INFO: filelength() Includes EOF Character in Return Value

• The C Run-time (CRT) included with: - Microsoft C for MS-DOS, versions 5.1, 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0ax - Microsoft C/C++ for MS-DOS, version 7.0 - Microsoft Visual C++ for Windows, versions 1.0, 1.5 - Microsoft Visual C++ 32-bit Edition, versions 1.0, 2.0, 2.1, 4.0, 5.0

SUMMARY

The return value of the filelength() function is the full length of the file in bytes, including any EOF characters. This return value will be the same as the file size indicated by the MS-DOS, OS/2, or Windows NT command prompt DIR command.

MORE INFORMATION

The C Run-time included with Visual C++ version 4.0 provides not only the _filelength() (filelength()) function but also the Microsoft specific _filelengthi64() function. _filelengthi64() differs from filelength() in its return type, a 64-bit int (__int64). For more information on _filelength() or _filelengthi64(), consult the Visual C++ Books Online.

The sample code below demonstrates the use of _filelength().

Sample Code

   /* Compile options needed: none */
   /* CHSIZE.C: This program uses _filelength to report the size
    * of a file before and after modifying it with _chsize.
    */

   #include <io.h>
   #include <fcntl.h>
   #include <sys\types.h>
   #include <sys\stat.h>
   #include <stdio.h>

   void main( void )
   {
      int fh, result;
      unsigned int nbytes = BUFSIZ;

      /* Open a file */
      if( (fh = _open( "data", _O_RDWR | _O_CREAT, _S_IREAD
                      | _S_IWRITE ))  != -1 )
      {
         printf( "File length before: %ld\n", _filelength( fh ) );
         if( ( result = _chsize( fh, 329678 ) ) == 0 )
            printf( "Size successfully changed\n" );
         else
            printf( "Problem in changing the size\n" );
         printf( "File length after:  %ld\n", _filelength( fh ) );
         _close( fh );
      }
   }

Keywords          : CRTIss kbcode kbfasttip
Version           : MS-DOS:5.1,6.0,6.00a,6.00ax,7.0; WINDOWS:1.0,1.5; WINDOWS  NT:1.0,2.0,2.1,4.0,5.0
Platform          : MS-DOS NT WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbinfo