close

close -- closes an open file.

Syntax

close (file)

		

Arguments

file

A file pointer to a previously opened file. This may be either a file in the file system, or a string opened for read and write.

Returns

t if the file had been open and was closed successfully, else nil.

Description

This function closes a previously opened file. It is not strictly necessary, as the file will be closed when the garbage collector recognizes that there are no references to the file, but it is extremely good policy. This function will close a string opened for reading and writing as well.

Example

    Gamma> fp = open("myfile.dat","r");
    #<File:"myfile.dat">
    Gamma> close(fp);
    t
    Gamma> fp;
    #<Destroyed Instance>
    Gamma>  
    		

See the Common: The Text Message Display section of the Controller Functions chapter, or the GTK: Preparing Plots section of the Log Functions chapter in the Cogent Tools Demo and Tutorials book for examples of this function used in context.

See Also

fd_close, open, open_string

Copyright 1995-2002 by Cogent Real-Time Systems, Inc.