HELP SYSREAD                                    Revised by Fran Evelyn, July 85

    sysread(<device>,<string>,<max. no. of bytes>) -> <no. of bytes read>;

SYSREAD reads from a specified <device> and stores the characters it reads in
the specified <string>. The maximum number of bytes that can be read is
specified in the third argument; this is because the system may crash if the
string is too small to hold all the characters!

SYSREAD returns the actual number of characters read. If the device is a disc
or a tape this will usually be the maximum number allowed, unless the end of
the file is very close. If the device is a terminal the number of characters
read will be the number actually available. A result of 0 indicates
end-of-file.

For more information on Input/Output procedures see REF *SYSIO.

See also HELP
    *SYSOPEN   - returns a device record for an existing disc file
    *SYSCLOSE  - closes the device which is its argument
    *SYSCREATE - creates a disc file and returns a device record for the file
    *SYSDELETE - deletes a specified disc file
    *SYSTRMDEV - tests whether a device record refers to a terminal
    *SYSWRITE  - writes to a specified device
