file

operator

Syntax
For an output file:
file (with open-modifier (& open-modifier)*)*

For a source file:
(binary-mode | text-mode)? (buffered | unbuffered)? file string-expression


Purpose

The operator file retrieves the contents of a named file.

In certain limited cases, the file can be read in smaller chunks, allowing very large files to be processed without requiring huge amounts of computer memory. These cases occur whenever the file expression is used in the string expression of any of the following actions alone, or attached by join to other string expressions:

file can also be used as the entire string expression argument of one of the following actions: