Module Scanf.Scanning

module Scanning: sig .. end

type in_channel;

The notion of input channel for the Scanf module: those channels provide all the machinery necessary to read from a given Pervasives.in_channel value. A Scanf.Scanning.in_channel value is also called a formatted input channel or equivalently a scanning buffer. The type scanbuf below is an alias for in_channel.
Since 3.12.0

type scanbuf = in_channel;

The type of scanning buffers. A scanning buffer is the source from which a formatted input function gets characters. The scanning buffer holds the current state of the scan, plus a function to get the next char from the input, and a token buffer to store the string matched so far.

Note: a scanning action may often require to examine one character in advance; when this 'lookahead' character does not belong to the token read, it is stored back in the scanning buffer and becomes the next character yet to be read.

let stdin: in_channel;

The standard input notion for the Scanf module. Scanning.stdin is the formatted input channel attached to Pervasives.stdin.

Note: in the interactive system, when input is read from stdin, the newline character that triggers the evaluation is incorporated in the input; thus, the scanning specifications must properly skip this additional newline character (for instance, simply add a '\n' as the last character of the format string).
Since 3.12.0

type file_name = string;

A convenient alias to designate a file name.
Since 4.00.0

let open_in: file_name => in_channel;

Scanning.open_in fname returns a formatted input channel for bufferized reading in text mode from file fname.

Note: open_in returns a formatted input channel that efficiently reads characters in large chunks; in contrast, from_channel below returns formatted input channels that must read one character at a time, leading to a much slower scanning rate.
Since 3.12.0

let open_in_bin: file_name => in_channel;

Scanning.open_in_bin fname returns a formatted input channel for bufferized reading in binary mode from file fname.
Since 3.12.0

let close_in: in_channel => unit;

Closes the Pervasives.in_channel associated with the given Scanning.in_channel formatted input channel.
Since 3.12.0

let from_file: file_name => in_channel;

An alias for open_in above.

let from_file_bin: string => in_channel;

An alias for open_in_bin above.

let from_string: string => in_channel;

Scanning.from_string s returns a formatted input channel which reads from the given string. Reading starts from the first character in the string. The end-of-input condition is set when the end of the string is reached.

let from_function: (unit => char) => in_channel;

Scanning.from_function f returns a formatted input channel with the given function as its reading method.

When scanning needs one more character, the given function is called.

When the function has no more character to provide, it must signal an end-of-input condition by raising the exception End_of_file.

let from_channel: Pervasives.in_channel => in_channel;

Scanning.from_channel ic returns a formatted input channel which reads from the regular input channel ic argument, starting at the current reading position.

let end_of_input: in_channel => bool;

Scanning.end_of_input ic tests the end-of-input condition of the given formatted input channel.

let beginning_of_input: in_channel => bool;

Scanning.beginning_of_input ic tests the beginning of input condition of the given formatted input channel.

let name_of_input: in_channel => string;

Scanning.name_of_input ic returns the name of the character source for the formatted input channel ic.
Since 3.09.0

let stdib: in_channel;

A deprecated alias for Scanning.stdin, the scanning buffer reading from Pervasives.stdin.