[m-dev.] string streams and formatting

[Fergus Henderson]

On 16-Jan-2000, Peter Schachte <schachte at cs.mu.OZ.AU> wrote:
> I can see a need for all of the  following kinds of output:
> 
>     1.  binary
>     2.  term
> 	a.  machine readable (output is guaranteed to be readable by the
> 	    appropriate read predicate)
> 	b.  human readable (may include type-specific output formats,
> 	    may be depth-limited, etc.)
> 	c.  formatted output (with field widths, radix setting,
> 	    paragraph filling, etc, all controlable for individual
> 	    components)
> 	d.  displayed (operators not respected, like display/1 in Prolog)
>     3.  graphical (text is printed with different fonts, bitmaps are
>         displayed, constructors are provided for laying out
> 	collections of these things, etc.)
> 
> and no doubt more.  I think each of these really needs to have a
> different predicate (or type class method) name.

Just to summarize the current names that the standard library uses for these:

	1.	io__write_binary (and io__read_binary)
	2.a.	io__write (and io__read)
	2.b.	io__print

-- 
Fergus Henderson <fjh at cs.mu.oz.au>  |  "I have always known that the pursuit
WWW: <http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/~fjh>  |  of excellence is a lethal habit"
PGP: finger fjh at 128.250.37.3        |     -- the last words of T. S. Garp.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
mercury-developers mailing list
Post messages to:       mercury-developers at cs.mu.oz.au
Administrative Queries: owner-mercury-developers at cs.mu.oz.au
Subscriptions:          mercury-developers-request at cs.mu.oz.au
--------------------------------------------------------------------------