# _murex_ Shell Docs

## API Reference: `ReadArray()` (type)

> Read from a data type one array element at a time

## Description

This is a function you would write when programming a _murex_ data-type.

It's called by builtins to allow them to read data structures one array element
at a time.

The purpose of this function is to allow builtins to support sequential reads
(where possible) and also create a standard interface for builtins, thus
allowing them to be data-type agnostic.

## Usage

Registering your `ReadArray()`

```go
// To avoid confusion, this should only happen inside func init()
stdio.RegisterReadArray(/* your type name */, /* your readArray func */)
```

## Examples

Example `ReadArray()` function:

```go
package string

import (
	"bufio"
	"bytes"

	"github.com/lmorg/murex/lang/stdio"
)

func readArray(read stdio.Io, callback func([]byte)) error {
	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(read)
	for scanner.Scan() {
		callback(bytes.TrimSpace(scanner.Bytes()))
	}

	return scanner.Err()
}
```

## Detail

If your data type is not a stream-able array, it is then recommended that
you pass your array to  `lang.ArrayTemplate()` which is a handler to convert Go
structures into _murex_ arrays. This also makes writing `ReadArray()` handlers
easier since you can just pass `lang.ArrayTemplate()` your marshaller.
For example:

```go
package json

import (
	"github.com/lmorg/murex/lang"
	"github.com/lmorg/murex/lang/stdio"
	"github.com/lmorg/murex/utils/json"
)

func readArray(read stdio.Io, callback func([]byte)) error {
	// Create a marshaller function to pass to ArrayTemplate
	marshaller := func(v interface{}) ([]byte, error) {
		return json.Marshal(v, read.IsTTY())
	}

	return lang.ArrayTemplate(marshaller, json.Unmarshal, read, callback)
}
```

The downside of this is that you're then unmarshalling the entire file, which
could be slow on large files and also breaks the streaming nature of UNIX
pipelines.

## Parameters

1. `stdio.Io`: stream to read from (eg STDIN)
2. `func([]byte)`: callback function. Each callback will be a []byte slice containing an array element

## See Also

* [apis/`ReadIndex()` (type)](../apis/ReadIndex.md):
  Data type handler for the index, `[`, builtin
* [apis/`ReadMap()` (type)](../apis/ReadMap.md):
  Treat data type as a key/value structure and read its contents
* [apis/`ReadNotIndex()` (type)](../apis/ReadNotIndex.md):
  Data type handler for the bang-prefixed index, `![`, builtin
* [apis/`WriteArray()` (type)](../apis/WriteArray.md):
  Write a data type, one array element at a time
* [apis/`lang.ArrayTemplate()` (template API)](../apis/lang.ArrayTemplate.md):
  Unmarshals a data type into a Go struct and returns the results as an array