[redhead]

Something like this ?

if(access(file_name, F_OK))
    /* file does not exist */
if(access(file_name, R_OK))
    /* No read permission */
if(!(file_pointer=fopen(file_name, "r")))
    /* Unable to open file */
if(feof(file_pointer))
   /* file is empty */
while(!feof(file_pointer))
{
    if(!fread(buffer, sizeof(buffer), 1, file_pointer))
        /* premature end of file */
    if(!valid(buffer))
        /* illformed or unexpected data */
}