File Handling Compiled by chara1 Petros Psuedo

File handling in C++ means:

 Creating files
 Writing data into files
 Reading data from files

classes for file handling are from the <fstream> library:

In C++, we use:

 ofstream – to write to a file ("output from user to the computer //output

filestream")

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 ifstream – to read from a file ("input from computer to the monitor //input
filestream")

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 fstream – to read and write both

modes to control file operations

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ios::in : open for input (reading)

ios::out : open for output (writing)

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ios::app : append to existing file
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ios::trunc : truncate existing file

ios::binary : open file in binary mode e.g pictures ,videos and music
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NB: All of these come from the <fstream> library.

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1. Include the Required Header

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#include <fstream>
Writing to a File
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We want to create a file and put some text inside.

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#include <iostream>
#include <fstream> //Required for file handling
using namespace std;

int main() {
ofstream outFile("example.txt"); //Create or open file for writing
if (outFile.is_open()) {
File Handling Compiled by chara1 Petros Psuedo

outFile << "Hello, file!" << endl;

outFile << "This is a test." << endl;
outFile.close(); // Close the file when done
}
else {
cout << "Unable to open file for writing.";
}
return 0;

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}

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 It creates a file called exanple.txt
 It writes two lines of text into the file

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 You can open example.txt later and see the text inside

2. Reading from a File (See what's inside)

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We want to open a file and read the text inside.
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#include <iostream>

#include <fstream>
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#include <string>
using namespace std;
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int main() {
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ifstream inFile("example.txt"); // Open the file

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string line;
if (inFile.is_open()) {
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while (getline(inFile, line)) {

cout << line << endl; // Output the text line by line
}
inFile.close(); // Close the file
} else {
cout << "Unable to open file for reading.";
}
File Handling Compiled by chara1 Petros Psuedo

return 0;
}

 It opens example.txt
 It reads each line one by one
 It shows the lines on the screen

3. Appending to a File (Add more text)

We want to add more text to a file without deleting what's already there.

#include <iostream>

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#include <fstream>

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using namespace std;

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int main() {
ofstream outFile("example.txt", ios::app); // Open in append mode
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if (outFile.is_open()) {
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outFile << "Appended line!" << endl;
outFile.close();// Close the file
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} else {
cout << "Unable to open file.";
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}
return 0;
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}
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 It opens example.txt in append mode

 It adds a new line at the end of the file
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Using fstream for Both Reading and Writing

#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;
int main() {
fstream file("example.txt", ios::in | ios::out);
File Handling Compiled by chara1 Petros Psuedo

if (file.is_open()) {
// Read first
string line;
while (getline(file, line)) {
cout << line << endl;
}
// Move to end to write

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file.clear(); // Clear EOF flag

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file.seekp(0, ios::end); // Move write pointer to end
file << "New data with fstream!" << endl;

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file.close();
} else {
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cout << "Unable to open file.";
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}
return 0;
}
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 It opens myfile.txt
 It reads each line one by one
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 It shows the lines on the screen

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Tips for Beginners

 Always close() the file when you're done

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 If a file doesn't exist, C++ can create it for you when writing
 Use "filename.txt" to create or open text files
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Practice Exercise: Save and Read a Name

1. Ask the user for their name

2. Save it in a file
3. Read it back from the file and show it on the screen

#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
using namespace std;
File Handling Compiled by chara1 Petros Psuedo

int main() {
string name;
//Ask user for their name
cout << "Enter your name: ";
getline(cin, name);

// Step 1: Write name to file

ofstream fileOut("user.txt"); // Create or open file to write
fileOut << name;
fileOut.close(); // Close file after writing

// Step 2: Read name from file

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string savedName;

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ifstream fileIn("user.txt"); // Open file to read
getline(fileIn, savedName);
fileIn.close(); // Close file after reading

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// Step 3: Show name
cout << "Name read from file: " << savedName << endl;
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return 0;
}
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What You Learn:

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 How to get input from user

 How to save it to a file
 How to read it back
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Mini Project Idea: To-Do List App (Simple)

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Let’s make a simple program where the user can:

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1. Add tasks
2. View saved tasks
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#include <iostream>

#include <fstream>

using namespace std;

int main() {

int choice;

string task;
File Handling Compiled by chara1 Petros Psuedo

cout << "1. Add Task\n";

cout << "2. View Tasks\n";

cout << "Enter your choice: ";

cin >> choice;

cin.ignore(); // Clear input buffer

if (choice == 1) {

// Add task

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cout << "Enter your task: ";

getline(cin, task);

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ofstream file("tasks.txt", ios::app); // Open in append mode

file << task << endl;

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file.close();
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cout << "Task saved!\n";

} else if (choice == 2) {
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// View tasks
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ifstream file("tasks.txt");

cout << "Your Tasks:\n";

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while (getline(file, task)) {

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cout << "- " << task << endl;

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file.close();

} else {

cout << "Invalid choice.\n";

}
File Handling Compiled by chara1 Petros Psuedo

return 0;

 Run the code once, choose 1 and add a task.

 Run again, choose 2 to view your saved tasks.
 Try adding more tasks to see them all saved!

how to write a C++ file handling program for counting, there are several ways
to understand this depending on what you want to count:

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1. Count how many lines are in a file?

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2. Count how many words are in a file?
3. Count how many characters are in a file?
4. Count how many times a certain word appears in the file?

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Let me give you simple examples for each.

We want to:
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1. Read a text file
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2. Count:
o ʮ Number of lines
o ˀ Number of words
o ̍ Number of characters
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o ˪ How many times a specific word appears

Step-by-Step: Count Lines in a File

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Ӈ What is a line?
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A line is one row of text. This file has 3 lines:

Hello world
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How are you?

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I'm learning C++

Ž Code to Count Lines

#include <iostream>

#include <fstream>

#include <string>

using namespace std;

File Handling Compiled by chara1 Petros Psuedo

int main() {

ifstream file("sample.txt"); // Open the file

string line;

int count = 0;

while (getline(file, line)) {

count++; // Count each line

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file.close();

cout << "Number of lines: " << count << endl;

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return 0;

}
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ͧ Explanation
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 ifstream file("sample.txt");: Opens file for reading

 getline(file, line): Reads one full line into a string
 count++: Adds 1 to the counter each time a line is read
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 file.close();: Always close the file

ӕ Count Words in a File

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Ž Code:
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#include <iostream>

#include <fstream>
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#include <string>
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using namespace std;

int main() {

ifstream file("sample.txt");

string word;

int count = 0;
File Handling Compiled by chara1 Petros Psuedo

while (file >> word) {

count++;

file.close();

cout << "Number of words: " << count << endl;

return 0;

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ͧ How it works:

 file >> word reads one word at a time (words are split by space)

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 count++ adds to the count for each word

̊ Count Characters in a File

#include <iostream>
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#include <fstream>
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using namespace std;

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int main() {

ifstream file("sample.txt");
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char ch;
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int count = 0;

while (file.get(ch)) {
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count++;
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file.close();

cout << "Number of characters: " << count << endl;

return 0;

}
File Handling Compiled by chara1 Petros Psuedo

ͧ How it works:

 file.get(ch) reads one character at a time

 This includes letters, numbers, spaces, punctuation, etc.

˪ Count a Specific Word (e.g., “apple”)

#include <iostream>

#include <fstream>

#include <string>

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using namespace std;

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int main() {

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ifstream file("sample.txt");

string word;

int count = 0;
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string target = "apple"; // the word to search
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while (file >> word) {

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if (word == target) {

count++;
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}
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file.close();
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cout << "The word '" << target << "' appears " << count << " times." << endl;
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return 0;

Tips for Beginners

 Always close() the file after you use it.

 Always check if the file exists before reading (or it may crash).
 Try with different inputs in sample.txt and see how counts change.
 You can also cout << word; inside the loop to see what’s being read.
File Handling Compiled by chara1 Petros Psuedo

If you want the user to enter text, and then save that text into a file, and later count
lines, words, or characters, here's how you do it step by step.

We’ll walk through:

Ž Part 1: Let the User Enter Text and Save It to a File

Goal:

 Ask the user to type multiple lines

 Save those lines in a file (e.g., input.txt)

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ˇ Code:

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#include <iostream>

#include <fstream>

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#include <string>

using namespace std;

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int main() {
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ofstream file("input.txt"); // Open file to write

string line;
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cout << "Enter text (type 'END' to stop):\n";

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while (true) {
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getline(cin, line);

if (line == "END") break; // Stop when user types END

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file << line << endl; // Save to file

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file.close();

cout << "Text saved to file.\n";

return 0;

Explanation:
File Handling Compiled by chara1 Petros Psuedo

 getline(cin, line): Reads a full line from user input

 "END" is used as a stop word (you can choose anything)
 file << line << endl; writes each line to the file
 User can type as many lines as they want

Ž Part 2: Now Count What’s Inside the File

Let’s say we now want to:

 Count lines
 Count words
 Count characters

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You can use this menu-based code to let the user choose what to count.

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Ӈ Full Program: Save Text + Count It

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#include <iostream>

#include <fstream>
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#include <string>
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using namespace std;

void getUserInput() {
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ofstream file("input.txt");

string line;
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cout << "Enter your text (type 'END' to stop):\n";

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while (true) {
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getline(cin, line);

if (line == "END") break;

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file << line << endl;

file.close();

void countLines() {
File Handling Compiled by chara1 Petros Psuedo

ifstream file("input.txt");

string line;

int count = 0;

while (getline(file, line)) {

count++;

file.close();

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cout << "Total lines: " << count << endl;

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void countWords() {

ifstream file("input.txt");
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string word;
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int count = 0;

while (file >> word) {

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count++;
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file.close();
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cout << "Total words: " << count << endl;

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}
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void countCharacters() {

ifstream file("input.txt");

char ch;

int count = 0;

while (file.get(ch)) {
File Handling Compiled by chara1 Petros Psuedo

count++;

file.close();

cout << "Total characters: " << count << endl;

int main() {

int choice;

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cout << "1. Enter Text\n2. Count Lines\n3. Count Words\n4. Count
Characters\nEnter your choice: ";

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cin >> choice;

cin.ignore(); // Clears leftover input

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switch (choice) {

case 1: getUserInput(); break;

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case 2: countLines(); break;

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case 3: countWords(); break;

case 4: countCharacters(); break;

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default: cout << "Invalid choice!\n";

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return 0;
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}
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How it Works

1. Run the program

2. Choose:
o 1 to enter text
o 2, 3, or 4 to analyze the file
3. It saves the input into input.txt, and uses that file to count

ӑ Try It!
File Handling Compiled by chara1 Petros Psuedo

 Try entering:

Hello there

I love coding

END

 Then choose options 2–4 to count the data

 Counting blank spaces (spaces ' ' between words) is another useful skill in file
handling.

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Ž What Is a Blank Space?

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 A blank space is simply the ' ' character (space bar).
Example text:

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Hello world I love C++

ȴ It has 4 spaces.
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Ӈ Idea:
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We’ll open the file, read it character by character, and count how many times we see
a space (' ').
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Code: Count Blank Spaces in a File

#include <iostream>
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#include <fstream>
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using namespace std;

int main() {
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ifstream file("input.txt"); // open file to read

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char ch;

int spaceCount = 0;

if (!file) {

cout << "File could not be opened.\n";

return 1;

}
File Handling Compiled by chara1 Petros Psuedo

while (file.get(ch)) {

if (ch == ' ') {

spaceCount++;

file.close();

cout << "Number of blank spaces: " << spaceCount << endl;

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return 0;

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ͧ Explanation:

 file.get(ch) reads one character at a time


h if (ch == ' ') checks if that character is a space
 spaceCount++ adds 1 for each space found
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Add to Your Menu Program?

Want to add this option to the menu you already have?

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Here’s the function you can add:

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void countSpaces() {

ifstream file("input.txt");
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char ch;
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int count = 0;
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while (file.get(ch)) {

if (ch == ' ') count++;

file.close();

cout << "Total spaces: " << count << endl;

}
File Handling Compiled by chara1 Petros Psuedo

And in main():

cout << "5. Count Spaces\n";

Then add:
case 5: countSpaces(); break;
Ž Final Tips

 You can also count tabs with if (ch == '\t')

 Or count newlines with if (ch == '\n')
 You can count punctuation too using ispunct(ch)

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why we use return 1; in this line:

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if (!file) {

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cout << "File could not be opened.\n";
return 1; // <---- Why this?
}
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Ž Short Answer:
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return 1; means the program is exiting early because something went wrong — in this
case, the file didn’t open. The number 1 is a signal that an error happened.
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More Detailed Explanation

In main(), we usually end with:

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return 0; // Everything worked fine

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But if something goes wrong (like a file fails to open), we use:

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return 1; // Signal an error happened

Why Use 1 and Not 0?
return value Meaning
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Success (program This is a convention that the operating system

0 or shell uses to know if your program worked.
OK)

Error (something Ӑ Example:

1 (or other)
failed)
Imagine running your program in the terminal
like this:

./my_program
File Handling Compiled by chara1 Petros Psuedo

If the file fails to open and you return 1, the terminal knows:
"Something went wrong."

echo $?

This will show:

 0 if the last program ended successfully

 1 (or something else) if there was an error

Ž When to Use It in C++ Programs

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Use return 1; when :

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 A file can’t be opened
 A value is invalid
 Something serious stops the program from continuing

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Summary

 return 0; → success
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 return 1; → something went wrong
 It’s a way to communicate errors clearly
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