How to create a FILE in Desktop, using c [closed] - c

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How,and what libs I need to create and manipulate a FILE in the Desktop? using only C, not C# or C++.
I'm using Codeblocks, I using allegro, what means I can´t use windows.h lib, The program need to work in windows.

Answer 1

In Windows Vista or higher, use SHGetKnownFolderPath to find he path for desktop. You have to use Unicode functions to get the file path, use _wfopen_s. You can write ANSI to the file, but it is recommended to write UTF16 or to convert text to UTF8.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <Windows.h>
#include <Shlobj.h>
int main()
{
wchar_t *desktop;
if(S_OK == SHGetKnownFolderPath(&FOLDERID_Desktop, 0, NULL, &desktop))
{
wprintf(L"Desktop path: %s\n", desktop);
wchar_t filename[MAX_PATH];
swprintf_s(filename, MAX_PATH, L"%s\\%s", desktop, L"file.txt");
wprintf(L"Filename path: %s\n", filename);
FILE *fp;
_wfopen_s(&fp, filename, L"w");
if(fp)
{
fprintf(fp, "Hello world\n");
fclose(fp);
}
else
{
wprintf(L"can't create file\n");
}
CoTaskMemFree(desktop);
}
return 0;
}
In Windows XP use SHGetSpecialFolderPath (deprecated)
#include <stdio.h>
#include <Windows.h>
#include <Shlobj.h>
int main()
{
wchar_t desktop[MAX_PATH];
if(SUCCEEDED(SHGetFolderPathW(NULL, CSIDL_DESKTOP | CSIDL_FLAG_CREATE, NULL, 0, desktop)))
{
wprintf(L"desktop: %s\n", desktop);
wchar_t path[MAX_PATH];
swprintf(path, L"%s\\%s", desktop, L"filename.txt");
HANDLE handle = CreateFileW(path, GENERIC_WRITE, 0, NULL, CREATE_ALWAYS, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, NULL);
if(handle != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
{
DWORD temp;
const char *buf = "hello world";
WriteFile(handle, buf, strlen(buf), &temp, NULL);
CloseHandle(handle);
}
else
{
printf("can't create file\n");
}
}
return 0;
}

Answer 2

Given that you are on Windows, you'd want to look at CreateFile and its associated functions.
The lifecycle of a file is as follows: You can create it (or, if it exists, open it) using CreateFile, and once it is created/opened, you can use the resulting file handle to manipulate it with ReadFile, WriteFile, and potentially DeleteFile. Once you're done, you need to close the handle with CloseHandle.

Answer 3

1 If you are using Unix or Unix-like system, you can call
system("touch ~/Desktop/FILE");
in your code, and you need to #include <stdlib.h>.
This calls the command "touch ~/Desktop/FILE". If you want to handle (read/write) the file after this, you have to call fopen with correct mode. But the 2nd method is much better if you want to write something into the file.
2 You can also use
For Unix or Unix-like operating systems:
FILE *file = fopen("~/Desktop/FILE", "w+")
For Windows:
FILE *file = fopen("C:\\Users\\YOUR_USER_NAME\\Desktop\\FILE", "w+")
(*Assumes you are using the default user folder location.)
This creates the file, and then you can read/write to the file after this. Be sure to used the correct mode. Here is a reference for fopen and modes. Remember to #include <stdlib.h>.