Is there an ELisp function for reading file contents in a string?

Is there an ELisp function for reading file contents in a string?

[stephan.zimmer]

Hi,

does anybody know whether there is a function in elisp that just reads
the contents of a text file into a string?

So far, I haven't found anything that could be related to that. The
only, yet not very charming, possibility that I currently see is to
use the "insert-file" function in combination with the "buffer-
(sub)string" function and later erase the inserted file contents
again.

Thanks very much,
  Stephan

Re: Is there an ELisp function for reading file contents in a string?

[Juanma Barranquero]

On Feb 6, 2008 2:11 PM,  <stephan.zimmer@googlemail.com> wrote:

> The
> only, yet not very charming, possibility that I currently see is to
> use the "insert-file" function in combination with the "buffer-
> (sub)string" function and later erase the inserted file contents
> again.

Why "not charming"? You don't really need to erase the contents afterwards:

(defun file-as-string (file &optional beg end)
  (with-temp-buffer
    (insert-file-contents file nil beg end)
    (buffer-string)))

What is the problem with that?

             Juanma

Re: Is there an ELisp function for reading file contents in a string?

[stephan.zimmer]

Juanma,

thanks a lot! I just started with elisp and was not aware of the "with-
temp-buffer" construction. This is exactly what I need.

Best,
  Stephan

Re: Is there an ELisp function for reading file contents in a string?

[Ted Zlatanov]

On Wed, 6 Feb 2008 16:13:01 +0100 "Juanma Barranquero" <lekktu@gmail.com> wrote: 

JB> On Feb 6, 2008 2:11 PM,  <stephan.zimmer@googlemail.com> wrote:
>> The only, yet not very charming, possibility that I currently see is
>> to use the "insert-file" function in combination with the "buffer-
>> (sub)string" function and later erase the inserted file contents
>> again.

JB> Why "not charming"? You don't really need to erase the contents afterwards:

JB> (defun file-as-string (file &optional beg end)
JB>   (with-temp-buffer
JB>     (insert-file-contents file nil beg end)
JB>     (buffer-string)))

JB> What is the problem with that?

I would suggest to the OP that he may also want to look at the
coding-system-for-read variable, in case the default coding system is
not what he needs (I've run into problems there).
insert-file-contents-literally might also be a good choice if
appropriate.

Ted

Re: Is there an ELisp function for reading file contents in a string?

[Juanma Barranquero]

On Feb 6, 2008 7:22 PM, Ted Zlatanov <tzz@lifelogs.com> wrote:

> I would suggest to the OP that he may also want to look at the
> coding-system-for-read variable, in case the default coding system is
> not what he needs (I've run into problems there).
> insert-file-contents-literally might also be a good choice if
> appropriate.

Yes. I didn't want to complicate the problem with coding systems and
whatnot, but certainly the OP would be wise to look at the docs and
adapt it to his needs.

             Juanma