VMS::Stdio - standard I/O functions via VMS extensions
use VMS::Stdio
qw(
&flush
&getname
&remove
&rewind
&setdef
&sync
&tmpnam
&vmsopen
&vmssysopen
&waitfh
&writeof
);
setdef(``new:[default.dir]'');
$uniquename
= tmpnam; $fh
=
vmsopen(``my.file'',``rfm=var'',``alq=100'',...)
or die $!; $name
=
getname($fh);
print $fh
``Hello, world!\n'';
flush($fh);
sync($fh);
rewind($fh);
$line
= <$fh>; undef $fh; # closes file $fh
=
vmssysopen(``another.file'',
O_RDONLY |
O_NDELAY, 0, ``ctx=bin'');
sysread($fh,$data,128);
waitfh($fh);
close($fh);
remove(``another.file'');
writeof($pipefh);
=head1
DESCRIPTION
This package gives Perl scripts access via
VMS extensions to several
C stdio operations not available through Perl's
CORE
I/O functions. The specific routines are described below. These functions are prototyped as unary operators, with the exception of
vmsopen
and vmssysopen
, which can take any number of arguments, and
tmpnam
, which takes none.
All of the routines are available for export, though none are exported by
default. All of the constants used by vmssysopen
to specify access modes are exported by default. The routines are associated with the Exporter tag
FUNCTIONS, and the constants are associated with the Exporter tag
CONSTANTS, so you can more easily choose what you'd like to import:
# import constants, but not functions use VMS::Stdio; # same as use VMS::Stdio qw( :DEFAULT ); # import functions, but not constants use VMS::Stdio qw( !:CONSTANTS :FUNCTIONS ); # import both use VMS::Stdio qw( :CONSTANTS :FUNCTIONS ); # import neither use VMS::Stdio ();
Of course, you can also choose to import specific functions by name, as usual.
This package ISA
IO::File, so that you can call IO::File methods on the handles returned by vmsopen
and vmssysopen
. The IO::File package is not initialized, however, until you actually call
a method that VMS::Stdio doesn't provide. This is doen to save startup time
for users who don't wish to use the IO::File methods.
Note: In order to conform to naming conventions for Perl extensions and functions, the name of this package has been changed to VMS::Stdio as of Perl 5.002, and the names of some routines have been changed. Calls to the old VMS::stdio routines will generate a warning, and will be routed to the equivalent VMS::Stdio function. This compatibility interface will be removed in a future release of this extension, so please update your code to use the new routines.
flush
, all currently open file handles are flushed. Like the
CRTL
fflush()
routine, it does not flush any underlying
RMS buffers for the file, so the data may not be flushed all the way to the disk.
flush
returns a true value if successful, and undef if not.
getname
function returns the file specification associated with a Perl
I/O handle. If an error occurs, it returns undef.
remove
is equivalent to
unlink($file) if VMS::Filespec::candelete($file);
rewind
resets the current position of the specified file handle to the beginning
of the file. It's really just a convenience method equivalent in effect to seek($fh,0,0). It returns a true value if successful, and undef if it fails.
chdir()
operator, except that the change persists after Perl exits. It returns a true value on success, and
undef if it encounters and error.
tmpnam
function returns a unique string which can be used as a filename when
creating temporary files. If, for some reason, it is unable to generate a
name, it returns undef.
vmsopen
function enables you to specify optional
RMS arguments to the
VMS
CRTL when opening a file. Its operation is similar to the built-in Perl
open function (see the perlfunc manpage for a complete description), but it will only open normal files; it cannot open pipes or duplicate existing
I/O handles. Up to 8 optional arguments may follow the file name. These arguments should be strings which specify optional file characteristics as allowed by the
CRTL. (See the
CRTL reference manual description of
creat()
and
fopen()
for details.) If successful,
vmsopen
returns a VMS::Stdio file handle; if an error occurs, it returns undef.
You can use the file handle returned by vmsopen
just as you would any other Perl file handle. The class VMS::Stdio
ISA IO::File, so you can call IO::File methods using
the handle returned by vmsopen
. However, useing VMS::Stdio does not automatically use IO::File; you must do so explicitly in your program if you want to call
IO::File methods. This is done to avoid the overhead of initializing the
IO::File package in programs which intend to use the handle returned by vmsopen
as a normal Perl file handle only. When the scalar containing a VMS::Stdio
file handle is overwritten, undefd, or goes out of scope, the associated file is closed automatically.
sysopen
as vmsopen
does to open. Its first three arguments are the name, access flags, and permissions for
the file. Like
vmsopen
, it takes up to 8 additional string arguments which specify file
characteristics. Its return value is identical to that of vmsopen
.
The symbolic constants for the mode argument are exported by VMS::Stdio by default, and are also exported by the Fcntl package.
fwait().
This document was last revised on 10-Dec-1996, for Perl 5.004.
If rather than formatting bugs, you encounter substantive content errors in these documents, such as mistakes in the explanations or code, please use the perlbug utility included with the Perl distribution.