Which function repositions the file position pointer to a specific location in the file?

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Study for the University of Central Florida EGN3211 Final Exam. Practice with flashcards and multiple choice questions, each question with hints and explanations. Prepare effectively and boost your engineering analysis and computation skills for success!

The function that repositions the file position pointer to a specific location in the file is indeed fseek(). This function is essential for random access to files, as it allows you to move the pointer to any byte within the file. This can be particularly useful when you need to read from or write to a file at a specific location, without having to read through all the preceding data.

When using fseek(), you specify three parameters: the file pointer, the offset (which can be positive or negative), and a whence parameter that determines how the offset is applied (from the beginning of the file, from the current position, or from the end of the file). This precision gives you significant control over file I/O operations.

In contrast, functions like fclose(), fwrite(), and fopen() serve different purposes. fclose() is used to close a file, ensuring that all data is properly written and resources are released. fwrite() writes data to a file from a specified buffer, while fopen() is used to open a file and establish a connection with it for subsequent read or write operations. None of these functions have the capability to reposition the file position pointer like fseek() does.