Example:
         intAFileNumber = FreeFile

This statement assigns the next file number to intAFileNumber.  
The next step is to open the file. This is done by Open statement  

Syntax:  
Open <file name> [For <mode>] [Access <permissions>] [<lock>] As [#]<file number> [Len = <record or buffer size>]
This syntax using for reading and writing--input and output (I/O)--to a file.

File name (<file name>)  
In this we declare the name of target file.The File name should  be declare  with in the double quotes.

Example:

Open” c:\myreport\hrm.txt ” As#1  

Mode (For <mode>)  
This specifies the file mode. This is useful  when it is opened for Append, Binary, Output, or Random modes. This mainly using for how to read from the file and write to a file.  
<mode> may be Append, Binary, Input, Output, or Random.

Example: 
          
         Open " c:\myreport\hrm.txt " For Input As #1

Random:  

This specifies random-access file mode. This allow Actuate Basic to make three  attempts to open the file .

·          Read and write.

·          Write-only.

·           Read-only.

Binary:

This specifies binary file mode .You can read and write information to any byte position in the file.

Input:

This specifies sequential input mode .

·            In this <file name> must exist.

Output:

  This specifies sequential output mode.

·           If  <file name> does not exist, it is created, then opened.

Append:

This specifies sequential output mode, and sets the file pointer to the end of the file.

·          If <file name> does not exist it is created, then opened.

Permission (Access <permissions>)

This specifies what operations this process is permitted to perform on <file name>.      <permissions> keyword are: Read, Write, or Read Write

Example: 
Open " c:\myreport\hrm.txt " For Input Access Read As #1

Access <permissions> Rules are:

·    Error will occur when another process already opened the file and made  <permissions> unavailable to others

·   To enable locking operations .you must first run SHARE.EXE before you run your Actuate Basic program

Read:
This Keyword using to open the file for a reading process only.  
Write:
This Keyword using to open the file for a writing process only.  
Read Write:
This Keyword using to open the file for both reading and writing processes.

Lock (<lock>)
Keyword or set of keywords that specifies what operations other processes are permitted to perform on <file name>. In a multiuser environment , <lock> restricts access by other processes or users.
The <lock> keyword are: Shared, Lock Read, Lock Write, or Lock Read Write

Example:

Open " c:\myreport\hrm.txt " For Binary As #1 Shared

Shared:
This Keyword tells that any process   has permission to read from or write to <file name> while this Open is in effect.  
 Lock Read:
This Keyword tells that no other process has permission to read <file name> while this Open is in effect.  
 Lock Write:
This Keyword tells that no other process has permission to write to @ <file name> while this Open is in effect.  
 Lock Read Write:
 This Keyword indicating that no other process has permission to read from  or write to <file name> while this Open is in effect.  

File number (As [#]<file number>)

This assigns a number to the open file. I/O statements can then use <file number> to refer to the file. File number specifies the number associated with the file that remains open.
<file number>: Must be between 1 and 255

Example:  

Open " c:\myreport\hrm.txt " For Input As #1

Len = <buffer or record size>

This specifies how much information to take from the file into the buffer. <record or buffer size>is the integer expression that indicates either the record length or buffer size depending on <mode>.This must be positive and less than or equal to 32,767 bytes.

Examples:

Open " c:\myreport\hrm.txt " For Input As #1 Len = 423