HELP SYSREAD Revised by Fran Evelyn, July 85
sysread(<device>,<string>,<max. no. of bytes>) -> <no. of bytes read>;
SYSREAD reads from a specified <device> and stores the characters it reads in
the specified <string>. The maximum number of bytes that can be read is
specified in the third argument; this is because the system may crash if the
string is too small to hold all the characters!
SYSREAD returns the actual number of characters read. If the device is a disc
or a tape this will usually be the maximum number allowed, unless the end of
the file is very close. If the device is a terminal the number of characters
read will be the number actually available. A result of 0 indicates
end-of-file.
For more information on Input/Output procedures see REF *SYSIO.
See also HELP
*SYSOPEN - returns a device record for an existing disc file
*SYSCLOSE - closes the device which is its argument
*SYSCREATE - creates a disc file and returns a device record for the file
*SYSDELETE - deletes a specified disc file
*SYSTRMDEV - tests whether a device record refers to a terminal
*SYSWRITE - writes to a specified device