National Instruments 320682C Chapter 2 Formatting and I/O Library

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.

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 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.