Skip to main content
Engineering LibreTexts

12: File Operations

  • Page ID
    54221
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    File operations allow Fortran programs to read from files and/or write to files. The basic read and write statements for file operations are the same as previously used with some additional information or clauses.

    • 12.1: File Open
      A file must be opened before information can be written or read from a file. In order to open a file, the operating system needs some information about the file in order to correctly identify the file and establish the access parameters (i.e., read, write, etc.).
    • 12.2: File Write
      The file must be opened for “write” or “readwrite” access before any information can be written to the file.
    • 12.3: Stop Statement
      The Fortran stop statement will immediately terminate the program.
    • 12.4: File Read
      The file must be opened for “read” or “readwrite” access before any information can be read from the file.
    • 12.5: Rewind
      The rewind statement will reset the file read pointer and subsequent reads will start back at the beginning.
    • 12.6: Backspace
      It is possible to read a line and then backspace and re-read the line again with the backspace statement.
    • 12.7: Close File
      An open file should be closed when it is no longer needed.
    • 12.8: Example
      In this example, we will write a Fortran program to read an input file and write a line number and the original line to an output file.
    • 12.9: Exercises


    This page titled 12: File Operations is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Ed Jorgensen via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

    • Was this article helpful?