Opening a file vs. creating if not yet exists

[Maciej Sobczak <see.my.homepage@gmail.com>]

Hi,

The Open procedure for opening files expects the given external file
to already exist (otherwise the Name_Error is signalled).

The Create procedure truncates the file no matter what, even if the
mode for opening a file is Append_File.

I find this a bit annoying for example with log files, where the
natural scheme should be:
- if the file exists, open and append to it
- if the file does not exist, create it and append to it

What is the recommended way to deal with this?

begin
   Open (File, Append_File, "file.txt");
exception
   when Name_Error =>
      Create (File, Append_File, "file.txt");
end;

Is the above idiomatic (ie. well understood and accepted as common
practice)?

--
Maciej Sobczak * www.msobczak.com * www.inspirel.com

Database Access Library for Ada: www.inspirel.com/soci-ada