Commodore 1541-II - Closing a File

However, if you need to combine them, here is a safe way to do it:
400PRINT#5,NAME$;CHR$(13);STREET$;CHR$(13);CITY$
CHR$(13) is the carriage return character, and has the same effect as putting the print
items in separate lines. If you do this often, some space and time may be saved by
previously defining a variable as equal to CHR$(13):
10CR$ = CHR$(13)... 400PRINT#5,NAME$;CR$;STREET$;CR$;CITY$
The basic idea is that a proper sequential disk file write, if redirected to the screen,
will display only one data item per line, with each succeeding item on the next line.
CLOSING A FILE WHEN YOU ARE DONE USING IT
After you finish using a data file, it is extremely important that you Close it. During
the process of writing a file, data is accumulated in a memory buffer, and only written out
to the physical cassette or diskette when the buffer fills.
Working this way, there is almost always a small amount of data in the buffer that
has not been written to diskette or cassette yet, and which would simply be lost if the
computer system were turned off. Similarly, there are diskette housekeeping matters, such
as updating the BAM (Block Availability Map) of sectors used by the current file, which
are not performed during the ordinary course of writing a file. This is the reason for
having a Close statement. When we know we are done with a file, the Close statement
will write the rest of the data buffer out to cassette or diskette, update the BAM, and
complete the file's entry in the directory. Always Close a data file when you are done
using it! Failure to do so may cause loss of the entire file!
However, do not cloSe the disk command channel until all other files have been
Closed. The command channel (described in the last chapter), when used, should be the
first file Opened, and the last file Closed in any program. Otherwise, remaining files may
be closed automatically. As also described there, this may be used to advantage if a
program halts on an error while disk files are open.
FORMAT FOR THE CLOSE STATEMENT
CLOSE file #
where "file #" is the same file number given in the desired file's current Open statement.
EXAMPLES:
To close the data file #5 used as an example on the previous page, we would use
CLOSE 5
In Commodore's CBM and PET computers, there is a Dclose statement, that, when
used alone, closes all disk files at once. With a bit of planning, the same can be done in
Basic 2 and 3.5 via a program loop. Since there is no harm in closing a file that wasn't
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