# GETBYT

**xcall GETBYT, channel, buffer, bytes**

GETBYT reads a specified number of bytes from an open input file.

**Parameters**

_channel  _([Num](num.md))  \[in\]

is the channel number of the file, which must be open for input.

_buffer  _[(BLOB](blob.md))  \[out\]

Receives the data.

_bytes_  ([Num](num.md))  \[in\]

Specifies the number of bytes to read, which must be less than or equal to the size of _buffer_.

**Comments**

Use the EOF() function to test for end of file condition before each call to GETBYT.

You can get a similar effect with INPUT RAW, except that it always reads a number of bytes equal to the size of the specified variable.

Note that [GET](get.md)[XS](keyword-types.md) performs a similar operation but is somewhat more sophisticated.

**See Also**

•	[PUTBYT](putbyt.md)[XS](keyword-types.md)