Creates a new BFile object, initializes it according to the arguments, and sets InitCheck() to return the status of the initialization.

The default constructor does nothing and sets and sets InitCheck() to B_NO_INIT. To initialize the object, call SetTo().

The copy constructor creates a new BFile that's open on the same file as that of the argument. Note that the two objects maintain separate data pointers into the same file:

• Separate pointers: Reading and writing through one object does not affect the position of the data pointer in the other object.

• Same file: If one object writes to the file, the other object will see the written data.

For information on the other constructors, see the analogous SetTo() functions.

Closes the object's file, frees its file descriptor, and destroys the object.

These functions get and set the size, in bytes, of the object's file.

GetSize() returns the size of the file's data portion in the size argument; the measurement doesn't include attributes.

SetSize() sets the size of the data portion to the size given by the argument:

• Enlarging a file adds (uninitialized) bytes to its end.

• Shrinking a file removes bytes from the end.

Returns the status of the most recent initialization.

These functions tell you whether the BFile was initialized to read or write its file. If the object isn't (properly) initialized, they both return false.

Note that these functions don't query the actual file to check permissions, they only tell you what the access request was when the BFile object was initialized.

These functions, which are inherited from BPositionIO, read and write the file's data; note that they don't touch the file's attributes.

The Read() and ReadAt() functions read size bytes of data from the file and place this data in buffer. The buffer that buffer points to must already be allocated, and must be large enough to accommodate the read data. Note that the read-into buffer is not null-terminated by the reading functions.

The two functions differ in that…

• Read() reads the data starting at the current location of the file's data pointer, and increments the file pointer as it reads.

• ReadAt() reads the data from the location specified by the location argument, which is taken as a measure in bytes from the beginning of the file. ReadAt() does not bump the file's data pointer.

Write() and WriteAt() write size bytes of data into the file; the data is taken from the buffer argument. The two functions differ in their use (or non-use) of the file's data pointer in the same manner as Read() and ReadAt().

All four functions return the number of bytes that were actually read or written; negative return values indicate an error.

Reading fewer-than-size bytes isn't uncommon—consider the case where the file is smaller than the size of your buffer. If you want your buffer to be NULL-terminated, you can use the return value to set the NULL:

char buf[1024];
ssize_t amt_read;

if ((amt_read = file.Read((void *)buf, 1024)) < 0)
   /* handle errors first */
else
   /* otherwise set null */
   buf[amt_read] = '0';

A successful Write() or WriteAt(), on the other hand, will always write exactly the number of bytes you requested. In other words, Write() returns either the size value that you passed to it, or else it returns a negative (error) value.

Note

Error codes returned by these functions can vary depending on the file system handling the operation. For this reason, specific error codes aren't listed here.

Seek() sets the location of the file's data pointer. The new location is reckoned as offset bytes from the position given by the seekMode constant:

If you Seek() to a position that's past the end of the file and then do a Write(), the file will be extended (padded with garbage) from the old end of file to the Seek()'d position. If you don't follow the Seek() with a Write(), the file isn't extended.

Seek() returns the new position as measured (in bytes) from the beginning of the file.

Position() returns the current position as measured (in bytes) from the beginning of the file. It doesn't move the pointer.

Warning

If you do a "before the beginning" seek, subsequent Read() and Write() calls do not fail. But they almost certainly aren't doing what you want (you shouldn't be "before the file," anyway). The moral: Always check your Seek() return.

Closes the BFile's current file (if any), and opens the file specified by the arguments. If the specified file is a symbolic link, the link is automatically traversed (recursively, if necessary). Note that you're not prevented from opening a directory as a BFile, but you are prevented from writing to it.

• In the path function, path can be absolute or relative, and can contain "." and ".." elements. If path is relative, it's reckoned off of the current working directory.

• In the dir/path function, path must be relative and is reckoned off of dir.

openMode is a combination of flags that determines how the file is opened and what this object can do with it once it is open. There are two sets of flags; you must pass one (and only one) of the following "read/write" constants:

You can also pass any number of the following (these are optional):

To open a file for reading and writing, for example, you simply pass:

file.SetTo(entry, B_READ_WRITE);

Here we create a new file or erase its data if it already exists:

file.SetTo(entry, B_READ_WRITE | B_CREATE_FILE | B_ERASE_FILE);

And here we create a new file, but only if it doesn't already exist:

file.SetTo(entry, B_READ_WRITE | B_CREATE_FILE | B_FAIL_IF_EXISTS);

Unset() closes the object's file and sets its InitCheck() value to B_NO_INIT.

In the expression

BFile a = b;

BFile a is initialized to refer to the same file as b. To gauge the success of the assignment, you should call InitCheck() immediately afterwards. You can't assign a BFile to itself (B_BAD_VALUE).

Assigning to an uninitialized BFile is "successful": The assigned-to BFile will also be uninitialized (B_NO_INIT).