Home Contents | # file:seek | File | Lua Commands

## SYNOPSIS

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

## DESCRIPTION

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;

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.

## RETURN VALUE

In case of success, function seek returns the final file position, measured in bytes from the beginning of the file.

## ERRORS

If this function fails, it returns nil, plus a string describing the error.