Writing an array of struct to file

**stellastarr** · 03-25-2006

Hi everybody,
I want to write an array of struct to a file as I want that information to be loaded next time I run my program but I seem to have trouble writing an array of struct to a file... I can see that it is writing something to file but it is all jibberish... and I'm not sure why either.. here is my relevant code..
my struct:

Code:

struct x{
  char name[100]; 
  int node; 
  short type; 
};

declaring my struct:

Code:

struct x HOME[1]; // Used to be 10 but set to 1 to see if I can write at least one element of an array

function that writes to disk:

Code:

int closeDisk(struct x *d)
{    
    if (fseek(my_disk, 0, SEEK_SET) != 0) 
	{
	    printf("Disk access error!\n");
	    return 0; 
	}
    fwrite((struct x*)d, sizeof(struct x), 1, my_disk);

    return 1;
}

when program starts up again, inside function that reads from file:

Code:

if ((my_disk = fopen(filename, "wb")) == NULL) // Create or open a new file
	{
	    printf("Error in opening the disk simulation file\n");
	    exit(1);
	}
    else
	{
		    if (fseek(my_disk, 0, SEEK_SET) != 0) 
			{
			    printf("Disk access error!\n");
			    return 0; 
			}
		    fread((struct x*)d, sizeof(struct x), 1, my_disk);
		    
                    // Test print to see what is read into struct
                    printf("%s\n%d\n",x[0].name,x[0].node);

		   
	}

Does anyone see anything wrong? Any help would be greatly apprectiated...
Thanks.

**Salem** · 03-25-2006

> fwrite((struct x*)d, sizeof(struct x), 1, my_disk)
A pointless cast, and not checking the return result.

> my_disk = fopen(filename, "wb")
...
> fread((struct x*)d, sizeof(struct x), 1, my_disk)
Trying to read from a file you just opened for writing.

**dwks** · 03-25-2006

Try using "wb+" for the fopen mode.

Code:

fseek(my_disk, 0, SEEK_SET)

There's an equivalent function called rewind() that does just that. You don't even need to rewind the file, when you open it it starts at the beginning.

I don't know how you intend to read a structure from an empty file.

**stellastarr** · 03-25-2006

Hi,
so how I go about fixing my code though? (I removed the cast)
I don't understand why you said "Trying to read from a file you just opened for writing." because when the program closes it writes the struct to file. That code you pointed out is at the beginning of the code when the program loads up again.. so technically there should be my struct data in there from last time the program was run... and doesn't 'wb' in fopen open the file for reading and writing?
Thanks again.

**dwks** · 03-25-2006

and doesn't 'wb' in fopen open the file for reading and writing?

No, it doesn't, and that's what we're pointing out. You're thinking of mode "wb+" or "w+b".

**Salem** · 03-25-2006

> I don't understand why you said "Trying to read from a file you just opened for writing.
How plain could it be?
You open a file for WRITING with "wb" and 5 lines later you're trying to READ from the file.

> and doesn't 'wb' in fopen open the file for reading and writing?
See, most people read the manual page before passing random values to functions which just stop the compiler from moaning about syntax errors.

Code:

man fopen....
       w      Truncate file to zero length or create text file for writing.  The stream is positioned at
              the beginning of the file.

> so technically there should be my struct data in there from last time the program was run
Only if your code contains a loop.
If it quit back to the OS and you restarted it, then the answer is no it won't have any old data there.

**stellastarr** · 03-25-2006

Hi,
sorry about that.. I actually had it set to wb+ earlier but was playing around with it and didn't change it back.. my bad! I fixed that but I still do not anything meaningful from the file...
i set name to "1212"
and node to 5..
when I exit the program and go back to the OS (Unix) I see that there is some stuff written to file... and some is legible...
but when I run the program again nothing that I want is stored in the struct...
this is what it prints out is inside the struct
name: "ÿ;jÿ>mPÿ;"
and node: 0
What is going on?
Thanks again.

**Salem** · 03-25-2006

Well since you're writing in binary mode, you're not going to see much by way of readable text.

Use a hex editor, or this command line tool to view the binary file.

Code:

od -Ax -t x1z filename

For example, setting node to 5 will result in 0x05 0x00 0x00 0x00 being stored in the file (somewhere)

Code:

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

struct x{
  char name[100];
  int node;
  short type;
};

int main ( ) {
  struct x foo = {
    "hello", 5, 123
  };
  FILE *fp = fopen("file.bin","wb");
  fwrite( &foo, sizeof foo, 1, fp );
  fclose( fp );
  return 0;
}

$ gcc bar.c
$ ./a.out
$ od -Ax -t x1z file.bin
000000 68 65 6c 6c 6f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  >hello...........<
000010 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  >................<
*
000060 00 00 00 00 05 00 00 00 7b 00 00 00              >........{...<
00006c

**stellastarr** · 03-25-2006

Hi,
I've pinpointed my problem I think... It is like salem mentioned earlier.. I tested it out and if I write to the file and then read it while the program is running a get the results that I want. But if I close my program and then restart my program & try to read from the file at the beginning of the program there is weird data that goes into the struct...
How do I fix this and what is happening to file when I close the program that data is changed next time I run the program?
Thanks.

**Salem** · 03-25-2006

Post some more relevant code.

**stellastarr** · 03-25-2006

Hi!
I actually fixed my code... by changing in fopen wb+ to rb+ it works!
sorry about the trouble!

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