IGCSEComputer ScienceCambridge (CIE)Revision Notes8. ProgrammingFile HandlingFile Handling

File Handling (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE Computer Science): Revision Note

Exam code: 0478 & 0984

Updated on 11 June 2026

File Handling

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	OCR exam reference	Python
Open	`OPENFILE "fruit.txt" FOR READ`	`file = open("fruit.txt","r")`
Close	`CLOSEFILE "fruit.txt"`	`file.close()`
Read line	`READFILE "fruit.txt", LineOfText`	`file.readline()`
Write line	`OPENFILE "fruit.txt" FOR WRITE` `WRITEFILE "fruit.txt", "Oranges"`	`file = open("fruit.txt","w")` `file.write("Oranges")`
Append a file	`OPENFILE "fruit.txt" FOR APPEND`	`file = open("fruit.txt","a")`

Pseudocode example (reading data)

Employees	Text file
OPENFILE "employees.txt" FOR READ endOfFile ← FALSE // Set end of file flag to false WHILE NOT endOfFile DO READFILE "employees.txt", name // Read line 1 (name) name ← TRIM(name) // Remove extra spaces/newlines READFILE "employees.txt", department // Read line 2 (department) department ← TRIM(department) // Remove extra spaces/newlines READFILE "employees.txt", salary // Read line 3 (salary) salary ← TRIM(salary) // Remove extra spaces/newlines READFILE "employees.txt", age // Read line 4 (age) age ← TRIM(age) // Remove extra spaces/newlines IF name = "" THEN // If name is empty (end of file) endOfFile ← TRUE // Set end of file flag to true ELSE OUTPUT "Name: " & name // Print name OUTPUT "Department: " & department // Print department OUTPUT "Salary: " & salary // Print salary OUTPUT "Age: " & age // Print age OUTPUT "" // Add a blank line for readability ENDIF ENDWHILE CLOSEFILE "employees.txt"	Greg Sales 39000 43 Lucy Human resources 26750 28 Jordan Payroll 45000 31

Employees

Text file

OPENFILE "employees.txt" FOR READ

endOfFile ← FALSE  // Set end of file flag to false

WHILE NOT endOfFile DO
    READFILE "employees.txt", name  // Read line 1 (name)
    name ← TRIM(name)  // Remove extra spaces/newlines

    READFILE "employees.txt", department  // Read line 2 (department)
    department ← TRIM(department)  // Remove extra spaces/newlines

    READFILE "employees.txt", salary  // Read line 3 (salary)
    salary ← TRIM(salary)  // Remove extra spaces/newlines

    READFILE "employees.txt", age  // Read line 4 (age)
    age ← TRIM(age)  // Remove extra spaces/newlines

    IF name = "" THEN  // If name is empty (end of file)
        endOfFile ← TRUE  // Set end of file flag to true
    ELSE
        OUTPUT "Name: " & name  // Print name
        OUTPUT "Department: " & department  // Print department
        OUTPUT "Salary: " & salary  // Print salary
        OUTPUT "Age: " & age  // Print age
        OUTPUT ""  // Add a blank line for readability
    ENDIF
ENDWHILE

CLOSEFILE "employees.txt"

Greg
Sales
39000
43
Lucy
Human resources
26750
28
Jordan
Payroll
45000
31

Python example (reading data)

Employees	Text file
# Open file in read mode file = open("employees.txt", "r") endOfFile = False # Set end of file flag to false while not endOfFile: # While not end of file name = file.readline().strip() # Read line 1 and remove extra spaces/newlines department = file.readline().strip() # Read line 2 salary = file.readline().strip() # Read line 3 age = file.readline().strip() # Read line 4 if name == "": # If name is empty (end of file) endOfFile = True # Set end of file flag to true else: print("Name: ", name) # Print name print("Department: ", department) # Print department print("Salary: ", salary) # Print salary (fixed typo) print("Age: ", age) # Print age print() # Add a blank line for readability # Close the file file.close()	Greg Sales 39000 43 Lucy Human resources 26750 28 Jordan Payroll 45000 31

Employees

Text file

# Open file in read mode
file = open("employees.txt", "r")

endOfFile = False  # Set end of file flag to false

while not endOfFile:  # While not end of file
    name = file.readline().strip()  # Read line 1 and remove extra spaces/newlines
    department = file.readline().strip()  # Read line 2
    salary = file.readline().strip()  # Read line 3
    age = file.readline().strip()  # Read line 4

    if name == "":  # If name is empty (end of file)
        endOfFile = True  # Set end of file flag to true
    else:
        print("Name: ", name)  # Print name
        print("Department: ", department)  # Print department
        print("Salary: ", salary)  # Print salary (fixed typo)
        print("Age: ", age)  # Print age
        print()  # Add a blank line for readability

# Close the file
file.close()

Greg
Sales
39000
43
Lucy
Human resources
26750
28
Jordan
Payroll
45000
31

Pseudocode example (writing new data)

Employees	Text file
`OPENFILE "employees.txt" FOR APPEND // Write employee details to the file WRITEFILE "employees.txt", "Polly" // Name WRITEFILE "employees.txt", NEWLINE WRITEFILE "employees.txt", "Sales" // Department WRITEFILE "employees.txt", NEWLINE WRITEFILE "employees.txt", "26000" // Salary WRITEFILE "employees.txt", NEWLINE WRITEFILE "employees.txt", "32" // Age WRITEFILE "employees.txt", NEWLINE CLOSEFILE "employees.txt"`	Greg Sales 39000 43 Lucy Human resources 26750 28 Jordan Payroll 45000 31 Polly Sales 26000 32

Employees

Text file

OPENFILE "employees.txt" FOR APPEND

// Write employee details to the file
WRITEFILE "employees.txt", "Polly"  // Name
WRITEFILE "employees.txt", NEWLINE
WRITEFILE "employees.txt", "Sales"  // Department
WRITEFILE "employees.txt", NEWLINE
WRITEFILE "employees.txt", "26000"  // Salary
WRITEFILE "employees.txt", NEWLINE
WRITEFILE "employees.txt", "32"  // Age
WRITEFILE "employees.txt", NEWLINE

CLOSEFILE "employees.txt"

Greg
Sales
39000
43
Lucy
Human resources
26750
28
Jordan
Payroll
45000
31

Polly
Sales
26000
32

Python example (writing new data)

Employees	Text file
`# Open file in append mode file = open("employees.txt", "a") # Write employee details to the file file.write("Polly\n") # Name file.write("Sales\n") # Department file.write("26000\n") # Salary file.write("32\n") # Age # Close the file file.close()`	Greg Sales 39000 43 Lucy Human resources 26750 28 Jordan Payroll 45000 31 Polly Sales 26000 32

Employees

Text file

# Open file in append mode
file = open("employees.txt", "a")

# Write employee details to the file
file.write("Polly\n")        # Name
file.write("Sales\n")        # Department
file.write("26000\n")        # Salary
file.write("32\n")           # Age

# Close the file
file.close()

Greg
Sales
39000
43
Lucy
Human resources
26750
28
Jordan
Payroll
45000
31
Polly
Sales
26000
32

Examiner Tips and Tricks

When opening files it is really important to make sure you use the correct letter in the open command

"r" is for reading from a file only
"w" is for writing to a new file, if the file does not exist it will be created. If a file with the same name exists the contents will be overwritten
"a" is for writing to the end of an existing file only

Always make a backup of text files you are working with, one mistake and you can lose the contents!

Worked Example

Use pseudocode to write an algorithm that does the following :

Inputs the title and year of a book from the user.
Permanently stores the book title and year to the existing text file books.txt [4]

How to answer this question

Write two input statements (title and year of book)
Open the file
Write inputs to file
Close the file

Example answer

OUTPUT "Enter the title"
INPUT Title
OUTPUT "Enter the year"
INPUT Year
OPENFILE "books.txt" FOR WRITE
WRITEFILE "books.txt", Title
WRITEFILE "books.txt", Year
CLOSEFILE "books.txt"

Guidance

`INPUT Title`	1 mark
`INPUT Year`	1 mark
`OPENFILE "books.txt" FOR WRITE`	1 mark
`WRITEFILE "books.txt", Title`	1 mark
`WRITEFILE "books.txt", Year`	1 mark
`CLOSEFILE "books.txt"`	1 mark

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File Handling (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE Computer Science): Revision Note

File Handling

What is file handling?

Pseudocode example (reading data)

Python example (reading data)

Pseudocode example (writing new data)

Python example (writing new data)

Examiner Tips and Tricks

Worked Example

Unlock more, it's free!

Join the 100,000+ Students that ❤️ Save My Exams

Author: James Woodhouse

Reviewer: Lucy Kirkham