FILES

file access utilities

read verbs take a right argument of a filename, optionally
linked with one or two numbers (as for 1!:11):
  0 = start of read (may be negative)
  1 = length of read (default rest of file)

write verbs return number of characters written.

filenames may be open or boxed character strings.

string verbs write out text delimited by CRLF, and read in
text delimited by LF.

Use charsub (defined in strings.ijs) to substitute unwanted characters,
e.g. '-_' charsub fread 'mydata.dat' replaces - with _

   dat fappend fl    append
   dat fappends fl   append string
       fdir          file directory
       ferase fl     erase file
       fexist fl     return 1 if file exists
   opt fread fl      read file
       freadr fl     read records (flat file)
       freads fl     read string
   dat freplace fl   replace in file
   opt fselect txt   select file
       fsize fl      size of file
   str fss fl        string search file
oldnew fssrplc fl    search and replace in file
       fstamp fl     file timestamp
       fview fl      view file
   dat fwrite fl     write file
   dat fwrites fl    write string

on error, the result is _1,
i.e. for file not found/file read error/file write error

Defined items
NameClassDescription
fappendVerbappend character text to file
fappendsVerbappend character text to file.
fdirVerbfile directory
feraseVerberases a file
fexistVerbtests if the file exists
freadVerbread file
freadrVerbread records from flat file
freadsVerbread file as string
freplaceVerbreplace text in file
fselectVerbfile selection dialog
fsizeVerbreturn file size
fssVerbfile string search
fssrplcVerbfile string search and replace
fstampVerbreturns file timestamp
fviewVerbview file
fwriteVerbwrite text to file
fwritesVerbwrite string to file

fappend............. (v) append character text to file

	The text is first ravelled. The file is created if necessary. 
Returns number of characters written, or an error message.
form: text fappend filename
example:
  'chatham' fappend 'newfile.txt'
7

fappends............ (v) append character text to file.

The text is first ravelled into a vector with each row 
terminated by the CRLF pair. Any single LF or CR characters 
in the text are converted into the CRLF pair. 
The file is created if necessary. Returns number of characters 
written, or an error message.

fdir................ (v) file directory

example:
  fdir 'system\main\s*.ijs'

ferase.............. (v) erases a file

Returns 1 if successful, otherwise _1

fexist.............. (v) tests if the file exists

Returns 1 if the file exists, otherwise 0.

fread............... (v) read file

y. is filename {;start size}
x. is optional:
   = b    read as boxed vector
   = m    read as matrix
   = s    read as string (same as freads)

freadr.............. (v) read records from flat file

y. is filename {;record start, # of records}
records are assumed of fixed length delimited by
one (only) of CR, LF, or CRLF.
the result is a matrix of records.

freads.............. (v) read file as string

y. is filename {;start size}
x. is optional (b and m same as fread):
   = b    read as boxed vector
   = m    read as matrix
freads

freplace............ (v) replace text in file

form: dat freplace file;pos

fselect............. (v) file selection dialog

y. = DOS filespec or ''
x. = optional file type list
returns user selection

fsize............... (v) return file size

returns file size or _1 if error

fss................. (v) file string search

form: str fss file
search file for string, returning indices

fssrplc............. (v) file string search and replace

form: (old;new) fssrplc file

fstamp.............. (v) returns file timestamp

fview............... (v) view file

uses standard Windows edit control,
which is limited to around 20K size.

fwrite.............. (v) write text to file

fwrites............. (v) write string to file


system\main\files.ijsRelease: 4.02/1998-11-13/12:26