TABLE OF CONTENTS The traditional place for storing data in a computer is in a file. Files can be on a disk, on backup media (such as a tape or CDR), in the computer's memory, or elsewhere across a network. In most cases, a file is a simple sequence of bytes that means something to a program. That sequence may consist of ASCII characters, binary representations of numbers, or other data types.
A typical integrated application environment gathers data from one source, manipulates it, and then stores it in a file to be processed later by another application that reads the file. That other application may report on the data or use it for something else, such as verifying an external reference. In other words, files are used for communication between processes as well as a place to house data while it is not in active use.
In Visual LISP, programming files are used to read data from other sources and to store data for other applications. Visual LISP file accessing is powerful but also has limitations. This chapter explores the subrs provided in Visual LISP for file processing and also points to where you should go next depending on your interface or integration needs.
You have worked with LSP and DCL files, the source code files for your Visual LISP program modules using the VLIDE. But a computer has many other types of files. Most have a file type, which is considered the file name...
