Task: Append a record to the end of a text file
C: #include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>

typedef const char *STRING;
typedef struct{STRING fullname, office, extension, homephone, email; } gecos_t;
typedef struct{STRING account, password; int uid, gid; gecos_t gecos; STRING directory, shell; } passwd_t;

#define GECOS_FMT "%s,%s,%s,%s,%s"
#define PASSWD_FMT "%s:%s:%d:%d:"GECOS_FMT":%s:%s"

passwd_t passwd_list[]={
  {"jsmith", "x", 1001, 1000, 
    {"Joe Smith", "Room 1007", "(234)555-8917", "(234)555-0077", "jsmith@rosettacode.org"},
    "/home/jsmith", "/bin/bash"},
  {"jdoe", "x", 1002, 1000,
    {"Jane Doe", "Room 1004", "(234)555-8914", "(234)555-0044", "jdoe@rosettacode.org"},
    "/home/jdoe", "/bin/bash"}
};

main(){

  FILE *passwd_text=fopen("passwd.txt", "w");
  int rec_num;
  for(rec_num=0; rec_num < sizeof passwd_list/sizeof(passwd_t); rec_num++)
    fprintf(passwd_text, PASSWD_FMT"\n", passwd_list[rec_num]);
  fclose(passwd_text);


  passwd_text=fopen("passwd.txt", "a+");
  char passwd_buf[BUFSIZ]; 
  passwd_t new_rec =
      {"xyz", "x", 1003, 1000, 
          {"X Yz", "Room 1003", "(234)555-8913", "(234)555-0033", "xyz@rosettacode.org"},
          "/home/xyz", "/bin/bash"};
  sprintf(passwd_buf, PASSWD_FMT"\n", new_rec);

  write(fileno(passwd_text), passwd_buf, strlen(passwd_buf));
  close(passwd_text);


  passwd_text=fopen("passwd.txt", "r");
  while(!feof(passwd_text))
    fscanf(passwd_text, "%[^\n]\n", passwd_buf, "\n");
  if(strstr(passwd_buf, "xyz"))
    printf("Appended record: %s\n", passwd_buf);
}

Python: 



passwd_list=[
  dict(account='jsmith', password='x', UID=1001, GID=1000, 
       GECOS=dict(fullname='Joe Smith', office='Room 1007', extension='(234)555-8917',
                  homephone='(234)555-0077', email='jsmith@rosettacode.org'),
                  directory='/home/jsmith', shell='/bin/bash'),
  dict(account='jdoe', password='x', UID=1002, GID=1000,
       GECOS=dict(fullname='Jane Doe', office='Room 1004', extension='(234)555-8914',
                  homephone='(234)555-0044', email='jdoe@rosettacode.org'),
       directory='/home/jdoe', shell='/bin/bash')
]

passwd_fields="account password UID GID GECOS directory shell".split()
GECOS_fields="fullname office extension homephone email".split()

def passwd_text_repr(passwd_rec):

  passwd_rec["GECOS"]=",".join([ passwd_rec["GECOS"][field] for field in GECOS_fields])
  for field in passwd_rec: 
    if not isinstance(passwd_rec[field], str):
      passwd_rec[field]=`passwd_rec[field]`
  return ":".join([ passwd_rec[field] for field in passwd_fields ])

passwd_text=open("passwd.txt","w")
for passwd_rec in passwd_list:
  print >> passwd_text,passwd_text_repr(passwd_rec)
passwd_text.close()




passwd_text=open("passwd.txt","a+")
new_rec=dict(account='xyz', password='x', UID=1003, GID=1000,
             GECOS=dict(fullname='X Yz', office='Room 1003', extension='(234)555-8913',
                        homephone='(234)555-0033', email='xyz@rosettacode.org'),
             directory='/home/xyz', shell='/bin/bash')
print >> passwd_text,  passwd_text_repr(new_rec)
passwd_text.close()




passwd_list=list(open("passwd.txt","r"))
if "xyz" in passwd_list[-1]:
  print "Appended record:",passwd_list[-1][:-1]