HyperCard 2.1: 16K Limits on Read Command (11/92)

The documentation for HyperCard 2.1 (both paper and stack) state that the
16K (16384 characters) limit has been dropped for the 'read' command. This
turns out to be only partly true. (Note: This limit is mentioned in the
Script Language Guide for HyperCard 2.0.)

The form

read from file <fileName> for <N>

will read > 16K if N is greater than 16384 and the file is more than 16K in
size. (It will read the minimum of the file size and N chars, provided
there is memory to do so.)

The form

read from file <fileName> until { end | eof }

will read until the end of the file -- which can be > 16K characters
(provided there is memory).

The form

read from file <fileName> until <char>

will still only read a maximum of 16K characters from a file.

This article is adapted from the Claris Tech Info database.

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Published Date: Feb 19, 2012