File modes in Ruby are essential for controlling how files are accessed and manipulated. They determine whether a file can be read, written, or both, and how the file pointer behaves when opening an existing file.
When opening a file in Ruby using the File.open
method or the open
method, you specify a mode as the second argument. This mode dictates the operations allowed on the file.
Let's explore some examples of how to use these file modes in Ruby:
File.open("example.txt", "r") do |file|
content = file.read
puts content
end
This code opens a file in read-only mode and prints its contents.
File.open("new_file.txt", "w") do |file|
file.write("Hello, Ruby!")
end
This example creates a new file (or overwrites an existing one) and writes a string to it.
Ruby also supports additional options for file modes:
These can be combined with the basic modes. For example, "rb"
opens a file in binary read mode.
"w+"
or "a+"
when you need to both read and write.To further enhance your understanding of file handling in Ruby, explore these related topics:
Mastering file modes is crucial for efficient file handling in Ruby. It allows you to control data flow and ensure proper file management in your Ruby applications.