A LevelComputer ScienceCambridge (CIE)Revision Notes10. Data Types & StructuresFilesFile Handling

File Handling (Cambridge (CIE) A Level Computer Science): Revision Note

Exam code: 9618

Updated on 31 August 2026

Purpose of files

What is file handling?

File handling is the use of programming techniques to work with information stored in text files
Examples of file handing techniques are:
- opening text files
- reading text files
- writing text files
- closing text files

Concept	CIE A Level Pseudocode
Open file for reading	`OPENFILE "fruit.txt" FOR READ`
Open file for writing	`OPENFILE "Shopping.txt" FOR WRITE`
Close file	`CLOSEFILE "fruit.txt"`
Read line	`READFILE "fruit.txt", FruitName`
Write line	`WRITEFILE "fruit.txt", "Oranges"`
Check end of file	`IF NOT EOF("fruit.txt") THEN`
Create new file	`OPENFILE "Shopping.txt" FOR WRITE` (same as writing – it overwrites or creates)
Append to file	`OPENFILE "Shopping.txt" FOR APPEND`

An example program written in pseudocode to:
- Opens a text file for reading
- Reads each line (a fruit name)
- Counts how many fruits are in the file
- Outputs the total
- Closes the file

DECLARE FruitFile : STRING DECLARE FruitName : STRING DECLARE FruitCount : INTEGER

FruitFile ← "fruit.txt" FruitCount ← 0

OPENFILE FruitFile FOR READ

WHILE NOT EOF(FruitFile) 
  READFILE FruitFile, FruitName 
  FruitCount ← FruitCount + 1 
ENDWHILE

CLOSEFILE FruitFile

OUTPUT "Total number of fruits: ", FruitCount

Identifier table

Identifier	Data type	Description
`FruitName`	STRING	Stores the name of each fruit read from the file
`FruitCount`	INTEGER	Keeps track of how many fruits have been read
`FruitFile`	STRING	Holds the name of the file being read, "fruit.txt"

Worked Example

A program is required to read the contents of a text file Data.txt into a 1D array DataArray. The file contains 25 integer values, one per line.

Write pseudocode to:

open the file for reading
read each value into the array
close the file

[4]

Answer

Correct use of OPENFILE "Data.txt" FOR READ … [1 mark]
Loop using WHILE NOT EOF("Data.txt") DO … ENDWHILE or FOR COUNTER ← 1 TO 25 … NEXT Counter [1 mark]
Correct use of READFILE "Data.txt", LineData storing into array with index DataArray[Counter] ← LineData … [1 mark]
Correct use of CLOSEFILE "Data.txt" in an appropriate place … [1 mark]

Model answer:

DECLARE DataArray : ARRAY[1:25] OF STRING DECLARE Counter : INTEGER DECLARE LineData : STRING

Counter ← 1

OPENFILE "Data.txt" FOR READ

WHILE NOT EOF("Data.txt") 
  READFILE "Data.txt", LineData DataArray[Counter] ← LineData Counter ← Counter + 1 
ENDWHILE

CLOSEFILE "Data.txt"

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