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7.11  Constant term streams

7.11.1  Introduction

Constant term streams allow the user to consider a constant term (atom, character list or character code list) as a source/sink by associating to them a stream. Reading from a constant term stream will deliver the characters of the constant term as if they had been read from a standard file. Characters written on a constant term stream are stored to form the final constant term when the stream is closed. The built-in predicates described in this section allow the user to open and close a constant term stream for input or output. However, very often, a constant term stream is created to be only read or written once and then closed. To avoid the creation and the destruction of such a stream, GNU Prolog offers several built-in predicates to perform single input/output from/to constant terms (section 7.15).

7.11.2  open_input_atom_stream/2, open_input_chars_stream/2,
open_input_codes_stream/2

Templates
open_input_atom_stream(+atom, -stream)
open_input_chars_stream(+character_list, -stream)
open_input_codes_stream(+character_code_list, -stream)
Description

open_input_atom_stream(Atom, Stream) unifies Stream with the stream-term which is associated with a new input text-stream whose data are the characters of Atom.

open_input_chars_stream(Chars, Stream) is similar to open_input_atom_stream/2 except that data are the content of the character list Chars.

open_input_codes_stream(Codes, Stream) is similar to open_input_atom_stream/2 except that data are the content of the character code list Codes.

Errors
Stream is not a variable    type_error(variable, Stream)
Atom is a variable    instantiation_error
Chars is a partial list or a list with an element E which is a variable    instantiation_error
Codes is a partial list or a list with an element E which is a variable    instantiation_error
Atom is neither a variable nor a an atom    type_error(atom, Atom)
Chars is neither a partial list nor a list    type_error(list, Chars)
Codes is neither a partial list nor a list    type_error(list, Codes)
an element E of the Chars list is neither a variable nor a character    type_error(character, E)
an element E of the Codes list is neither a variable nor an integer    type_error(integer, E)
an element E of the Codes list is an integer but not a character code    representation_error(character_code)

Portability

GNU Prolog predicates.

7.11.3  close_input_atom_stream/1, close_input_chars_stream/1,
close_input_codes_stream/1

Templates
close_input_atom_stream(+stream_or_alias)
close_input_chars_stream(+stream_or_alias)
close_input_codes_stream(+stream_or_alias)
Description

close_input_atom_stream(SorA) closes the constant term stream associated with the stream-term or alias SorA. SorA must a stream open with open_input_atom_stream/2 (section 7.11.1).

close_input_chars_stream(SorA) acts similarly for a character list stream.

close_input_codes_stream(SorA) acts similarly for a character code list stream.

Errors
SorA is a variable    instantiation_error
SorA is neither a variable nor a stream-term or alias    domain_error(stream_or_alias, SorA)
SorA is not associated with an open stream    existence_error(stream, SorA)
SorA is an output stream    permission_error(close, stream, SorA)
SorA is a stream-term or alias but does not refer to a constant term stream.    domain_error(term_stream_or_alias, SorA)

Portability

GNU Prolog predicates.

7.11.4  open_output_atom_stream/1, open_output_chars_stream/1,
open_output_codes_stream/1

Templates
open_output_atom_stream(-stream)
open_output_chars_stream(-stream)
open_output_codes_stream(-stream)
Description

open_output_atom_stream(Stream) unifies Stream with the stream-term which is associated with a new output text-stream. All characters written to this stream are collected and will be returned as an atom when the stream is closed by close_ouput_atom_stream/2 (section 7.11.5).

open_output_chars_stream(Stream) is similar to open_output_atom_stream/1 except that the result will be a character list.

open_output_codes_stream(Stream) is similar to open_output_atom_stream/1 except that the result will be a character code list.

Errors
Stream is not a variable    type_error(variable, Stream)

Portability

GNU Prolog predicates.

7.11.5  close_output_atom_stream/2, close_output_chars_stream/2,
close_output_codes_stream/2

Templates
close_output_atom_stream(+stream_or_alias, ?atom)
close_output_chars_stream(+stream_or_alias, ?character_list)
close_output_codes_stream(+stream_or_alias, ?character_code_list)
Description

close_output_atom_stream(SorA, Atom) closes the constant term stream associated with the stream-term or alias SorA. SorA must be associated with a stream open with open_output_atom_stream/1 (section 7.11.4). Atom is unified with an atom formed with all characters written on the stream.

close_output_chars_stream(SorA, Chars) acts similarly for a character list stream.

close_output_codes_stream(SorA, Codes) acts similarly for a character code list stream.

Errors
SorA is a variable    instantiation_error
Atom is neither a variable nor an atom    type_error(atom, Atom)
Chars is neither a partial list nor a list    type_error(list, Chars)
Codes is neither a partial list nor a list    type_error(list, Codes)
SorA is neither a variable nor a stream-term or alias    domain_error(stream_or_alias, SorA)
SorA is not associated with an open stream    existence_error(stream, SorA)
SorA is an input stream    permission_error(close, stream, SorA)
SorA is a stream-term or alias but does not refer to a constant term stream    domain_error(term_stream_or_alias, SorA)

Portability

GNU Prolog predicates.

Copyright (C) 1999-2007 Daniel Diaz

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