Fill in the blanks in each of the following: a) Computers store large amounts of data on secondary storage devices as _____. b) The standard stream objects declared by header \(<\) iostream \(>\) are _____, _____, _____, and _____ c) ostream member function _____ outputs a character to the specified stream. d) ostream member function _____ is generally used to write data to a randomly accessed file. e) istream member function _____ repositions the file-position pointer in a file.

In the context of C++ programming, secondary storage refers to any non-volatile storage medium that maintains data persistence even when the computer is turned off, unlike RAM, which is considered primary storage and is volatile. Common examples of secondary storage devices include hard disk drives, solid-state drives, and USB flash drives. These devices are essential for storing large quantities of data that do not need to be rapidly accessed like the temporarily stored data in primary storage.

Secondary storage in C++ is accessed using file streams, which allow programs to read and write data to files. This data is often organized in specific formats like text (.txt), binary (.bin), or application-specific files. When storing data, C++ uses files as the secondary storage structure, enabling efficient management of large datasets that transcend the limitations of primary storage in terms of size.

C++ provides several standard stream objects that facilitate basic input and output operations. These streams are instances of the iostream library classes and include cin for standard input, cout for standard output, cerr for standard error, and clog for logging. They are declared in the header file and are used extensively for interactions with the user and for displaying error messages or logs.

Each standard stream serves a unique purpose:

• cin is tied to the standard input device (keyboard) and is used to read input.
• cout is linked to the standard output device (screen) and is utilized for outputting data and messages.
• cerr outputs errors and is unbuffered, ensuring immediate error reporting.
• clog is similar to cerr, but it is buffered, so it may not display messages immediately.

These stream objects are fundamental to the operation of any C++ program that requires interaction with the user or needs to report its status.

In C++, the ostream class provides a range of member functions to output data to streams. One such function is put(), which is designed to output single characters. For example, cout.put('A') will output the character 'A' to the console.

Another important ostream member function is seekp(), commonly used for positioning the pointer in output streams to a specific location, especially when you are working with files in binary mode. By allowing random access to files, seekp() enables efficient data manipulation by directly accessing the required part of a file without the need to read through it sequentially. For instance, file.seekp(10, ios::beg) will move the output pointer 10 bytes forward from the beginning of the file.

Similarly, the istream class encompasses functions for manipulating the file-position pointer during input operations. A pivotal function is seekg(), which sets the position of the file-position pointer in an input stream. This is useful when you want to start reading from somewhere other than the beginning of a file.

For instance, file.seekg(0, ios::end) would move the file-position pointer to the end of the file, which could be used to determine the file's size or prepare to append data. Another example would be file.seekg(0, ios::beg) that repositions the pointer to the start of the file, a common action when re-reading a file. Manipulating the file-position pointer is crucial for random access operations, which can significantly enhance the efficiency of file input/output procedures in C++ programs.