allocate

Synopsis

$ allocate([initial size])

allocates a writeable memory buffer. calling closef on the returned buffer turns it into a readable buffer. calling closef on a readable buffer frees the buffer.

Parameters

initial size - the desired initial size of the allocated buffer

Returns

A $handle to a allocated buffer. This handle can be read from and written to using Sleep's IO functions.

Side Effects / Notes

Memory buffers are fast! If there is a need to concatenate lots of data or to manipulate streams of data then buffers are a must.

Errors

This function does flag errors that can be caught using &checkError. I just need to document them.

Examples

# read the file in $input = openf(@ARGV[0]); $data = readb($input, -1); closef($input); # encrypt the contents of the file... $buffer = allocate(strlen($data)); for ($x = 0; $x < strlen($data); $x++) { writeb($buffer, chr(byteAt($data, $x) ^ 0x34)); } closef($buffer); # buffer is readable now.. $data = readb($buffer, strlen($data)); # write the file out $output = openf(">" . @ARGV[0]); writeb($output, $data); closef($output);