1# $EPIC: open,v 1.3 2003/12/05 12:15:40 brian Exp $ 2Synopsis: 3 $open(<file> R|W) 4 5Technical: 6 This functions allows the client to open an arbitrary file for reading or 7 writing. Write mode appends to the file. The function returns a file 8 descriptor for the open file; the file descriptor is an integer. Tilde- 9 expansion is permitted. 10 11Practical: 12 The $open() function is the doorway to external file access from within 13 the client (aside from EXECing a process). Assuming the file has the 14 appropriate permissions, it allows you to open the file for read or 15 write access (but not both). Write access only appends to the file, so 16 you'll need to use $unlink() or $rename() if you want to start fresh. 17 18Returns: 19 file descriptor, or -1 if error 20 21Options: 22 R open file for reading 23 W open file for writing 24 25Examples: 26 $open(~/.ircrc W) open your .ircrc for writing 27 $open(~/.irclog R) open your logfile for reading 28 $open(/etc/passwd W) will probably fail 29 30See Also: 31 close(6); randread(6); read(6); rename(6); unlink(6); 32 write(6); writeb(6) 33 34