stream Definition stream The term stream is a metaphor for any entity that can be named and from which bits can flow, such as a device or a file. The name ``stream'' reflects the fact that the C programming environ- ment does not depend upon record descriptors and other devices that predetermine what form data can assume; instead, data from whatever source are conceived as being a flow of bytes whose sig- nificance is set entirely by the program that reads them. For example, whether 16 bits forms an int, two chars, and should be used as an absolute value or a bit map, is entirely up to the program that receives it. It is also irrelevant to the program that processes these 16 bits whether they come from the keyboard, from a file on disk, or from a peripheral device. The FILE structure holds all of the information needed to manipu- late a stream. The STDIO functions can be used to open, close, or reopen a stream; read data from it; or write data to it. ***** See Also ***** bit, byte, data formats, definitions, file, FILE, STDIO COHERENT Lexicon Page 1