Chapter 12: Problem 1

What capability does the fstream data type provide that the ifstream and ofstream data types do not?

Short Answer

Expert verified

Answer: The unique capability of the `fstream` data type is the ability to perform both input (read) and output (write) operations on the same file, which is not possible with `ifstream` and `ofstream`, as they are specialized for only reading or writing files, respectively.

Step by step solution

Understanding fstream, ifstream, and ofstream

`fstream` is a C++ class that provides file handling features, specifically input and output operations on files. `ifstream` is a derived class of `fstream` that provides input (read) operations on files, while `ofstream` is another derived class that provides output (write) operations on files.

Identifying the Unique Capability of fstream

The unique capability that `fstream` provides compared to `ifstream` and `ofstream` is the ability to perform both input (read) and output (write) operations on the same file. In other words, it can handle a file opened in a read-write mode. `ifstream` can only read from a file and `ofstream` can only write to a file, but `fstream` can do both simultaneously on a single file.

Recap

The `fstream` data type provides the capability to perform both input (read) and output (write) operations on the same file, which the `ifstream` and `ofstream` data types do not offer, as they are specialized for only reading or writing files, respectively.

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What capability does the fstream data type provide that the ifstream and ofstream data types do not?

Short Answer

Step by step solution

Understanding fstream, ifstream, and ofstream

Identifying the Unique Capability of fstream

Recap

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