© National Instruments Corporation 2-1 LabWindows/CVI Standard Libraries
Chapter 2Formatting and I/O Library
This chapter describes the functions in the LabWindows/CVI Formatting and I/O Library, and
contains many examples of how to use them. The Formatting and I/O Library contains functions
that input and output data to files and manipulate the format of data in a program.
The Formatting and I/O Library Function Overview section contains general information about
the Formatting and I/O Library functions and panels. Because the Formatting and I/O Library
differs in many respects from the other LabWindows/CVI libraries, it is very important to read
the overview before reading the other sections of this chapter.
The Formatting and I/O Library Function Reference section contains an alphabetical list of
function descriptions. This section is helpful for determining the syntax of the file I/O and string
manipulation functions.
The Using the Formatting and Scanning Functions section describes in detail this special class of
functions. Although these functions are listed in the function reference, their versatility and
complex nature require a more complete discussion.
The final section, Formatting and I/O Library Programming Examples, contains many examples
of program code that call Formatting and I/O Library functions. Most of the examples use the
formatting and scanning functions.

Formatting and I/O Library Function Overview

This section contains general information necessary for understanding the Formatting and I/O
Library functions and panels.

The Formatting and I/O Library Function Panels

The Formatting and I/O Library function panels are grouped in a tree structure according to the
types of operations performed. The Formatting and I/O Library function tree is shown in
Table 2-1.
The first- and second-level bold headings in the tree are the names of function classes and
subclasses. Function classes and subclasses are groups of related function panels. The
third-level headings in plain text are the names of individual function panels. The names of the
functions are in bold italics to the right of the function panels. Refer to the Sample Function
Panels for the Formatting and Scanning Functions section later in this chapter for more
information.