("\n#%s#\n", file_content);


	FREE_BLOCK:
		if(file_content)
			free (file_content);

	return 0;
}

I think it is better to use stat() to get the file size, and that will also allow you to check to make sure the file is a regular file before you open it.

file name and mode should be passed as const char*

why do you need to pass file_content as a parameter?

ftell is limited to 2Gb files

do you plan to work with binary files as well?

if yes - adding zero at the end of the buffer could cause problems when the file content will be processed by decoding routines for example

has no meaning at all as indicator of buffer end - as the buffer could contain zeros before it

and the content length should be returned as well.

If you suppose to process only text files - why do you need to pass mode?