C: can't write data on file - c

Question

i want to open a file, write some data on it so i have to use (Fopen) " i can't use open because i need fopen in some other things "
now if i want to write on the file using fwrite it just don't i don't know why this is what i referred to in my code #option1, but if i get the file descriptor and use normal write method everything works fine see #option 2 below.
anyone can help me to make fwrite works ?
char file_data[256] // has some values
int file_size = strlen(file_data);
FILE *file;
file = fopen(MY_FILE_NAME, "w+");
if(!file){//edited
return false;
}
#option 1//this is not working
fwrite(file_data,1,file_size,file);
#end of option 1
#option 2//this works
int fd = fileno(file);
int x = write(fd,file_data,file_size);//
#end of option 1
EDIT
my file_data is something like this
4 bytes is reserved for an integer (required)
200 bytes is reserved for a string (optional)

Answer 1

buffered IO operations use a buffer that is managed by the C lib. Your "problem" is that fwrite is buffered meaning that in order to write to the file you most likely need to flush it with fflush() or just close the file.

Answer 2

First of all:
if(!file < 0 ){
return false;
}
file is either NULL (on failure) or not (on success) - there's no point in testing it against 0 as it's a pointer (therefore, unsigned).
Your fwrite call seems OK, but you should make sure that the amount you're trying to write is correct (is there a null-terminated string inside file_data?).
Another problem you may be facing is that you don't close or flush the file - this may cause some data to remain in the file-buffer and not be written to the disk.

Answer 3

If you want to check the fopen() return value, do like this:
if (file == NULL) return false;
then, if you want to write a string fputs() is preferable, IMHO, because it communicates better that what you're writing is a string.
Since, according to your last edit, you aren't writing ASCII strings, this is what you should code:
#include <stdio.h>
struct String
{
int size;
char data[200];
};
int main()
{
struct String s;
FILE* file = NULL;
file = fopen("filename", "wb+");
memset(&s, '\0', sizeof(s));
strcpy(s.data, "Hello, world!");
s.size = strlen(s.data);
fwrite(&s, 1, sizeof(s), file);
if (!file) return 1;
fclose(file);
}

Answer 4

At first sight, the mistake seems to be at line #2:
int file_size = strlen(file_data);
This only works if there exists a terminal nul character. So file_size must be either provided for example as a function argument or the you must use the full size of the array.
The following should work:
int write_in_my_file(int data_int, const char* data_str)
{
size_t written;
FILE* file = fopen(MY_FILE_NAME, "wb+"); /* SuperJulietta */
if (!file) return false;
written = fwrite(&data_int, sizeof(data_int), 1, file);
if (written == sizeof(data_int))
{
if (opt_str) fputs(opt_str, file);
}
fclose(file);
return written == sizeof(data_int);
}
Note: this code was not compiled, and error handling is partial.
Edit : if you don't close the file, you'll have to call fflush instead.

Answer 5

You have to put a fflush(file); after the fwrite to force the writing of the data or you can also remove the buffer completely by doing a setbuf(file, NULL); after your fopen call.

Answer 6

I think you need to either do fclose(file) or fflush(file). because fopen is buffered IO so It does not write immidiately, so to ensure that file write is done, you need to do this.

Answer 7

I guess your fwrite code is not the problem.
Whenever the first byte in your file_data is \0 then you write nothing. Since the data is not a string, write 256 bytes. This code works:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#define MY_FILE_NAME "sample.bin"
#define SAMPLE_DATA "Content Content"
int main()
{
char file_data[256];
int file_size = sizeof(file_data);
// fill in some sample data
memcpy(file_data, SAMPLE_DATA, sizeof(SAMPLE_DATA));
FILE *file = fopen(MY_FILE_NAME, "w+");
if (file) {
fwrite(file_data, 1, file_size, file);
fclose(file);
}
}
You see, this is your fwrite. I use sizeof instead of strlen to determine the amount of bytes that will be written...
BR

Answer 8

fwrite is used for binary output, so you have to open file with "wb"