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stream -- Definition 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 environment 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 significance 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 manipulate 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, file, FILE, Programming COHERENT, stdio.h