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- Streams are used to read or write data in a sequential manner.
- BlitzMax supports many kinds of streams, including standard file streams
- (for reading and writing to files), #{bank streams} (for reading and writing to banks) and
- #{endian streams} (for swapping the byte order of stream data).
- Streams are usually created using #OpenStream, #ReadStream or #WriteStream. However,
- some kinds of streams provide their own methods for creating streams. For example, banks
- streams are created with the #CreateBankStream command.
- #OpenStream, #ReadStream and #WriteStream all require a %url parameter, which is used to
- 'locate' the stream. A url is usually a string value.
- If the url contains the string "::", then a stream %protocol is being specified. If not,
- then the url is assumed to be a simple filename.
- External modules can add their own stream protocols to the system, allowing you to use streams
- for a wide variety of purposes. For example, the "incbin::" protocol allows you to read data
- from a binary file that has been embedded in an application using the #Incbin command.
- Other protocols include "http::" for reading and writing data over a network, and
- "littleendian::" and "bigendian::" for swapping the byte order of streams.
- To write to a stream, use one of the 'Write' style commands, such as #WriteByte.
- To read from a stream, use one of the 'Read' style commands, such as #ReadByte.
- Some kinds of streams (for example, file streams and bank streams) support %{random access}.
- This means that you can modify where in the stream the next read or write is to occur using
- the #SeekStream command. You can also tell where you are in such streams using the
- #StreamPos command.
- When you are finished with a stream, you should always close it using #CloseStream.
- Failure to do so may result in a resource leak, or prevent the stream from successfully
- opening in future.
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