Welcome to our episode on advanced file handling! Today, we're covering Period 21, where we'll be combining what we've learned about file handling and arrays of records. Our main goal is to help you read from and write to files using arrays of records and to understand how to work with CSV files. 📁

Reading and Writing Structured Data

We'll begin by showing you how to read data from a file directly into an array of records. This is a powerful technique for organising structured data. We'll use cityDetails.txt as an example to demonstrate how each line of the text file can be converted into a single, cohesive record and stored in an array.

Next, we'll reverse the process and show you how to write data from an array of records back to a file. This is essential for saving changes and creating a persistent copy of your data.

Working with CSV Files

We'll also introduce a specific and widely used type of text file: CSV (Comma-Separated Values). We'll discuss how CSVs are simply text files where each data field is separated by a comma, making them easy to read and write.

You'll get hands-on experience by typing up and testing the provided examples for reading and writing arrays of records, as well as working with CSVs. Then, you'll apply these skills to a practical task: Task 7, Problem 3 from "Software Design and Development Booklet v1.4.pdf". This task involves working with a BankStatement.csv file.

For those who need a bit of extra help, we'll provide partially completed code to guide you through the more complex file handling operations. Your understanding will be assessed through observation of your practical coding and a review of your output for the file handling tasks.