Working with data files

[vince510]

I want to work with data files. I've written programs that should work with data files in theory, but I want to experiment with actual data file and i dont know where they should be stored. If i wanted to write to a file say in the My Documents folder should/could I specify the file location like "C:\users\myUser\c++Stuff\..."?

Can C++ read word files? Excel? Or should I just stick to notepad?

[Bazzy]

If you specify the full path you can open any file on the computer, just notice that to get a \ in a string you have to type \\ as it is an escape sequence ( you can also use / )
eg:

"C:\\users\\myUser\\c++Stuff\\"
"C:/users/myUser/c++Stuff/"

C++ can read only plain text and binary data. Is up to you knowing what to do with the data you read from a file.
For common file formats you may find some external libraries

[vince510]

That explains everything. Thanks.