Creating File Objects

Function: open file-name mode-string &optional file-object

This function opens the file called file-name (see section File Names) and returns the file's object.

The mode-string argument is a string defining the access modes used to open the file with; this string is passed as-is to the C library's fopen() function. Usually one of the following strings is used,

`r'

Open an existing file for reading only.

`w'

Open the file for writing only, if the file exists it is truncated to zero length. Otherwise a new file is created.

`a'

Open the file for appending to, i.e. writing to the end of the file. If the file doesn't exist it is created.

Other options exist; consult a C library manual for details.

When the file-object argument is defined it should be a file object, the file it points to will be closed and the new file will be opened on this object.

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