Task 742: .TXT File Format
Task 742: .TXT File Format
The .TXT file format lacks a formal, standardized specification akin to those for binary or structured formats, as it represents a simple plain text container. Based on established descriptions, such as those from Wikipedia, a .TXT file consists of a sequence of electronic text lines, typically with minimal or no formatting. It supports various character encodings (e.g., ASCII, UTF-8) and line ending conventions (e.g., LF on Unix-like systems, CRLF on Windows), and is associated with the MIME type text/plain. The format imposes no headers, magic numbers, or embedded metadata, relying instead on the file system for storage and management.
The .TXT file format does not possess internal properties or structures, as it is unstructured plain text. Therefore, the properties intrinsic to its representation in the file system are the standard metadata attributes maintained by the operating system for any file. These include:
- File size (in bytes)
- Creation timestamp
- Last modification timestamp
- Last access timestamp
- File mode (permissions, e.g., read/write/execute bits)
- User ID of the owner
- Group ID of the owner
- Inode number (on Unix-like systems)
- Device ID
- Number of hard links
Note that exact availability and naming may vary by operating system (e.g., Unix-like vs. Windows), but these represent common file system metadata.
Two direct download links for sample .TXT files:
- https://filesamples.com/samples/document/txt/sample1.txt
- https://filesamples.com/samples/document/txt/sample2.txt
Below is an HTML snippet with embedded JavaScript that can be embedded in a Ghost blog (or any HTML-based blog platform) post. It creates a drag-and-drop area allowing users to drop a .TXT file. Upon dropping, it reads the file using the browser's File API and dumps available properties to the screen. Note that browser security restrictions limit access to full file system metadata; only basic File object properties are available (e.g., name, size, type, last modified). For line ending detection, it reads the content.
Below is a Python class that can open a .TXT file, read its content (assuming UTF-8 encoding for decoding), retrieve the file system metadata properties, print them to the console, and write new content to the file if needed.
import os
import time
class TxtFileHandler:
def __init__(self, file_path):
self.file_path = file_path
self.content = None
def open_and_read(self):
"""Opens and reads the file content."""
with open(self.file_path, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
self.content = f.read()
return self.content
def get_properties(self):
"""Retrieves and returns file system metadata properties."""
stat = os.stat(self.file_path)
properties = {
'File path': self.file_path,
'File size (bytes)': stat.st_size,
'Creation timestamp': time.ctime(stat.st_ctime),
'Last modification timestamp': time.ctime(stat.st_mtime),
'Last access timestamp': time.ctime(stat.st_atime),
'File mode (permissions)': oct(stat.st_mode),
'User ID of owner': stat.st_uid,
'Group ID of owner': stat.st_gid,
'Inode number': stat.st_ino,
'Device ID': stat.st_dev,
'Number of hard links': stat.st_nlink
}
return properties
def print_properties(self):
"""Prints the properties to console."""
props = self.get_properties()
for key, value in props.items():
print(f"{key}: {value}")
def write(self, new_content):
"""Writes new content to the file."""
with open(self.file_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
f.write(new_content)
# Example usage:
# handler = TxtFileHandler('example.txt')
# handler.open_and_read()
# handler.print_properties()
# handler.write('New content')
Below is a Java class that can open a .TXT file, read its content (decoding as UTF-8), retrieve file system metadata properties using java.nio.file, print them to the console, and write new content to the file.
import java.io.*;
import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
import java.nio.file.*;
import java.nio.file.attribute.*;
import java.time.Instant;
public class TxtFileHandler {
private final Path filePath;
private String content;
public TxtFileHandler(String filePath) {
this.filePath = Paths.get(filePath);
}
public String openAndRead() throws IOException {
content = new String(Files.readAllBytes(filePath), StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
return content;
}
public void printProperties() throws IOException {
BasicFileAttributes attrs = Files.readAttributes(filePath, BasicFileAttributes.class);
PosixFileAttributes posixAttrs = null;
try {
posixAttrs = Files.readAttributes(filePath, PosixFileAttributes.class);
} catch (UnsupportedOperationException e) {
// Posix not supported (e.g., on Windows)
}
System.out.println("File path: " + filePath);
System.out.println("File size (bytes): " + attrs.size());
System.out.println("Creation timestamp: " + Instant.ofEpochMilli(attrs.creationTime().toMillis()));
System.out.println("Last modification timestamp: " + Instant.ofEpochMilli(attrs.lastModifiedTime().toMillis()));
System.out.println("Last access timestamp: " + Instant.ofEpochMilli(attrs.lastAccessTime().toMillis()));
if (posixAttrs != null) {
System.out.println("File mode (permissions): " + posixAttrs.permissions());
System.out.println("User ID of owner: " + posixAttrs.owner().getName());
System.out.println("Group ID of owner: " + posixAttrs.group().getName());
}
System.out.println("Is regular file: " + attrs.isRegularFile());
// Note: Inode and device ID not directly exposed in standard API; use platform-specific if needed.
}
public void write(String newContent) throws IOException {
Files.write(filePath, newContent.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
}
// Example usage:
// public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
// TxtFileHandler handler = new TxtFileHandler("example.txt");
// handler.openAndRead();
// handler.printProperties();
// handler.write("New content");
// }
}
Below is a JavaScript class (assuming Node.js environment for file system access) that can open a .TXT file, read its content (decoding as UTF-8), retrieve file system metadata properties using fs, print them to the console, and write new content to the file.
const fs = require('fs');
const path = require('path');
class TxtFileHandler {
constructor(filePath) {
this.filePath = filePath;
this.content = null;
}
openAndRead() {
this.content = fs.readFileSync(this.filePath, 'utf-8');
return this.content;
}
getProperties() {
const stat = fs.statSync(this.filePath);
return {
'File path': this.filePath,
'File size (bytes)': stat.size,
'Creation timestamp': stat.birthtime.toISOString(),
'Last modification timestamp': stat.mtime.toISOString(),
'Last access timestamp': stat.atime.toISOString(),
'File mode (permissions)': stat.mode.toString(8),
'User ID of owner': stat.uid,
'Group ID of owner': stat.gid,
'Inode number': stat.ino,
'Device ID': stat.dev,
'Number of hard links': stat.nlink
};
}
printProperties() {
const props = this.getProperties();
for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(props)) {
console.log(`${key}: ${value}`);
}
}
write(newContent) {
fs.writeFileSync(this.filePath, newContent, 'utf-8');
}
}
// Example usage:
// const handler = new TxtFileHandler('example.txt');
// handler.openAndRead();
// handler.printProperties();
// handler.write('New content');
Below is a C++ class (since standard C lacks classes, using C++ for object-oriented structure) that can open a .TXT file, read its content, retrieve file system metadata properties using <sys/stat.h>, print them to the console, and write new content to the file. Assumes a Unix-like system for full metadata; adjustments may be needed for Windows.
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <sys/stat.h>
#include <ctime>
#include <string>
class TxtFileHandler {
private:
std::string filePath;
std::string content;
public:
TxtFileHandler(const std::string& fp) : filePath(fp) {}
std::string openAndRead() {
std::ifstream file(filePath);
if (file) {
content.assign((std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(file)), std::istreambuf_iterator<char>());
file.close();
}
return content;
}
void printProperties() {
struct stat st;
if (stat(filePath.c_str(), &st) == 0) {
std::cout << "File path: " << filePath << std::endl;
std::cout << "File size (bytes): " << st.st_size << std::endl;
std::cout << "Creation timestamp: " << std::ctime(&st.st_ctime);
std::cout << "Last modification timestamp: " << std::ctime(&st.st_mtime);
std::cout << "Last access timestamp: " << std::ctime(&st.st_atime);
std::cout << "File mode (permissions): " << std::oct << st.st_mode << std::endl;
std::cout << "User ID of owner: " << st.st_uid << std::endl;
std::cout << "Group ID of owner: " << st.st_gid << std::endl;
std::cout << "Inode number: " << st.st_ino << std::endl;
std::cout << "Device ID: " << st.st_dev << std::endl;
std::cout << "Number of hard links: " << st.st_nlink << std::endl;
} else {
std::cerr << "Error retrieving properties." << std::endl;
}
}
void write(const std::string& newContent) {
std::ofstream file(filePath);
if (file) {
file << newContent;
file.close();
}
}
};
// Example usage:
// int main() {
// TxtFileHandler handler("example.txt");
// handler.openAndRead();
// handler.printProperties();
// handler.write("New content");
// return 0;
// }