Openfile

From OpenEUO
Revision as of 19:23, 7 October 2010 by 76.184.213.234 (Talk)

Jump to: navigation, search
io.open (filename [, mode])

This function opens a file, in the mode specified in the string mode. It returns a new file handle, or, in case of errors, nil plus an error message.

The mode string can be any of the following:

  • "r": read mode (the default);
  • "w": write mode;
  • "a": append mode;
  • "r+": update mode, all previous data is preserved;
  • "w+": update mode, all previous data is erased;
  • "a+": append update mode, previous data is preserved, writing is only allowed at the end of file.
  • "b": the mode string can also have a 'b' at the end, which is needed to open the file in binary mode.

This string is exactly what is used in the standard C function fopen.

mode description starts..
r rb open for reading beginning
w wb open for writing (creates file if it doesn't exist). Deletes content and overwrites the file. beginning
a ab open for appending (creates file if it doesn't exist) end
r+ rb+ r+b open for reading and writing beginning
w+ wb+ w+b open for reading and writing. Deletes content and overwrites the file. beginning
a+ ab+ a+b open for reading and writing (append if file exists) end