$writeb(<fd> <text>)

The writeb function will write binary data to an open file. The <text> you provide must be CTCP-encoded. The xform function allows you to convert data into ctcp-encoded format. The writeb function will not append a newline to <text>, so if you are writing a text file you are responsible for putting in newlines wherever they belong.

As a special case, a window refnum can be given as the file descriptor by prefixing the refnum with a w. This provides access to the logfile for that window. The reserved window refnum 0 can be used to address the current window's logfile, and the reserved window refnum -1 actually addresses the global logfile.

This function is useful for saving information to an external file. It is most often used in scripts for saving configuration settings and the like. The $writeb() function is useful for writing to binary files, or for writing lines to a file incrementally.

  -1   if file descriptor does not exist
> -1   number of bytes written (text length plus newline, if applicable)

$writeb(7 blah blah)             writes "blah blah" to fd "7"
$writeb(foo bar)                 "foo" not an fd, writes nothing
$writeb(w1 this is a test)       write to window refnum 1's logfile
$writeb(w0 this is a test)       write to the current window's logfile
$writeb(w-1 this is a test)      write to the global logfile