This code will read a file and display its content to the output stream (console), while being on the lookout for errors.

1.  #include <iostream>
2.  #include <fstream>
3.  using namespace std;
4.   
5.  void FileState(ifstream &in);
6.   
7.  int main(int argc, char *argv[])
8.  {
9.          ifstream inFile("C:\\NEWS.txt");
10.  
11.         if(!inFile)
12.         {
13.                 cout << "Cannot open input file.\n";
14.                 return 1;
15.         }
16.  
17.         char currChar;
18.         while(inFile.get(currChar))
19.         {
20.                 cout << currChar;
21.                 FileState(inFile);
22.         }
23.  
24.         FileState(inFile);
25.         inFile.close();
26.         system("PAUSE");
27.         return 0;
28. }
29.  
30. void FileState(ifstream &inFile)
31. {
32.         ios::iostate currState;
33.  
34.         currState = inFile.rdstate();
35.  
36.         if(currState & ios::eofbit)
37.         {
38.                 cout << "End of File\n";
39.         }
40.         else if(currState & ios::failbit)
41.         {
42.                 // Recoverable I/O error
43.                 cout << "Reading Failure\n";
44.         }
45.         else if(currState & ios::badbit)
46.         {
47.                 // Unrecoverable I/O error
48.                 cout << "Stream Corrupted\n";
49.         }
50. }