C Language Files and I/O streams Open and write to a binary file
Example
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
int main(void)
{
result = EXIT_SUCCESS;
char file_name[] = "outbut.bin";
char str[] = "This is a binary file example";
FILE * fp = fopen(file_name, "wb");
if (fp == NULL) /* If an error occurs during the file creation */
{
result = EXIT_FAILURE;
fprintf(stderr, "fopen() failed for '%s'\n", file_name);
}
else
{
size_t element_size = sizeof *str;
size_t elements_to_write = sizeof str;
/* Writes str (_including_ the NUL-terminator) to the binary file. */
size_t elements_written = fwrite(str, element_size, elements_to_write, fp);
if (elements_written != elements_to_write)
{
result = EXIT_FAILURE;
/* This works for >=c99 only, else the z length modifier is unknown. */
fprintf(stderr, "fwrite() failed: wrote only %zu out of %zu elements.\n",
elements_written, elements_to_write);
/* Use this for <c99: *
fprintf(stderr, "fwrite() failed: wrote only %lu out of %lu elements.\n",
(unsigned long) elements_written, (unsigned long) elements_to_write);
*/
}
fclose(fp);
}
return result;
}
This program creates and writes text in the binary form through the fwrite function to the file output.bin.
If a file with the same name already exists, its contents are discarded and the file is treated as a new empty file.
A binary stream is an ordered sequence of characters that can transparently record internal data. In this mode, bytes are written between the program and the file without any interpretation.
To write integers portably, it must be known whether the file format expects them in big or little-endian format, and the size (usually 16, 32 or 64 bits). Bit shifting and masking may then be used to write out the bytes in the correct order. Integers in C are not guaranteed to have two's complement representation (though almost all implementations do). Fortunately a conversion to unsigned is guaranteed to use twos complement. The code for writing a signed integer to a binary file is therefore a little surprising.
/* write a 16-bit little endian integer */
int fput16le(int x, FILE *fp)
{
unsigned int rep = x;
int e1, e2;
e1 = fputc(rep & 0xFF, fp);
e2 = fputc((rep >> 8) & 0xFF, fp);
if(e1 == EOF || e2 == EOF)
return EOF;
return 0;
}
The other functions follow the same pattern with minor modifications for size and byte order.
