file:seek ([whence] [, offset])

Sets and gets the file position, measured from the beginning of the file, to the position given by offset plus a base specified by the string whence, as follows:

  • "set": base is position 0 (beginning of the file);
  • "cur": base is current position;
  • "end": base is end of file;

In case of success, function seek returns the final file position, measured in bytes from the beginning of the file. If this function fails, it returns nil, plus a string describing the error.

The default value for whence is "cur", and for offset is 0. Therefore, the call file:seek() returns the current file position, without changing it; the call file:seek("set") sets the position to the beginning of the file (and returns 0); and the call file:seek("end") sets the position to the end of the file, and returns its size.

EVERYTHING
Input and Output Facilities
file:close•
file:flush•
file:lines•
file:read•
file:seek•
file:setvbuf•
file:write•
io.close•
io.flush•
io.input•
io.lines•
io.open•
io.output•
io.popen•
io.read•
io.tmpfile•
io.type•
io.write•

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