+%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
+%% Name: file.tex
+%% Purpose: wxFile documentation
+%% Author: Vadim Zeitlin
+%% Modified by:
+%% Created: 14.01.02 (extracted from file.tex)
+%% RCS-ID: $Id$
+%% Copyright: (c) Vadim Zeitlin
+%% License: wxWidgets license
+%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
+
\section{\class{wxFile}}\label{wxfile}
A wxFile performs raw file I/O. This is a very small class designed to
minimize the overhead of using it - in fact, there is hardly any overhead at
all, but using it brings you automatic error checking and hides differences
-between platforms and compilers.
+between platforms and compilers. wxFile also automatically closes the file in
+its destructor making it unnecessary to worry about forgetting to do it.
+wxFile is a wrapper around {\tt file descriptor.} - see also
+\helpref{wxFFile}{wxffile} for a wrapper around {\tt FILE} structure.
\wxheading{Derived from}
wx/file.h defines the following constants:
-{\small
\begin{verbatim}
#define wxS_IRUSR 00400
#define wxS_IWUSR 00200
// default mode for the new files: corresponds to umask 022
#define wxS_DEFAULT (wxS_IRUSR | wxS_IWUSR | wxS_IRGRP | wxS_IWGRP | wxS_IROTH | wxS_IWOTH)
\end{verbatim}
-}
These constants define the file access rights and are used with
\helpref{wxFile::Create}{wxfilecreate} and \helpref{wxFile::Open}{wxfileopen}.
The {\it OpenMode} enumeration defines the different modes for opening a file,
-it's defined inside wxFile class so its members should be specified with {\it wxFile::} scope
+it is defined inside wxFile class so its members should be specified with {\it wxFile::} scope
resolution prefix. It is also used with \helpref{wxFile::Access}{wxfileaccess} function.
\twocolwidtha{7cm}
\twocolitem{{\bf wxFile::read\_write}}{Open file for reading and writing; can not be used with Access()}
\twocolitem{{\bf wxFile::write\_append}}{Open file for appending: the file is opened for writing, but the old
contents of the file is not erased and the file pointer is initially placed at the end of the file;
-can not be used with Access()}
+can not be used with Access(). This is the same as {\bf wxFile::write} if the
+file doesn't exist.}
+\twocolitem{{\bf wxFile::write\_excl}}{Open the file securely for writing (Uses O\_EXCL | O\_CREAT).
+Will fail if the file already exists, else create and open it atomically. Useful for opening temporary files without being vulnerable to race exploits.}
\end{twocollist}
Other constants defined elsewhere but used by wxFile functions are wxInvalidOffset which represents an
\func{}{wxFile}{\param{int}{ fd}}
-Opens a file with the given file descriptor, which has already been opened.
+Associates the file with the given file descriptor, which has already been opened.
\wxheading{Parameters}
Destructor will close the file.
-NB: it is not virtual so you should {\it not} derive from wxFile!
+{\bf NB:} it is not virtual so you should not use wxFile polymorphically.
\membersection{wxFile::Access}\label{wxfileaccess}
Attaches an existing file descriptor to the wxFile object. Example of predefined
file descriptors are 0, 1 and 2 which correspond to stdin, stdout and stderr (and
-have symbolic names of wxFile::fd\_stdin, wxFile::fd\_stdout and wxFile::fd\_stderr).
+have symbolic names of {\bf wxFile::fd\_stdin}, {\bf wxFile::fd\_stdout} and {\bf wxFile::fd\_stderr}).
The descriptor should be already opened and it will be closed by wxFile
object.
\membersection{wxFile::Create}\label{wxfilecreate}
-\func{bool}{Create}{\param{const char*}{ filename}, \param{bool}{ overwrite = FALSE}, \param{int }{access = wxS\_DEFAULT}}
+\func{bool}{Create}{\param{const char*}{ filename}, \param{bool}{ overwrite = false}, \param{int }{access = wxS\_DEFAULT}}
-Creates a file for writing. If the file already exists, setting {\bf overwrite} to TRUE
+Creates a file for writing. If the file already exists, setting {\bf overwrite} to true
will ensure it is overwritten.
\membersection{wxFile::Detach}\label{wxfiledetach}
\func{void}{Detach}{\void}
Get back a file descriptor from wxFile object - the caller is responsible for closing the file if this
-descriptor is opened. \helpref{IsOpened()}{wxfileisopened} will return FALSE after call to Detach().
+descriptor is opened. \helpref{IsOpened()}{wxfileisopened} will return false after call to Detach().
\membersection{wxFile::fd}\label{wxfilefd}
\constfunc{bool}{Eof}{\void}
-Returns TRUE if the end of the file has been reached.
+Returns true if the end of the file has been reached.
+
+Note that the behaviour of the file pointer based class
+\helpref{wxFFile}{wxffile} is different as \helpref{wxFFile::Eof}{wxffileeof}
+will return true here only if an attempt has been made to read
+{\it past} the last byte of the file, while wxFile::Eof() will return true
+even before such attempt is made if the file pointer is at the last position
+in the file.
+
+Note also that this function doesn't work on unseekable file descriptors
+(examples include pipes, terminals and sockets under Unix) and an attempt to
+use it will result in an error message in such case. So, to read the entire
+file into memory, you should write a loop which uses
+\helpref{Read}{wxfileread} repeatedly and tests its return condition instead
+of using Eof() as this will not work for special files under Unix.
\membersection{wxFile::Exists}\label{wxfileexists}
\func{static bool}{Exists}{\param{const char*}{ filename}}
-Returns TRUE if the given name specifies an existing regular file.
+Returns true if the given name specifies an existing regular file (not a
+directory or a link)
\membersection{wxFile::Flush}\label{wxfileflush}
\constfunc{bool}{IsOpened}{\void}
-Returns TRUE if the file has been opened.
+Returns true if the file has been opened.
\membersection{wxFile::Length}\label{wxfilelength}
\func{bool}{Open}{\param{const char*}{ filename}, \param{wxFile::OpenMode}{ mode = wxFile::read}}
-Opens the file, returning TRUE if successful.
+Opens the file, returning true if successful.
\wxheading{Parameters}
\membersection{wxFile::Seek}\label{wxfileseek}
-\func{off\_t}{Seek}{\param{off\_t }{ofs}, \param{wxFile::SeekMode }{mode = wxFile::FromStart}}
+\func{off\_t}{Seek}{\param{off\_t }{ofs}, \param{wxSeekMode }{mode = wxFromStart}}
Seeks to the specified position.
\docparam{ofs}{Offset to seek to.}
-\docparam{mode}{One of {\bf wxFile::FromStart}, {\bf wxFile::FromEnd}, {\bf wxFile::FromCurrent}.}
+\docparam{mode}{One of {\bf wxFromStart}, {\bf wxFromEnd}, {\bf wxFromCurrent}.}
\wxheading{Return value}
\constfunc{off\_t}{Tell}{\void}
Returns the current position or wxInvalidOffset if file is not opened or if another
-error occured.
+error occurred.
\membersection{wxFile::Write}\label{wxfilewrite}
-\func{bool}{Write}{\param{const void*}{ buffer}, \param{off\_t}{ count}}
+\func{size\_t}{Write}{\param{const void*}{ buffer}, \param{off\_t}{ count}}
Writes the specified number of bytes from a buffer.
\wxheading{Return value}
-TRUE if the operation was successful.
+the number of bytes actually written
\membersection{wxFile::Write}\label{wxfilewrites}
-\func{bool}{Write}{\param{const wxString\& }{s}}
+\func{bool}{Write}{\param{const wxString\& }{s}, \param{wxMBConv\&}{ conv = wxConvUTF8}}
+
+Writes the contents of the string to the file, returns true on success.
+
+The second argument is only meaningful in Unicode build of wxWidgets when
+{\it conv} is used to convert {\it s} to multibyte representation.
-Writes the contents of the string to the file, returns TRUE on success.
+Note that this method only works with {\tt NUL}-terminated strings, if you want
+to write data with embedded {\tt NUL}s to the file you should use the other
+\helpref{Write() overload}{wxfilewrite}.
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