Which of the following is the correct way to open a file "PRI.EXE" in read binary mode?

The correct answer is Option 2) FILE *fp = fopen("PR1.EXE", "rb");.

Key Points

• The fopen() function in C is used to open files.
• The second parameter specifies the mode in which the file should be opened.
• "rb" stands for read binary mode:
  • r: open for reading
  • b: treat the file as binary, not text
• Therefore, the correct syntax to open a file named PR1.EXE in read-binary mode is:

  FILE *fp = fopen("PR1.EXE", "rb");

Additional Information

• Option 1 – Incorrect: read-binary-mode is not valid C syntax.
• Option 3 – Incorrect: O_READ | O_BINARY is used in open() system call (low-level I/O), not fopen().
• Option 4 – Incorrect: READ | BINARY is invalid and not part of standard C I/O mode strings.
• Other common fopen modes:
  • "r": read (text)
  • "w": write (text, truncates if exists)
  • "a": append (text)
  • "rb", "wb", "ab": binary equivalents