file:seek()

file:seek ([whence [, offset]])

Sets and gets the file position, measured from the beginning of the file, to the position given by offset plus a base specified by the string whence, as follows:

• "set": base is position 0 (beginning of the file);
• "cur": base is current position;
• "end": base is end of file;

In case of success, seek returns the final file position, measured in bytes from the beginning of the file. If seek fails, it returns nil, plus a string describing the error.

The default value for whence is "cur", and for offset is 0. Therefore, the call file:seek() returns the current file position, without changing it; the call file:seek("set") sets the position to the beginning of the file (and returns 0); and the call file:seek("end") sets the position to the end of the file, and returns its size.