Index: /issm/trunk/src/m/kml/kml_file_write.m
===================================================================
--- /issm/trunk/src/m/kml/kml_file_write.m	(revision 7269)
+++ /issm/trunk/src/m/kml/kml_file_write.m	(revision 7270)
@@ -35,4 +35,10 @@
 if ~exist('filek' ,'var') || (~ischar(filek) && ~isnumeric(filek))
     filek='';
+elseif ischar(filek)
+    if     strcmpi(filek,'stdout')
+        fid=1;
+    elseif strcmpi(filek,'stderr')
+        fid=2;
+    end
 elseif isnumeric(filek)
     fid=filek;
Index: /issm/trunk/src/m/kml/string_buf.m
===================================================================
--- /issm/trunk/src/m/kml/string_buf.m	(revision 7270)
+++ /issm/trunk/src/m/kml/string_buf.m	(revision 7270)
@@ -0,0 +1,178 @@
+%
+%  definition for the string_buf class.
+%
+%  [sbuf]=string_buf(varargin)
+%
+%  where the optional varargin and defaults are:
+%    init          (numeric, initial size)
+%    inc           (numeric, incremental size)
+%    max           (numeric, maximum size)
+%
+%  and the protected properties are:
+%    string        (char, string buffer)
+%    size          (numeric, current size of buffer)
+%    len           (numeric, current length of string in buffer)
+%
+%  note that zero arguments constructs a default instance; one
+%  argument of the class copies the instance; and two or more
+%  arguments constructs a new instance from the arguments.
+%
+classdef string_buf
+    properties
+        init      =1000000;
+        inc       =100000;
+        max       =10000000;
+    end
+%     properties (SetAccess = private, GetAccess = private)
+    properties (SetAccess = private)
+        string    =[];
+        size      =0;
+        len       =0;
+    end
+
+    methods
+        function [sbuf]=string_buf(varargin)
+
+            switch nargin
+
+%  create a default object
+
+                case 0
+
+%  copy the object or create the object from the input
+
+                otherwise
+                    if (nargin == 1) && isa(varargin{1},class(string_buf))
+                        sbuf=varargin{1};
+
+                    else
+                        fnames=fieldnames(string_buf());
+
+                        for i=1:min(nargin,length(fnames))
+                            if isa(varargin{i},class(sbuf.(fnames{i})))
+                                if ~isempty(varargin{i})
+                                    sbuf.(fnames{i})=varargin{i};
+                                end
+                            else
+                                if ~isempty(inputname(i))
+                                    warning('Argument ''%s'' for property ''%s'' is a ''%s'' class object, not ''%s''.',...
+                                        inputname(i),fnames{i},class(varargin{i}),class(sbuf.(fnames{i})));
+                                else
+                                    warning('Argument %d for property ''%s'' is a ''%s'' class object, not ''%s''.',...
+                                        i           ,fnames{i},class(varargin{i}),class(sbuf.(fnames{i})));
+                                end
+                            end
+                        end
+                    end
+
+            end
+
+            sbuf.string=blanks(sbuf.init);
+            sbuf.size  =sbuf.init;
+
+        end
+
+%  display the object
+
+        function []=disp(sbuf)
+
+            for i=1:numel(sbuf)
+                disp(sprintf('class ''%s'' object ''%s%s'' = \n',...
+                    class(sbuf),inputname(1),string_dim(sbuf,i)));
+                disp(sprintf('          init: %d'      ,sbuf(i).init));
+                disp(sprintf('           inc: %d'      ,sbuf(i).inc));
+                disp(sprintf('           max: %d'      ,sbuf(i).max));
+                disp(sprintf('        string: %s'      ,any2str(sbuf(i).string,40)));
+                disp(sprintf('          size: %d'      ,sbuf(i).size));
+                disp(sprintf('           len: %d\n'    ,sbuf(i).len));
+            end
+
+        end
+
+%  return the fieldnames of the object
+
+        function [fnames]=fieldnames(sbuf)
+
+            fnames={'init' ...
+                    'inc' ...
+                    'max' ...
+                   }';
+
+        end
+
+%  set the properties of the object
+
+        function [sbuf]=set(sbuf,varargin)
+
+            sbufref=feval(class(sbuf));
+            fnames=fieldnames(sbufref);
+
+%  loop through each parameter in the input list (comparing to the reference
+%  object in case property types have been changed)
+
+            for i=1:2:length(varargin)
+                if ismember(varargin{i},fnames) && (i+1 <= length(varargin))
+                    if isa(varargin{i+1},class(sbufref.(varargin{i})))
+                        sbuf.(varargin{i})=varargin{i+1};
+                    else
+                        if ~isempty(inputname(i+1))
+                            warning('Argument ''%s'' for property ''%s'' is a ''%s'' class object, not ''%s''.',...
+                                inputname(i+2),varargin{i},class(varargin{i+1}),class(sbufref.(varargin{i})));
+                        else
+                            warning('Argument %d for property ''%s'' is a ''%s'' class object, not ''%s''.',...
+                                i+2           ,varargin{i},class(varargin{i+1}),class(sbufref.(varargin{i})));
+                        end
+                    end
+                else
+                    warning('Property ''%s'' for class ''%s'' does not exist.',...
+                        varargin{i},class(sbufref));
+                end
+            end
+
+        end
+
+%  add a string to the object
+
+        function [sbuf]=add(sbuf,str)
+
+            if ~ischar(str)
+                if ~isempty(inputname(2))
+                    warning('Argument ''%s'' for string is a ''%s'' class object, not ''%s''.',...
+                        inputname(2),class(str),'char');
+                else
+                    warning('Argument %d for string is a ''%s'' class object, not ''%s''.',...
+                        2           ,class(str),'char');
+                end
+            end
+
+%  check the buffer size and increase as necessary
+
+            while (sbuf.len+length(str) > sbuf.size)
+                if (sbuf.size+sbuf.inc <= sbuf.max)
+                    sbuf.string=[sbuf.string blanks(sbuf.inc)];
+                    sbuf.size  =sbuf.size+sbuf.inc;
+                else
+                    error('String buffer length of %d would exceed maximum of %d.',...
+                        sbuf.size+sbuf.inc,sbuf.max);
+                end
+            end
+
+%  copy the string into the buffer
+
+            sbuf.string(sbuf.len+1:sbuf.len+length(str))=str;
+            sbuf.len=sbuf.len+length(str);
+
+        end
+
+%  return the string from the object
+
+        function [str]=str(sbuf)
+
+           str=sbuf.string(1:sbuf.len);
+
+        end
+        
+    end
+    
+end
+