nsIBinaryOutputStream. This might be used, for example, to implement network protocols or to read from architecture-neutral disk files, that is ones that can be read and written by both big-endian and little-endian platforms. 
nsIInputStream 
Last changed in Gecko 1.7 Method overview
| PRUint8 read8(); | 
| PRUint16 read16(); | 
| PRUint32 read32(); | 
| PRUint64 read64(); | 
| PRBool readBoolean(); | 
| void readByteArray(in PRUint32 aLength, [array, size_is(aLength), retval] out PRUint8 aBytes); | 
| void readBytes(in PRUint32 aLength, [size_is(aLength), retval] out string aString); | 
| ACString readCString(); | 
| double readDouble(); | 
| float readFloat(); | 
| AString readString(); | 
| void setInputStream(in nsIInputStream aInputStream); | 
Methods
read8()
Reads from the stream.
PRUint8 read8();
Parameters
None.
Return value
An 8-bit integer read from the stream.
read16()
Reads from the stream.
PRUint16 read16();
Parameters
None.
Return value
A 16-bit integer read from the stream.
read32()
Reads from the stream.
PRUint32 read32();
Parameters
None.
Return value
A 32-bit integer read from the stream.
read64()
Reads from the stream.
PRUint64 read64();
Parameters
None.
Return value
A 64-bit integer read from the stream.
readBoolean()
Reads an 8-bit value from the stream, treating it as a Boolean value.
PRBool readBoolean();
Parameters
None.
Return value
A boolean value read from the stream.
readByteArray()
Reads an opaque byte array from the stream, storing the results as an array of PRUint8s.
void readByteArray( in PRUint32 aLength, [array, size_is(aLength), retval] out PRUint8 aBytes );
Parameters
- 
    aLength
- The number of bytes that must be read.
- 
    aBytes
- An array containing the bytes read from the stream.
Exceptions thrown
- 
    NS_ERROR_FAILURE
- If it can't read aLength bytes.
readBytes()
Reads an opaque byte array from the stream.
void readBytes( in PRUint32 aLength, [size_is(aLength), retval] out string aString );
Parameters
- 
    aLength
- The number of bytes to read.
- 
    aString
- A string containing the bytes read from the stream.
Exceptions thrown
- 
    NS_ERROR_FAILURE
- If it can't read aLength bytes.
readCString()
Reads an 8-bit pascal style string from the stream. 32-bit length field, followed by length 8-bit chars.
ACString readCString();
Parameters
None.
Return value
The string read from the stream.
readDouble()
Reads from the stream.
double readDouble();
Parameters
None.
Return value
A double read from the stream.
readFloat()
Reads from the stream.
float readFloat();
Parameters
None.
Return value
A float read from the stream.
readString()
Reads an 16-bit pascal style string from the stream. 32-bit length field, followed by length PRUnichars.
AString readString();
Parameters
None.
Return value
The string read from the stream.
setInputStream()
void setInputStream( in nsIInputStream aInputStream );
Parameters
- 
    aInputStream
- The stream from which to read.