4.2 Data Input/Output Routines

LUX provides data input/output to screen, disk file, or tape. The data can be either formatted or unformatted – adjectives which refer to formatting for human consumption. Formatted data can be easily read by humans, and unformatted data is better suited for the computer. Unformatted data usually takes less space than formatted data.

The order in which data bytes are stored in memory or in a file depends on what computer you are using. LUX’s native file format (FZ) knows how to deal with this, and LUX also offers some routines to switch between the two most-used data byte orders.