3.8 Files

File access in Slate is currently rudimentary. The interpreter provides an object type FileStream which follows the corresponding protocol:

FileStream newNamed: filename

returns a stream for a String that names a path to a file, for read/write access.

FileStream newForInputNamed: filename

returns a stream for reading an existing file of the given name, or Nil if it doesn't exist.

FileStream newForOutputNamed: filename

returns a stream for writing (appending) to a file with the given name.

FileStream newForNewNamed: filename

returns a stream for writing (appending) to a new file with the given name. It will create a new file, but if the file exists, Nil will be returned.

open

opens the file.

exists

answers whether there is a file with the stream's pathname.

close

closes the file.

next

reads the next byte from the file.

next:

reads the next N bytes from the file.

next:putInto:

reads the next N bytes into the given Sequence starting from index 0.

next:putInto:startingAt:

reads the N bytes into the given Sequence starting from the given index.

nextPutInto:

reads into the given Sequence the number of bytes which will fit into it.

position

returns the position within the file in byte units.

position:

sets the position within the file to the given integer number of bytes.

size

returns the file size in bytes.

nextPut: char

writes one byte to the file.

nextPut: seq

writes a sequence of bytes to the file.

name

returns the file's pathname.

fullName

will always return a complete pathname whereas the regular method may not.

renameTo:

adjusts the file to have the given name.

atEnd

answers whether the file's end has been reached.

delete

deletes the file.

Perhaps the most important utility is to load libraries based on path names. 'filename' fileIn will execute a file with the given path name as Slate source.