File Access

[pmorones]

I have a program that I have written to access a particular file. The program will open the file and read from it. My problem is that I do not know where to place the file so that my program can find it. I tried putting it in the source folder in the project. That doesn't work. I know it is a very simple question but can anyone help me out please.

 

[ArkM]

1. Place it anywhere and use a full path:

fstream f("D:\\MyDir\\MyFile.xxx");

2. Use program parameter to point to the file:

int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
   fstream f;
...
   if (argc < 2)
   {
      cout << "*** No file parameter" << endl;
      return 1;
   }
   if (f.open(argv[1]))
   {
      ...

3. In VC++ 6.0 IDE call place the file in project dir (it's workdir in that case) and use a simple name to open (worst solution):

ifstream f("MyFile.xxx"); // in default dir
// (different when start exe by click or in console window).

It's one of design tasks: you must set application files access specification before coding...

 

[pmorones]

How does this work if I have the user enter a file name to search for? I want the user to enter a filename and my program to search for the existence of that file. Here is what I have so far.

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <fstream>

using namespace std;


int main()
{

ifstream infile;
ifstream outfile;




string s;
cout << "Enter file name ";

cin >> s;

infile.open(s.c_str());
if (!infile){
cerr << "unable to open file ";
exit(0);
}
else

cout << s << '\n';

infile.close();
outfile.close();
return 0;

Even if I place the file mine.dat in the project, I always get "unable to open file" even when I enter mine.dat as the file to search for.

 

[timmay3141]

Works fine for me. What compiler are you using? I'm using VS.NET 2003 and putting it in the project directory, not the debug/release directory where the exe is. Are you doing the same?

 

[pmorones]

I am using 6.0. I will give your suggestion a try and see what happens.

 

[pmorones]

That worked. Thanks a lot! I appreciate the help.