The value returned as a file’s inode mode is difficult to interpret, as covered in last week’s Lesson. That is, unless you use the macros and defined constants available in the sys/stat.h header file.
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All files carry with them something called an inode, which contains file data beyond the file’s name and its contents. The inode references the file’s size, its timestamps, and the file type or mode. It’s this file mode that determines how the file is used, which users can access the file, and what can be done with the file when accessed.
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Often times I poke into the C language, removing its crude veneer to look deeper into its guts — the digital protomatter that C and all programming languages devolve into when processed by the CPU. One of the things I discovered is that there is no solid limit to the number of arguments a function can have.
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One of the reasons behind the low-level open() function is to access non-traditional files. This stems from the UNIX environment’s treatment of every device as a file. Sometimes you need low-level access to accomplish specific tasks, such as accessing a device driver. Yet, in the C language universe, an interesting crossover is provided between low-level raw file access and formatted file access.
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Along with open() as a raw file access function comes raw functions to read and write data. Last week’s Lesson covered the read() function. This week covers its twin sibling, write().
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When you use the fopen() function to open a file for reading, a buncha functions are available for reading data: fread(), fgets(), fgetc(), and others I’m too lazy to look up. Reading files by using the open() function, however, gives you this choice: the read() function.
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