23.1.3 Argument Conventions of Some Reader Functions

23.1.3.1 The EOF-ERROR-P argument

Eof-error-p in input function calls controls what happens if input is from a file (or any other input source that has a definite end) and the end of the file is reached. If eof-error-p is true (the default), an error of type end-of-file is signaled at end of file. If it is false, then no error is signaled, and instead the function returns eof-value.

Functions such as read that read the representation of an object rather than a single character always signals an error, regardless of eof-error-p, if the file ends in the middle of an object representation. For example, if a file does not contain enough right parentheses to balance the left parentheses in it, read signals an error. If a file ends in a symbol or a number immediately followed by end-of-file, read reads the symbol or number successfully and when called again will act according to eof-error-p. Similarly, the function read-line successfully reads the last line of a file even if that line is terminated by end-of-file rather than the newline character. Ignorable text, such as lines containing only whitespace₂ or comments, are not considered to begin an object; if read begins to read an expression but sees only such ignorable text, it does not consider the file to end in the middle of an object. Thus an eof-error-p argument controls what happens when the file ends between objects.

23.1.3.2 The RECURSIVE-P argument

If recursive-p is supplied and not nil, it specifies that this function call is not an outermost call to read but an embedded call, typically from a reader macro function. It is important to distinguish such recursive calls for three reasons.

1. An outermost call establishes the context within which the #n= and #n# syntax is scoped. Consider, for example, the expression

         (cons '#3=(p q r) '(x y . #3#))
   

   If the single-quote reader macro were defined in this way:

         (set-macro-character #\'       ;incorrect
            #'(lambda (stream char)
                 (declare (ignore char))
                 (list 'quote (read stream))))
   

   then each call to the single-quote reader macro function would establish independent contexts for the scope of read information, including the scope of identifications between markers like “#3=” and “#3#”. However, for this expression, the scope was clearly intended to be determined by the outer set of parentheses, so such a definition would be incorrect. The correct way to define the single-quote reader macro uses recursive-p:

         (set-macro-character #\'       ;correct
            #'(lambda (stream char)
                 (declare (ignore char))
                 (list 'quote (read stream t nil t))))
   

2. A recursive call does not alter whether the reading process is to preserve whitespace₂ or not (as determined by whether the outermost call was to read or read-preserving-whitespace). Suppose again that single-quote were to be defined as shown above in the incorrect definition. Then a call to read-preserving-whitespace that read the expression 'foo<Space> would fail to preserve the space character following the symbol foo because the single-quote reader macro function calls read, not read-preserving-whitespace, to read the following expression (in this case foo). The correct definition, which passes the value true for recursive-p to read, allows the outermost call to determine whether whitespace₂ is preserved.
3. When end-of-file is encountered and the eof-error-p argument is not nil, the kind of error that is signaled may depend on the value of recursive-p. If recursive-p is true, then the end-of-file is deemed to have occurred within the middle of a printed representation; if recursive-p is false, then the end-of-file may be deemed to have occurred between objects rather than within the middle of one.