Docs: reading and writing files; patch_inplace() is not atomic

- New page features/files.md: read a file with a stream and check that it
  was opened, serialize before opening the output file, replace a file via a
  temporary file and rename, binary formats in binary mode. The library keeps
  no file I/O of its own.
- patch_inplace(): say what a failed patch leaves behind (the earlier
  operations, and a failing move may already have removed its source) and
  point to patch() for all-or-nothing behaviour.

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>

docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json/patch_inplace.md

@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@ the patch. This function applies a JSON patch in place and returns void.
 
 ## Exception safety
 
-No guarantees, value may be corrupted by an unsuccessful patch operation.
+No guarantees: if an operation fails, the operations before it stay applied, and a failing `move` operation may already
+have removed the value at its "from" location. Use [`patch`](patch.md) if the value must be unchanged after a failed
+patch.
 
 ## Exceptions
 
@@ -62,8 +64,19 @@ the JSON value, the complexity can usually be neglected.
 ## Notes
 
 Unlike [`patch`](patch.md), `patch_inplace` applies the operation "in place" and no copy of the JSON value is created.
-That makes it faster for large documents by avoiding the copy. However, the JSON value might be corrupted if the
-function throws an exception.
+That makes it faster for large documents by avoiding the copy.
+
+!!! warning "Not atomic"
+
+    `patch_inplace` applies the operations one after the other and does not undo them when one fails. After an
+    exception, the value holds the result of the operations before the failing one, and a failing `move` operation
+    (a "remove" followed by an "add") may already have removed the value at its "from" location; see the second example
+    below. [RFC 6902](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6902#section-5) requires that a patch with a failing operation is
+    not deemed successful, but leaves open what happens to the document.
+
+    If the value must stay unchanged when the patch fails, use [`patch`](patch.md), which applies the patch to a copy:
+    `#!cpp j = j.patch(json_patch);`. Validating the patch beforehand is not enough, as "test" operations and missing
+    paths are only detected while the patch is applied.
 
 Duplicate member names inside an operation object are resolved by the parser before the patch is applied (the last one
 is kept, see [`object_t`](object_t.md#behavior)), so `#!json {"op": "add", "op": "remove", "path": "/a"}` is a

docs/mkdocs/docs/features/files.md

@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+# Reading and writing files
+
+The library has no functions that take a file name. It reads from and writes to streams, so files are handled with
+`#!cpp std::ifstream` and `#!cpp std::ofstream` (or a `#!cpp FILE*` when reading). This page collects the recipes for
+the common cases and the mistakes that show up again and again.
+
+## Reading a JSON file
+
+Pass the stream to [`parse`](../api/basic_json/parse.md) directly, and check that the file was opened:
+
+```cpp
+#include <fstream>
+#include <stdexcept>
+#include <string>
+#include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
+
+using json = nlohmann::json;
+
+json read_json_file(const std::string& path)
+{
+    std::ifstream f(path);
+    if (!f.is_open())
+    {
+        throw std::runtime_error("cannot open " + path);
+    }
+    return json::parse(f);
+}
+```
+
+- **Check that the file is open.** A stream that failed to open looks like an empty input, so `parse` reports
+  [`parse_error.101`](../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptionparse_error101) ("unexpected end of input") at line 1,
+  column 1 instead of saying that the file is missing. A relative path is resolved against the working directory of the
+  running program, which is often not the directory of the source file (see the
+  [FAQ](../home/faq.md#parsing-a-file-fails-with-unexpected-end-of-input)).
+- **Don't read the file into a string first.** Parsing from a `#!cpp std::ifstream` is only about 10 to 20 % slower
+  than parsing a string that holds the whole file, and it needs no memory for the copy (see
+  [input sources and performance](parsing/index.md#input-sources-and-performance)). Read the file into a string only if
+  you need the text itself, for example for an error message.
+- `parse` requires the file to hold exactly one JSON value. Files with one value per line are read with
+  [JSON Lines](parsing/json_lines.md); files too large for memory are covered in
+  [Large, streamed, and partial input](parsing/large_and_partial_input.md).
+
+## Writing a JSON file
+
+[`dump`](../api/basic_json/dump.md) the value into a string first, then write the string:
+
+```cpp
+void write_json_file(const std::string& path, const json& j)
+{
+    const std::string text = j.dump(4) + '\n';  // may throw: nothing is written yet
+
+    std::ofstream f(path, std::ios::binary);
+    if (!f.is_open())
+    {
+        throw std::runtime_error("cannot open " + path);
+    }
+    f << text;
+    f.close();
+    if (f.fail())
+    {
+        throw std::runtime_error("cannot write " + path);
+    }
+}
+```
+
+- **Serialize before opening the file.** Opening a `#!cpp std::ofstream` truncates the file. `dump` and
+  [`operator<<`](../api/operator_ltlt.md) throw [`type_error.316`](../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptiontype_error316)
+  when a string is not valid UTF-8 (see [handling invalid UTF-8](serialization.md#handling-invalid-utf-8)), and
+  `#!cpp f << std::setw(4) << j` may already have written part of the value when it throws. Serializing into a string
+  first leaves the old file untouched in that case.
+- **Check the stream after closing it.** A full disk or a missing permission sets the stream's error state; it does not
+  throw unless you enabled exceptions on the stream with `exceptions()`.
+- `std::ios::binary` writes the text as it is. Without it, Windows writes `\r\n` for every newline of a pretty-printed
+  value.
+
+## Replacing a file without corrupting it
+
+A program that crashes or is killed while it writes leaves a truncated file behind. To make sure readers see either the
+old or the new contents, write to a temporary file in the same directory and rename it over the original
+(C++17, `#!cpp <filesystem>`):
+
+```cpp
+#include <filesystem>
+
+void replace_json_file(const std::filesystem::path& path, const json& j)
+{
+    std::filesystem::path tmp = path;
+    tmp += ".tmp";  // use a unique name if several processes may write the file
+
+    write_json_file(tmp.string(), j);
+    std::filesystem::rename(tmp, path);  // replaces path
+}
+```
+
+The temporary file must be in the same directory (more precisely, on the same file system) as the target, as a rename
+across file systems is a copy. On POSIX systems, the rename atomically replaces the file. Standard C++ has no way to
+flush a file to the disk (`fsync`), so this protects against a crashed program, but not necessarily against a power
+loss.
+
+## Binary formats
+
+The [binary formats](binary_formats/index.md) work the same way, with the streams opened in binary mode:
+
+```cpp
+// read
+std::ifstream in("data.cbor", std::ios::binary);
+json j = json::from_cbor(in);
+
+// write
+const std::vector<std::uint8_t> bytes = json::to_cbor(j);
+std::ofstream out("data.cbor", std::ios::binary);
+out.write(reinterpret_cast<const char*>(bytes.data()), static_cast<std::streamsize>(bytes.size()));
+```
+
+Without `std::ios::binary`, Windows turns the bytes `0x0D 0x0A` into `0x0A` and may stop at a byte `0x1A` while reading,
+and turns `0x0A` into `0x0D 0x0A` while writing, which corrupts the data.
+
+## See also
+
+- [Parsing](parsing/index.md) - the inputs `parse` accepts
+- [Serialization](serialization.md) - the options of `dump`
+- [`parse`](../api/basic_json/parse.md), [`dump`](../api/basic_json/dump.md)
+- [`operator>>`](../api/operator_gtgt.md), [`operator<<`](../api/operator_ltlt.md)

docs/mkdocs/docs/features/index.md

@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ C++ types, and finally serialize it again.
   [BJData](binary_formats/bjdata.md), [BON8](binary_formats/bon8.md), [BSON](binary_formats/bson.md),
   [CBOR](binary_formats/cbor.md), [MessagePack](binary_formats/messagepack.md), or [UBJSON](binary_formats/ubjson.md).
 - [Binary values](binary_values.md) — store and exchange raw byte sequences.
+- [Reading and writing files](files.md) — read and write files safely, including replacing a file without
+  corrupting it.
 
 ## How values are stored and configured
 

docs/mkdocs/docs/features/json_patch.md

@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@ other three continue on its result.
 
     [`patch`](../api/basic_json/patch.md) leaves the original value unchanged and returns the patched result as a copy.
     If the document is large and the original value is no longer needed,
-    [`patch_inplace`](../api/basic_json/patch_inplace.md) applies the same operations in place instead.
+    [`patch_inplace`](../api/basic_json/patch_inplace.md) applies the same operations in place instead. Unlike
+    `patch`, it is not atomic: if an operation fails, the operations before it stay applied.
 
 !!! note "Duplicate member names"
 

docs/mkdocs/docs/features/parsing/index.md

@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ std::ifstream f("example.json");
 json data = json::parse(f);
 ```
 
+See [Reading and writing files](../files.md) for checking that the file was opened and for writing files safely.
+
 The input must be encoded in UTF-8; other encodings are not supported. The exception is wide-character input, which
 is read as UTF-16 or UTF-32 — depending on the character type — and converted to UTF-8; see the
 [`parse`](../../api/basic_json/parse.md) page for an example. A single input may contain only one JSON value.

docs/mkdocs/docs/features/serialization.md

@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ To write a value directly to a stream (for example, a file or `#!cpp std::cout`)
 std::cout << j << std::endl;
 ```
 
+To write a file without leaving a truncated file behind when serialization fails, see
+[Reading and writing files](files.md#writing-a-json-file).
+
 !!! note "String, not raw value"
 
     `dump` always returns a **JSON text**. Serializing a JSON string therefore includes the surrounding quotes and

docs/mkdocs/docs/home/faq.md

@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ in the source files that need it, instantiate `basic_json` once, and consider pr
 The parser did not see any character: the file was most likely not opened. A relative path is resolved against the
 working directory of the running program, which is often the build directory of your IDE, not the source directory.
 Check `is_open()` and try an absolute path. Other causes are an empty file and a stream that was already read. See
-[`parse_error.101`](exceptions.md#jsonexceptionparse_error101).
+[`parse_error.101`](exceptions.md#jsonexceptionparse_error101) and [Reading and writing files](../features/files.md).
 
 ### Input that arrives in chunks
 

docs/mkdocs/mkdocs.yml

@@ -130,6 +130,7 @@ nav:
           - features/element_access/unchecked_access.md
           - features/element_access/checked_access.md
           - features/element_access/default_value.md
+      - features/files.md
       - features/iterators.md
       - features/merge_patch.md
       - features/json_patch.md