ofststream cannot open existing file

hi,
I am not able to open ofstream exisiting files.Though it can create new files.Here's my code

Code:

---

void source_station::save_station(char* source)
{
  ofstream station;
  station.open(source,ios::app|ios::noreplace|ios::binary);
  if(!station)
    cout<<"Could not open file";

  else
    station.write((char*)this,sizeof(*this));
  station.close();
}

---

Are you sure the file exists there. Did you try a full path instead of a relative path, since often the "current directory" is different than what you'd expect.

Well, I see your passing it a variable "source" might output source on screen to make sure its valid, also you have a syntax error on the ios::binary there is a bad space, I might try this:

Code:

---

source.open(source, ios::app);
if (source.fail())
{
    cout<<"source file failed to open"<<endl;
}
else
{
    //do your work here
}

---

I don't know you need the ios::noreplace if your using ios::app since it will only create the file if it did not exist before, otherwise just adds to it without over writing. Also, not sure about the syntax of using (ios::app | ios:: noreplace) I am not the most avid user of iostream or fstream but I don't recall ever using the "|" symbol as a separator, I've always used ",". Hope that helps-

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WaterNut

also you have a syntax error on the ios::binary there is a bad space, I might try this:

---

That's something the board automatically does based on length of the string. If there aren't spaces every so often, it puts them in for you whether you want it to or not.

Example #1 (I did not enter in a space between X and Y when posting):
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWX YZ

Example #2 (I did not enter in a space between X and Y when posting):

Code:

---

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

---

So the limit seems to be 50 characters without spaces which is how long station.open(source,ios::app|ios::noreplace|ios::b is.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WaterNut

Also, not sure about the syntax of using (ios::app | ios:: noreplace) I am not the most avid user of iostream or fstream but I don't recall ever using the "|" symbol as a separator, I've always used ",".

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The ios::app and ios::noreplace values are being binary OR'ed together (they are like flags). When the function opens the file it checks to which bits (flags) have been set to see exactly how the user wants to open the file.

Also note that ios::noreplace is non-standard, you should probably switch to <fstream>.

One "gotcha" which often catches unsuspecting coders out opening files in C++ if they're not paying attention: if you want to open up a file in DOS/windows, on the path

C:\MyDir\somefile.txt

then the string name for this path is

"C:\\MyDir\\somefile.txt"

You need the double-backslashes, else it thinks you are trying to use an escape character (eg, \n, \t, \0, etc).

I think I must write the full code

Code:

---

class source_station
{
private:
  char station_name[8];
  int train_no;
  float distance;

public:
  void getstation_info();
  void save_station(char *source);
  void search_station();
  void read_station(char *source);
};

void source_station::getstation_info()
{

  cout<<"\nEnter station name:";
  cin.get(station_name,8);
  cout<<"Train num:";
  cin>>train_no;
  cout<<"Distance:";
  cin>>distance;
}

void source_station::save_station(char* source)
{
  ofstream station;
  station.open(source,ios::app|ios::noreplace|ios::binary);
  if(!station)
    cout<<"Could not open file";

  else
    station.write((char*)this,sizeof(*this));
  station.close();
}

int main()
{
source_station obj;
obj.getstation_info();
obj.save_station("c:\\tc\\project\\agra.txt");
getch();
return(0);
}

---

Though above code works well if it creates new file but it is not able to open alredy existing file.

By removing ios::noreplace the code works absolutely fine.But can anyone explain why?

Wouldn't noreplace mean that it doesn't open an existing file? So even though you are appending, the noreplace stops you from opening an existing file. This is just a guess, though since you are using the non-standard streams I don't know what the expected behavior should be.

>> I think I must write the full code
FYI, that isn't the full source code. The headers you include are an important detail.