:mescape

Type:	-	keyword
Source:	-	xlread.c

Syntax

 :mescape

Description

The ':mescape' keyword is an entry used in the *readtable* system variable that contains XLISP's data structures relating to the processing of characters from the user (or files) and read-macro expansions. The existance of the ':mescape' keyword means that the specified character is to be used as a multiple escape character. The system defines that the the vertical bar character '|' is the only ':mescape' character.

Examples

;; define a function to look in a table
;; and print out any :mescape character

(defun look-at (table)
  (dotimes (ch 127)
    (prog ((entry (aref table ch)))
      (case entry
        (:mescape (princ (int-char ch)))
        (t nil))))
  (terpri))

(look-at *readtable*)     ; prints |

Caution: If you experiment with *readtable* , it is useful to save the old value in a variable, so that you can restore the system state.

See the :mescape keyword in the XLISP 2.0 manual.

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