size of an IO list

Mon Mar 7 22:11:34 CET 2005

James Hague wrote:

 > > iolist_size(IOList) ->
 > >     size(list_to_binary([IOList])).
 > 
 > I still think that IOLists should be able to include atoms.  That is,
 > '<html>' should be considered as "<html>" in an IOList.  I have run
 > into this situation a number of times already.  It's much cleaner (and
 > generates less garbage) to be able to include atoms directly in
 > IOLists.

I am trying to understand these IOLists and why this is an interesting
data type to have in the first place, so please excuse my ignorance.

Before we agree on what their 'size' is, can we first agree on their
definition and if we are happy with it, possibly also add this as a
new guard?

  (An is_iolist/1 Erlang function will do as answer.)

Best,
Kostis