Port utilities

To use the bindings from this module:

(import :std/misc/ports)

copy-port

(copy-port in out) -> void | error

  in  := input port to read from
  out := output port to write to

Copy all data from port in to port out. Signals an error when in and out aren't satisfying input-port? and output-port?, respectively.

Examples:

> (def nums (string-join (map number->string [1 2 3 4 5]) "\n" 'suffix))
> (call-with-output-file "~/testing/nums.txt"
    (lambda (out)
      (call-with-input-string nums
        (lambda (in) (copy-port in out)))))

$ cat ~/testing/nums.txt    ; unix-like command-line
1
2
3
4
5

> (copy-port (current-input-port) (current-output-port))
hello,
hello,       ; duplicates what you type at the REPL
everyone!
everyone!    ; quit with Ctrl-D

read-all-as-string

(read-all-as-string in) -> string | error

  in := input port to read from

Reads all the contents of port in, returning a single string including all newline characters. Signals an error when in can't be read.

Examples:

> (import :std/srfi/13)
> (with-input-from-file "~/dev/gerbil/CHANGELOG.md"
    (lambda ()
      (string-take (read-all-as-string (current-input-port)) 80)))
"### 2-9-2019: Gerbil-v0.15.1\n\nPatch release to support Gambit v4.9.3\n\nDetails:\n-"

read-all-as-lines

(read-all-as-lines in [separator: #\newline] [include-separator?: #f]) -> list | error

  in                 := input port to read from
  separator          := character to consider line ending
  include-separator? := truth value, whether to include separator char in results

Reads all the contents of port in as a list of strings. The optional separator related keyword parameters specify what is considered a line ending and whether to include these separator characters in the line strings. Signals an error when in can't be read.

Examples:

> (import :std/srfi/1)
> (take (call-with-input-file "~/dev/gerbil/README.md" read-all-as-lines) 4)
("# Gerbil Scheme"
 ""
 "Gerbil is an opinionated dialect of Scheme designed for Systems Programming,"
 "with a state of the art macro and module system on top of the Gambit runtime.")

> (with-input-from-string "aa:bb:cc:dd::ff"
    (lambda () (read-all-as-lines (current-input-port) separator: #\:)))
("aa" "bb" "cc" "dd" "" "ff")

read-file-string

(read-file-string path) -> string | error

  path := path to file to read contents from

Reads contents of the file at path, returning a single string including all newline characters. Signals an error when path can't be read.

Note: There is another optional settings keyword parameter not shown above, but it's not terribly interesting for this file reading procedure. Check section 17.7.1 Filesystem devices of the Gambit Manual if you want to know more.

Examples:

$ cat ~/testing/nums.txt    ; unix-like command-line
1
2
3
4
5

(map string->number
     (string-split (read-file-string "~/testing/nums.txt") #\newline))
(1 2 3 4 5)

read-file-lines

(read-file-lines path) -> list | error

  path := path to file to read contents from

Reads all lines of the file at path as a list of strings. Signals an error when path can't be read.

Note: There is another optional settings keyword parameter not shown above, but it's not terribly interesting for this file reading procedure. Check section 17.7.1 Filesystem devices of the Gambit Manual if you want to know more.

Examples:

$ cat ~/testing/nums.txt    ; unix-like command-line
1
2
3
4
5

> (read-file-lines "~/testing/nums.txt")
("1" "2" "3" "4" "5")

;; Advent of code 2018, problem 01a: Sum a file of around 1000 exact integer values.
$ head -n5 ~/dev/aoc18/01/input.txt
+12
-13
+17
+17
-10

> (apply + (map string->number (read-file-lines "~/dev/aoc18/01/input.txt")))
508

read-all-as-u8vector

(read-all-as-u8vector in (bufsize 8192)) -> u8vector | error

  in      := input port to read from
  bufsize := buffer size, defaults to 8192 bytes

Reads all the contents of port in, returning a single u8vector. Signals an error when in can't be read.

Examples:

> (def u8 (call-with-input-file "/path/to/file" read-all-as-u8vector))
> (u8vector-length u8)
98526

read-file-u8vector

(read-file-u8vector path settings: [] bufsize: 8192) -> u8vector | error

  path     := path to file to read contents from
  settings := port settings, defaults to the empty list
  bufsize  := buffer size, defaults to 8192 bytes

Reads contents of the file at path, returning a single u8vector. Signals an error when path can't be read.

Check section 17.7.1 Filesystem devices of the Gambit Manual if you want to know more about the settings parameter.

Examples:

> (def u8 (read-file-u8vector "/path/to/file" bufsize: 1024))
> (u8vector-length u8)
98526

write-file-string

(write-file-string file string settings: [] newline-ending: #t) -> void | error

  file           := the file to be written to
  string         := the string to write
  settings       := Gambit path-settings (default [])
  newline-ending := append newline if last character is not a newline (default #t)

Write string to file using the display procedure. Check section 17.7.1 Filesystem devices of the Gambit Manual if you want to know more about the settings parameter.

Examples:

;; write "Hello, world!\n" to /tmp/foo.txt (may overwrite an existing file)
(write-file-string "/tmp/foo.txt" "Hello, world!")  ; \n is appended automatically

;; by using a path-setting we can append a string to an existing file
(write-file-string "/tmp/foo.txt" "hi" settings: [append: #t])

;; the file content is now: "Hello, world!\nhi\n"

;; let's append another string without auto-enforcement of a newline ending
(write-file-string "/tmp/foo.txt" "ho" settings: [append: #t] newline-ending: #f)

;; the final file content is: "Hello, world!\nhi\nho"  ; no trail newline character

write-file-lines

(write-file-lines file list settings: [] newline-ending: #t) -> void | error

  file           := the file to be written to
  list           := list of strings to write
  settings       := Gambit path-settings (default [])
  newline-ending := append newline if last character is not a newline (default #t)

Write every entry of the list as newline separated line to file using the displayprocedure. Check section 17.7.1 Filesystem devices of the Gambit Manual if you want to know more about the settings parameter.

Examples:

(write-file-lines "/tmp/foo.txt" ["foo" "bar"])

$ cat /tmp/foo.txt    ; unix-like command-line
foo
bar

force-current-outputs

(force-current-outputs) -> (void)

Force the current-output-port and the current-error-port. Useful before you drop to a REPL, debugger or interactive prompt, or before you exit the program.

Examples:

(force-current-outputs)

writeln

(writeln object [port]) -> (void)

Display a string representation of the Scheme object as per write, then display a line ending as per newline, using the optional port which defaults to (current-output-port).

Examples:

> (writeln ['a 1 "foo"]) ;; response is written, return value is (void), unwritten
(a 1 \"foo\")
> (with-output (o #f) (writeln '(a 1 "foo") o))
"(a 1 \"foo\")\n"

output-contents

(output-contents contents ?port) -> void | error

  contents       := a string, byte array or procedure
  port           := an output port -- optional, defaults to (current-output-port)

Write the contents into the port: If it's a string, display it; if it's a byte array, use write-u8vector; if it's a procedure, call it with the port as argument; otherwise, throw an error.

output-contents is notably useful as a helper within a function that makes a port available to a consumer, e.g. by creating a port, using it once or several times by calling output-contents, then closing it, such as call-with-output.

Examples:

(def (create-foo contents)
  (call-with-output-file ["/tmp/foo"] (cut output-contents foo <>)))

call-with-output

(call-with-output output-spec content-spec) -> output content per spec

call-with-output creates an output port as designated by output-spec, then output content to it as designated by content-spec.

The output-spec is interpreted as follows:

  • a port designates itself;
  • the false value #f designates a fresh string output port, and the result returned is the final string content of the port;
  • the true value #t designates the (current-output-port);
  • a string designates a pathname to be open using call-with-output-file;
  • a list designates a list of settings to pass to call-with-output-file;
  • other values are invalid (a future version of Gerbil might accept additional values).

The content is handled as per output-content: a string is displayed, a byte array is written, a procedure is called with the port as argument.

The result returned depends on the specified output: typically, it's the result of the procedure passed as content (or void if a string or byte array is passed as content); but if the output-spec was false, a string containing the accumulated output is returned.

output-contents is notably useful as a helper within a function that makes a port available to a consumer, e.g. by creating a port, using it once or several times by calling output-contents, then closing it, such as call-with-output.

call-with-output is a good helper for higher-order functions that themselves produce or wrap text content, and whose output is as often used standalone or transcluded as part of other functions (with a port as an argument in the latter case).

Examples:

;; pretty printer for a datastructure ms of type my-struct, with optional output-spec o
(def (pp-my-struct ms (o #f))
  (call-with-output o
    (lambda (port)
      (display "my-struct { a: " port)
      (pp-a (my-struct-a ms) port)
      (display " b: " port)
      (pp-a (my-struct-b ms) port)
      (display " }" port))))

with-output

(with-output (o output-spec) body ...) -> same as (call-with-output output-spec (lambda (o) body ...))
(with-output (o) body ...) -> (call-with-output o (lambda (o) body ...))

with-output is a simple macro that wraps around call-with-output. Interestingly, when its first argument is a list of one symbol, that symbol is used as both input value for an output-spec as per call-with-output in the outer scope, and as output binding for a resolved port in the inner scope, allowing for seamless resolution of an output-spec designator around the inner scope.

Examples:

;; same example as above using with-output
(def (pp-my-struct ms (o #f))
  (with-output (o)
    (display "my-struct { a: " o)
    (pp-a (my-struct-a ms) o)
    (display " b: " o)
    (pp-a (my-struct-b ms) o)
    (display " }" o)))

call-with-input

(call-with-input input-spec f) -> call f with specified input

call-with-input creates an input port as designated by input-spec, then calls the function f with that port as argument.

The input-spec is interpreted as follows:

  • a port designates itself;
  • the true value #t designates the (current-input-port);
  • a string designates a port to be open by passing it to call-with-input-string;
  • a u8vector designates a port to be open by passing it to call-with-input-u8vector;
  • a list designates the settings to pass to call-with-input-file;
  • other values are invalid (a future version of Gerbil might accept additional values).

The result returned is that of the call to function f.

call-with-input is a good helper for higher-order functions that themselves consume or wrap the consumption of a character stream, and whose input is as a complete string or file as it is a stream passed as part of larger parsing effort (with a port as an argument in the latter case).

Examples:

;; parser for a datastructure
(def (parse-my-struct i)
  (call-with-input i
    (lambda (port)
      (let* ((a (parse-a-field port))
             (b (parse-b-field port)))
        (make-my-struct a b)))))

with-input

(with-input (i input-spec) body ...) -> same as (call-with-input input-spec (lambda (i) body ...))
(with-input (i) body ...) -> (call-with-input i (lambda (i) body ...))

with-input is a simple macro that wraps around call-with-input. Interestingly, when its first argument is a list of one symbol, that symbol is used as both input value for an input-spec as per call-with-input in the outer scope, and as input binding for a resolved port in the inner scope, allowing for seamless resolution of an input-spec designator around the inner scope.

Examples:

;; same example as above using with-input
(def (parse-my-struct i)
  (with-input (i)
    (let* ((a (parse-a-field i))
           (b (parse-b-field i)))
      (make-my-struct a b))))

char-port-eof?

(char-port-eof? port) -> bool

char-port-eof? is function that given a port that is an input-port for characters, returns #t if that port is at the end of file, or else #f.

Examples:

> (call-with-input-string "a" (lambda (port) (let* ((x (char-port-eof? port))
                                               (y (read-char port))
                                               (z (char-port-eof? port)))
                                          [x y z])))
(#f #\a #t)

Port Destructor

(defmethod {destroy <port>} close-port)

The module also defines a destroy method for ports, so that they can be used in with-destroy forms and other primitives that use the destroy idiom, ensuring that ports will be closed even if an error is signaled somewhere within the body.

Examples:

> (define (for-each-dir-entry dir proc)
    (let ((dir-port (open-directory dir)))
      (let loop ()
        (let ((file (read dir-port)))
          (if (eof-object? file)
              (close-port dir-port)
              (begin
                (proc file)
                (loop)))))))

;; could also be written like this utilizing with-destroy:
> (import :std/sugar)
> (define (for-each-dir-entry dir proc)
    (let ((dir-port (open-directory dir)))
      (with-destroy dir-port
        ;; dir-port will be closed upon exiting this scope
        (let loop ((file (read dir-port)))
          (unless (eof-object? file)
            (proc file)
            (loop (read dir-port)))))))

> (for-each-dir-entry "/home/username" displayln)
dev
downloads
videos
documents
desktop
pictures
music
testing