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Creating, Reading and Writing Files in Go

Published by Mihalis Tsoukalos
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Introduction

This guide provides examples related to performing common file input and output operations in Go.

Note
This guide is written for a non-root user. However, some commands might require the help of sudo in order to properly execute. If you are not familiar with the sudo command, see the Users and Groups guide.

In This Guide

In this guide, you will learn how to:

Before You Begin

  • To follow this guide you need to have Go installed on your computer and access to your preferred text editor.

  • For the purposes of this guide, a text file named data.txt with the following contents will be used:

      cat /tmp/data.txt

    1 2
One Two

Three

Checking if a Path Exists

In order to read a file, you will need to open it first. In order to be able to open a file, it must exist at the given path and be an actual file, not a directory. The code of this section will check if the given path exists.

File: ./doesItExist.go
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package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "os"
)

func main() {
    arguments := os.Args
    if len(arguments) == 1 {
        fmt.Println("Please give one argument.")
        return
    }
    path := arguments[1]

    _, err := os.Stat(path)
    if err != nil {
        fmt.Println("Path does not exist!", err)
    }
}

All the work here is done by the powerful os.Stat() function. If the call to os.Stat() is successful, then the error value will be nil, which confirms that the given path exists. Notice that if the given path exists, the program generates no output according to the UNIX philosophy.

Executing doesItExist.go will resemble the following output:

go run doesItExist.go /bin/What


Path does not exist! stat /bin/What: no such file or directory
Note
The fact that a path does exist does not necessarily mean that it is a regular file or a directory. There exist additional tests and functions that will help you determine the kind of file you are dealing with.

Checking if a Path is a Regular File

There exist a special function in the Go standard library, IsRegular(), that checks whether a path belongs to a file or not. This function is illustrated in the below example.

File: ./isFile.go
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package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "os"
)

func main() {
    arguments := os.Args
    if len(arguments) == 1 {
        fmt.Println("Please give one argument.")
        return
    }
    path := arguments[1]

    fileInfo, err := os.Stat(path)
    if err != nil {
        fmt.Println("Path does not exist!", err)
    }

    mode := fileInfo.Mode()
    if mode.IsRegular() {
        fmt.Println(path, "is a regular file!")
    }
}

After getting information about the mode of the file using Mode(), you need to call the IsRegular() function to determine whether the given path belongs to a regular file or not. If the path is a regular file, the output of IsRegular() will give you this information.

Executing isFile.go will resemble the following output:

go run isFile.go /bin/ls

/bin/ls is a regular file!
Note
Most of the examples in this guide will not test whether the file that is going to be read exists in order to minimize the amount of code. The os.Open() function does some of this work, but in a less elegant way. However, on production code all necessary tests should be performed in order to avoid crashes and bugs in your software.

Reading Files in Go

Reading files in Go is a simple task. Go treats both text and binary files the same, and it is up to you to interpret the contents of a file. One of the many ways to read a file, ReadFull(), is presented in the readFile.go file below.

File: ./readFile.go
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package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "io"
    "os"
)

func main() {
    if len(os.Args) != 2 {
        fmt.Println("Please provide a filename")
        return
    }

    filename := os.Args[1]
    f, err := os.Open(filename)
    if err != nil {
        fmt.Printf("error opening %s: %s", filename, err)
        return
    }
    defer f.Close()

    buf := make([]byte, 8)
    if _, err := io.ReadFull(f, buf); err != nil {
        if err == io.EOF {
            err = io.ErrUnexpectedEOF
        }
    }
    io.WriteString(os.Stdout, string(buf))
    fmt.Println()
}

The io.ReadFull() function reads from the reader of an open file and puts the data into a byte slice with 8 places. The io.WriteString() function is used for sending data to standard output (os.Stdout), which is also a file as far as UNIX is concerned. The read operation is executed only once. If you want to read an entire file, you will need to use a for loop, which is illustrated in other examples of this guide.

Executing readFile.go will generate the following output:

go run readFile.go /tmp/data.txt

1 2
One

Reading a file line by line

The following code shows how you can read a text file in Go line by line.

File: ./lByL.go
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package main

import (
    "bufio"
    "flag"
    "fmt"
    "io"
    "os"
)

func lineByLine(file string) error {
    var err error
    fd, err := os.Open(file)
    if err != nil {
        return err
    }
    defer fd.Close()

    reader := bufio.NewReader(fd)
    for {
        line, err := reader.ReadString('\n')
        if err == io.EOF {
            break
        } else if err != nil {
            fmt.Printf("error reading file %s", err)
            break
        }
        fmt.Print(line)
    }
    return nil
}

func main() {
    flag.Parse()
    if len(flag.Args()) == 0 {
        fmt.Printf("usage: lByL <file1> [<file2> ...]\n")
        return
    }

    for _, file := range flag.Args() {
        err := lineByLine(file)
        if err != nil {
            fmt.Println(err)
        }
    }
}

The core functionality of the program can be found in the lineByLine() function. After ensuring the filename can be opened, the function create a new reader using bufio.NewReader(). Then, the function uses that reader with bufio.ReadString() in order to read the input file line by line. This is accomplished by passing the newline character parameter to bufio.ReadString(). bufio.ReadString() will continue to read the file until that character is found. Constantly calling bufio.ReadString() when that parameter is the newline character results in reading the input file line by line. The for loop in the main() function exists to help to process multiple command line arguments.

Executing lByL.go will generate the following kind of output:

go run lByL.go /tmp/data.txt

1 2
One Two

Three

Reading a Text File Word by Word

The following code shows how you can read a text file word by word.

File: ./wByW.go
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package main

import (
    "bufio"
    "flag"
    "fmt"
    "io"
    "os"
    "regexp"
)

func wordByWord(file string) error {
    var err error
    fd, err := os.Open(file)
    if err != nil {
        return err
    }
    defer fd.Close()

    reader := bufio.NewReader(fd)
    for {
        line, err := reader.ReadString('\n')
        if err == io.EOF {
            break
        } else if err != nil {
            fmt.Printf("error reading file %s", err)
            return err
        }

        r := regexp.MustCompile("[^\\s]+")
        words := r.FindAllString(line, -1)
        for i := 0; i < len(words); i++ {
            fmt.Println(words[i])
        }
    }
    return nil
}

func main() {
    flag.Parse()
    if len(flag.Args()) == 0 {
        fmt.Printf("usage: wByW <file1> [<file2> ...]\n")
        return
    }

    for _, file := range flag.Args() {
        err := wordByWord(file)
        if err != nil {
            fmt.Println(err)
        }
    }
}

The core functionality of the program can be found in the wordByWord() function. Initially the text file is read line by line. Then a regular expression, which is stored in the r variable, is used for determining the words in the current line. Those words are stored in the words variable. After that, a for loop is used for iterating over the contents of words and print them on the screen before continuing with the next line of the input file.

Executing wByW.go will generate the following kind of output:

go run wByW.go /tmp/data.txt

1
2
One
Two
Three

Reading a file character by character

The following code shows how you can read a text file character by character.

File: ./cByC.go
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package main

import (
    "bufio"
    "flag"
    "fmt"
    "io"
    "os"
)

func charByChar(file string) error {
    var err error
    fd, err := os.Open(file)
    if err != nil {
        return err
    }
    defer fd.Close()

    reader := bufio.NewReader(fd)
    for {
        line, err := reader.ReadString('\n')
        if err == io.EOF {
            break
        } else if err != nil {
            fmt.Printf("error reading file %s", err)
            return err
        }

        for _, x := range line {
            fmt.Println(string(x))
        }
    }
    return nil
}

func main() {
    flag.Parse()
    if len(flag.Args()) == 0 {
        fmt.Printf("usage: cByC <file1> [<file2> ...]\n")
        return
    }

    for _, file := range flag.Args() {
        err := charByChar(file)
        if err != nil {
            fmt.Println(err)
        }
    }
}

The charByChar() function does all the work. Once again, the input file is ready line by line. Within a for loop, range iterates over the characters of each line.

Executing cByC.go will generate the following kind of output:

go run cByC.go /tmp/data.txt

1

2


O
n
e

T
w
o




T
h
r
e
e

Other Examples

Checking if a Path is a Directory

In this section you will learn how to differentiate between directories and the other types of UNIX files.

File: ./isDirectory.go
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package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "os"
)

func main() {
    arguments := os.Args
    if len(arguments) == 1 {
        fmt.Println("Please give one argument.")
        return
    }
    path := arguments[1]

    fileInfo, err := os.Stat(path)
    if err != nil {
        fmt.Println("Path does not exist!", err)
    }

    mode := fileInfo.Mode()
    if mode.IsDir() {
        fmt.Println(path, "is a directory!")
    }
}

All the work is done by the IsDir() function. If it is a directory, then it will return true.

Executing isDirectory.go will generate the following kind of output:

go run isDirectory.go /tmp

/tmp is a directory!

Creating a New File

In this section you will learn how to create a new file in Go.

File: ./createFile.go
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package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "os"
)

func main() {
    if len(os.Args) != 2 {
        fmt.Println("Please provide a filename")
        return
    }
    filename := os.Args[1]
    var _, err = os.Stat(filename)

    if os.IsNotExist(err) {
        file, err := os.Create(filename)
        if err != nil {
            fmt.Println(err)
            return
        }
        defer file.Close()
    } else {
        fmt.Println("File already exists!", filename)
        return
    }

    fmt.Println("File created successfully", filename)
}

It is really important to make sure that the file you are going to create does not already exist, otherwise you might overwrite an existing file and therefore lose its data. os.Create() will truncate the destination file if it already exists. The IsNotExist() function returns true if a file or directory does not exist. This is indicated by the contents of the error variable that is passed as an argument to IsNotExist(). The error variable was returned by a previous call to os.Stat().

Executing createFile.go will generate the following output:

go run createFile.go /tmp/newFile.txt

File created successfully /tmp/newFile.txt

Writing Data to a File

In this section you will learn how to write data to a new file using fmt.Fprintf().

File: ./writeFile.go
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package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "os"
)

func main() {
    if len(os.Args) != 2 {
        fmt.Println("Please provide a filename")
        return
    }

    filename := os.Args[1]
    destination, err := os.Create(filename)
    if err != nil {
        fmt.Println("os.Create:", err)
        return
    }
    defer destination.Close()

    fmt.Fprintf(destination, "[%s]: ", filename)
    fmt.Fprintf(destination, "Using fmt.Fprintf in %s\n", filename)
}

The use of the fmt.Fprintf() function for writing allows us to write formatted text to files in a way that is similar to the way the fmt.Printf() function works. Notice that fmt.Fprintf() can write to any io.Writer interface. Once again, remember that os.Create() will truncate the destination file if it already exists.

A successful execution of writeFile.go will generate no output - in this case the executed command will be go run writeFile.go /tmp/aNewFile. However, it would be interesting to see the contents of /tmp/aNewFile.

cat /tmp/aNewFile

[/tmp/aNewFile]: Using fmt.Fprintf in /tmp/aNewFile

Appending Data to a File

You will now learn how to append data to a file, which means adding data to the end of the file without deleting existing data.

File: ./append.go
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package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "os"
    "path/filepath"
)

func main() {
    arguments := os.Args
    if len(arguments) != 3 {
        fmt.Printf("usage: %s message filename\n", filepath.Base(arguments[0]))
        return
    }
    message := arguments[1]
    filename := arguments[2]

    file, err := os.OpenFile(filename, os.O_RDWR|os.O_APPEND|os.O_CREATE, 0660)
    if err != nil {
        fmt.Println(err)
        return
    }
    defer file.Close()
    fmt.Fprintf(file, "%s\n", message)
}

The actual appending is taken care of by the os.O_APPEND flag of the os.OpenFile() function. This flag tells Go to write at the end of the file. Additionally, the os.O_CREATE flag will make os.OpenFile() create the file if it does not exist, which is pretty handy. Apart from that, the information is written to the file using fmt.Fprintf().

The append.go program generates no output when executed successfully. In this example, it was executed as go run append.go "123" /tmp/data.txt. However, the contents of /tmp/data.txt will not be the same:

cat /tmp/data.txt

1 2
One Two

Three
123

Copying Files

In this section you will learn one way of creating a copy of an existing file.

File: ./fileCopy.go
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package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "io"
    "os"
    "path/filepath"
    "strconv"
)

var BUFFERSIZE int64

func Copy(src, dst string, BUFFERSIZE int64) error {
    sourceFileStat, err := os.Stat(src)
    if err != nil {
        return err
    }

    if !sourceFileStat.Mode().IsRegular() {
        return fmt.Errorf("%s is not a regular file.", src)
    }

    source, err := os.Open(src)
    if err != nil {
        return err
    }
    defer source.Close()

    _, err = os.Stat(dst)
    if err == nil {
        return fmt.Errorf("File %s already exists.", dst)
    }

    destination, err := os.Create(dst)
    if err != nil {
        return err
    }
    defer destination.Close()

    buf := make([]byte, BUFFERSIZE)
    for {
        n, err := source.Read(buf)
        if err != nil && err != io.EOF {
            return err
        }
        if n == 0 {
            break
        }

        if _, err := destination.Write(buf[:n]); err != nil {
            return err
        }
    }
    return err
}

func main() {
    if len(os.Args) != 4 {
        fmt.Printf("usage: %s source destination BUFFERSIZE\n", filepath.Base(os.Args[0]))
        return
    }

    source := os.Args[1]
    destination := os.Args[2]
    BUFFERSIZE, _ = strconv.ParseInt(os.Args[3], 10, 64)

    fmt.Printf("Copying %s to %s\n", source, destination)
    err := Copy(source, destination, BUFFERSIZE)
    if err != nil {
        fmt.Printf("File copying failed: %q\n", err)
    }
}

fileCopy.go allows you to set the size of the buffer that will be used during the copy process. In this Go program, the buffer is implemented using a byte slice named buf. The copy takes place in the Copy() function, which keeps reading the input file using the required amount of Read() calls, and writes it using the required amount of Write() calls. The Copy() function performs lots of tests to make sure that the source file exists and is a regular file and that the destination file does not exist.

The output of fileCopy.go will resemble the following:

go run fileCopy.go /tmp/data.txt /tmp/newText 16

Copying /tmp/data.txt to /tmp/newText

Implementing cat in Go

In this section we will implement the core functionality of the cat(1) command line utility in Go. The cat(1) utility is used to print the contents of a file to a terminal window.

File: ./cat.go
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package main

import (
    "bufio"
    "fmt"
    "io"
    "os"
)

func printFile(filename string) error {
    f, err := os.Open(filename)
    if err != nil {
        return err
    }
    defer f.Close()
    scanner := bufio.NewScanner(f)
    for scanner.Scan() {
        io.WriteString(os.Stdout, scanner.Text())
        io.WriteString(os.Stdout, "\n")
    }
    return nil
}

func main() {
    filename := ""
    arguments := os.Args
    if len(arguments) == 1 {
        io.Copy(os.Stdout, os.Stdin)
        return
    }

    for i := 1; i < len(arguments); i++ {
        filename = arguments[i]
        err := printFile(filename)
        if err != nil {
            fmt.Println(err)
        }
    }
}

If you execute cat.go without any command line arguments, then the utility will just copy from standard input to standard output using the io.Copy(os.Stdout, os.Stdin) statement. However, if there are command-line arguments, then the program will process them all in the same order that they were given using the printFile() function.

Note
Command Line arguments when using cat.go will only be file paths. cat.go does not support the arguments you’d see with the traditional cat command, only the core functionality.

The output of cat.go will resemble the following:

go run cat.go /tmp/data.txt

1 2
One Two

Three

Summary

File I/O is a huge subject that cannot be covered in a single guide. However, now that you know the basics of file input and output in Go, you are free to begin experimenting and writing your own system utilities.

More Information

You may wish to consult the following resources for additional information on this topic. While these are provided in the hope that they will be useful, please note that we cannot vouch for the accuracy or timeliness of externally hosted materials.

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