C++ Program to Read File Line by Line

Learn via video course
FREE
View all courses
C++ Course: Learn the Essentials
C++ Course: Learn the Essentials
by Prateek Narang
1000
5
Start Learning
C++ Course: Learn the Essentials
C++ Course: Learn the Essentials
by Prateek Narang
1000
5
Start Learning
Topics Covered

Overview

When working on any operating system, files play a crucial role in the daily lives of programmers, computer users, and students. These files assist us in storing our data securely and redundantly in various formats. The C++ examples to read data from a file line by line will therefore be covered in this article.

C++ Read File Line by Line

In C++ we can read files Line by Line by two methods. The first is to read the line token by token and the second is Line based on parsing, which is done using string streams that we get using the std::getline() Function.

std::getline() Function from a given string to read the content line by line into a std::string and later process them.

Transform Your Career

Choose from our industry-leading programs designed for career success

NSDC Certified

Modern Software and AI Engineering Program

Master full-stack development with AI integration

12 MonthsDuration
AI-LedCurriculum
Career SupportSupport
GoogleAmazonPaytm+1000 more
Go to Program
NSDC Certified

Modern Data Science and ML with specialisation in AI

Advanced data science techniques with AI specialization

12 MonthsDuration
AI-LedCurriculum
Career SupportSupport
GoogleAmazonPaytm+1000 more
Go to Program
NSDC Certified

Advanced AIML with Specialisation in Agentic AI

Deep dive into AIML with focus on Agentic systems

12 MonthsDuration
AI-LedCurriculum
Career SupportSupport
GoogleAmazonPaytm+1000 more
Go to Program
NSDC Certified

DevOps, Cloud & AI Platform Engineering

Build and manage AI-powered cloud infrastructure

12 MonthsDuration
AI-LedCurriculum
Career SupportSupport
GoogleAmazonPaytm+1000 more
Go to Program
NSDC Certified

AI Engineering Advanced Certification by IIT-Roorkee

Premier AI engineering certification from IIT-Roorkee

3 MonthsDuration
AI-LedCurriculum
Career SupportSupport
Program highlights
Go to Program

C++ Read File Line by Line Using std:: getline() Function

In C++, reading a file line by line is best done with the getline() function. When the delimiter char is reached, the function reads characters from the input stream and puts them in a string. The third optional element is the delimiter, which by default is taken to be the new line character \ns.

Syntax of std:: getline() Function

Here,

  • is: It informs the method about the stream it should read input from and is an object of the stream class.
  • str: The input is read from the stream and stored in this object, which is a string.
  • delim: The function is instructed to cease reading more input when it reaches this character (provided by the user in the getline() function). It is optional.

Algorithm

  • Begin
  • Make an object to type a new file with the fstream class.
  • To perform a write operation using the object newfile, call the open() function to open the xyz.txt file.
    • If the file is open, then
      • In the xyz.txt file, type the string My Function".
      • Utilizing the close() method, close the file object newfile.
    • To execute a read operation using object newfile, call the open() function to open the xyz.txt file.
    • If the file is open, then
      • Declare a string sa.
      • Using the getline() method, read the entire data of the file object newfile, and then put it into the string sa.
      • Print the data of string sa.
  • Utilizing the close() method, close the file object newfile.
  • End.

Code Implementation

Output

Explanation

In the above code, we have first created an object new_file using the steam class. After that the file we have created we will open it and add some content to it and then close the file using the close() method.

After that, we will again open the file and create a string sa and then using the getline() function, we will read the entire file line by line and put the data into the string. After that, we printed the data, and at last, we closed the file.

Examples

Let's take an example to understand to concept of the getline() function.

Output

Ready to amplify your coding skills? Join our Free C++ course curated by industry experts and become a certified C++ pro!

Conclusion

  • In C++, we can read a file line by line using the C++ STL library.
  • We can use the std::getline() function to read the content of a file.
  • The getline() function takes the 3 parameter as an argument. The third argument is optional.
  • Any operations on a file must be verified to see if it is open.
  • The line-based parsing in a file is always done through a string stream.
  • The string that we provide reads the data from the file and then puts the data in the string.
Hiring Partners:
GoogleGoogleAmazonAmazonMicrosoftMicrosoftFlipkartFlipkartAdobeAdobe1200+ more