Writing a byte(which may not correspond to an ASCII character) to a file in C -

i writing compression program in c. uses run length , rice golomb encoding, applied @ bit leve. have written program , when print out 1's , 0's screen, correct. need able take file, compress , output file.

so have attempted store bits char, recieve them, , once have added 8 bits, print new file. not working me. nothing output file. think issue of bytes, not corresponding ascii character. suggestions please?

this code, recieve bit, add char , print char file once, 'filled'

void writebyte(char byte){     file *comp;     comp = fopen("compfile.txt" "wb");     fprintf(comp,"%c", byte);     putc(byte,comp);     putchar(byte);     printf("%c\n",byte); }  void writebit(int bit){     if(ind >= 0){         byte|=(bit<<ind);         ind--     }     else{//if byte full         writebyte(byte); //write byte file;         reset();         writebit(bit);     } } 

when call fopen("compfile.txt", "wb"); existing file (if any) gets truncated 0 length. make work, need open file once @ beginning of program, , fclose file @ end of program.

also, view file, need use hex editor.