Question

I have a simple question. I have an ofstream to which I write data. After I am done and call close(), do I need to call delete on the handle or does close() perform cleanup?

For example:

mFileStream = new std::ofstream(LogPath.c_str(), std::ios::trunc);
...
mFileStream->Close();
//delete mFileStream? 

My intuition is yes as I have allocated it, but I am not sure where I read it. Can anyone clarify?

Answer 1

Yes you have to. In C++ you must pair new and delete.

Though, in a simple case like this you don’t need to, you can allocate your object on the stack and it will be destroyed for you, this is strongly recommended (faster and safer):

{ // enclosing scope (function, or control block)
    ofstream mFileStream(LogPath.c_str(), std::ios::trunc); 
    ... 
    mFileStream.close(); // mFileStream is not a pointer any more, use the "." operator
    // mFileStream destroyed for you here. "close" may even be called for you.
}

Small note: it is close with a small “c”.