Basic File Operations - Golang
Published:
One of the most basic task when working on a server is the ability to effectively operate with the files and file system. Like many languages, Golang has convenient methods to work with files. The intentions of this post is to host a minimalist set of examples on working with files using Golang.
Creating an empty file
package main
import (
"log"
"os"
)
func createFile(){
newFile, err := os.Create("testfile.txt")
if err != nil{
log.Fatal(err)
}
defer newFile.Close()
log.Println(newFile)
// operations on file follows
}
func main(){
createFile()
}
Reading a File
func readFile(){
fileReader, err := os.Open("test.txt")
if err != nil{
log.Fatal(err)
}
defer fileReader.Close()
content, err := ioutil.ReadAll(fileReader)
if err != nil{
log.Fatal(err)
}
fmt.Println("Number of bytes read", len(content))
fmt.Printf("Data as string : %s", content)
}
Writing to a file
func writeToFile(){
err := ioutil.WriteFile("testwrite.txt", []byte("Dumping bytes to a file\n"), 0666)
if err != nil{
log.Fatal(err)
}
}
Truncate File
func TruncateFile(){
err := os.Truncate("test.txt", 100)
if err != nil{
log.Fatal(err)
}else{
fmt.Print("File Truncated")
}
}
File Information
func FileInformation(){
fileInfo, err := os.Stat("test.txt")
if err != nil {
log.Fatal(err)
}
fmt.Println("File name:", fileInfo.Name())
fmt.Println("Size in bytes:", fileInfo.Size())
fmt.Println("Permissions:", fileInfo.Mode())
}
Check if file exists or not
package main
import (
"os"
"fmt"
)
func main(){
if _, err := os.Stat("test.txt"); os.IsNotExist(err){
fmt.Println("The file does not exist")
return
}
fmt.Println("The file exists!")
//perform operations on the file/file contents
}
Move/Rename File
package main
import (
"log"
"os"
)
func main() {
currentFileLocation := "/home/bhishan-1504/golangfilehandling/test.txt"
toMoveLocation := "/home/bhishan-1504/golangrestapi/test.txt"
err := os.Rename(currentFileLocation, toMoveLocation)
if err != nil {
log.Fatal(err)
}
}
Copy File
package main
import (
"io"
"log"
"os"
"fmt"
)
func main(){
source, err := os.Open("test.txt")
if err != nil{
log.Fatal(err)
}
defer source.Close()
sourceCopied, err := os.OpenFile("copiedtest.txt", os.O_RDWR|os.O_CREATE, 0666)
//sourceCopied, err := os.Create("copiedtest.txt")
if err != nil{
log.Fatal(err)
}
defer sourceCopied.Close()
_, err = io.Copy(sourceCopied, source)
if err != nil{
log.Fatal(err)
}
fmt.Println("Copied!")
}