Does ofstream::open create the file if it doesn't already exist?

[Programmer_P]

Will ofstream:pen(filename) create the file with filename if the said file does not already exist?

[jeffcobb]

ofstream:pen(filename) will create the file if it does not exist. If it does exist, what it does after open WRT the file ptr is dictated by the additional ios::XXX flags you pass in like:

ofstream::open(filename, ios::app);

will open it in append mode...

open - C++ Reference

Check out the link for the other permutations..

[Programmer_P]

Thanks.
I had actually already checked out that link before asking the question. I just asked it because it does not mention at that link whether it creates the file or not.

[cpjust]

I just wish the C++ IO classes had something similar to the O_EXCL flag for open(). Otherwise it just opens the door to race conditions.

[jeffcobb]

I just wish the C++ IO classes had something similar to the O_EXCL flag for open(). Otherwise it just opens the door to race conditions.

Wow you are right; even though most of my work is C++ nowadays I never used ofstream with any kind of access modifiers. If I needed to manage access to a file handle I just used the lower level calls. That said it would not be that hard to make your own wrapper for it and supply the access modifiers yourself..