read_file() - read a file into a string

string read_file( string file,
                  int start_line,
                  int number_of_lines );

Read  a  line  of text from a file into a string.  The second and third
arguments are optional.  If only the first argument is  specified,  the
entire file is returned (as a string).

The  start_line  is the line number of the line you wish to read.  This
routine will return 0 if you try to read past the end of the  file,  or
if you try to read from a nonpositive line.

write_file(3), read_buffer(3)