
string_list(?String, ?List, +Format)

   Conversion between string in different encodings and a character list

Arguments
   String              String or variable.
   List                A variable or a list of integers and/or variables.
   Format              An atom.

Type
   Strings and Atoms

Description
   This predicate performs conversion between a string encoded in Format
   and a list of the corresponding character representations.

   If String is instantiated, it is must be a valid string in the encoding
   format specified by Format.  It is then decoded and List is unified with
   a list of the corresponding character representations.

   If List is instantiated, it is must contain character representations
   that are valid for the encoding format specified by Format.  These
   characters are then encoded into a string which is unified with String.

   Currently supported formats are:

bytes or octet
    Every byte in the string corresponds to a list integer in the range 0..255.
chars
    Every character in the string corresponds to a single-character atom
    in the list.  This format assumes a default character encoding.
codes
    Every character in the string corresponds to an integer character code
    in the list.  This format assumes a default character encoding.
utf8
    The string is encoded in UTF-8 format and the list can contain integers
    in the range 0..2^31-1.


   Note that string_list/2 can be defined as:

	string_list(S, L) :- string_list(S, L, bytes).



Modes and Determinism
   string_list(+, -, +) is det
   string_list(-, +, +) is det

Exceptions
     4 --- Format is not instantiated.
     4 --- Neither String nor List are ground.
     5 --- String is neither a string nor a variable.
     5 --- List is neither a list nor a variable.
     5 --- Format is not an atom.
     6 --- One (or more) elements of List are not of the type corresponding to Format.
     6 --- Format is not a valid format specification.
     6 --- One (or more) elements of List are not integers or atoms in the valid range for Format.

Examples
   
    [eclipse 1]: string_list(S,[65,66,67],bytes).
    S = "ABC"
    yes.

    [eclipse 2]: string_list(S, [65,66,67], utf8).
    S = "ABC"
    yes.

    [eclipse 3]: string_list(S, [65, 0, 700, 2147483647], bytes).
    out of range in string_list(S, [65, 0, 700, 2147483647])

    [eclipse 4]: string_list(S, [65, 0, 700, 2147483647], utf8).
    S = "A\000\312\274\375\277\277\277\277\277"
    yes.


See Also
   string_list / 2, write / 2, read_string / 4
