read.abif <- function(filename, max.bytes.in.file = file.info(filename)$size, 
  pied.de.pilote = 1.2, verbose = FALSE){
  #
  # Suppress warnings when reading strings with internal nul character:
  #
  RTC <- function(x, ...) suppressWarnings(rawToChar(x, ...))
  #
  # Define some shortcuts:
  #
  SInt32 <- function(f, ...) readBin(f, what = "integer", signed = TRUE, endian = "big", size = 4, ...)
  SInt16 <- function(f, ...) readBin(f, what = "integer", signed = TRUE, endian = "big", size = 2, ...)
  SInt8 <- function(f, ...) readBin(f, what = "integer", signed = TRUE, endian = "big", size = 1, ...)
  UInt32 <- function(f, ...) readBin(f, what = "integer", signed = FALSE, endian = "big", size = 4, ...)
  UInt16 <- function(f, ...) readBin(f, what = "integer", signed = FALSE, endian = "big", size = 2, ...)
  UInt8 <- function(f, ...) readBin(f, what = "integer", signed = FALSE, endian = "big", size = 1, ...)
  f32 <- function(f, ...) readBin(f, what = "numeric", size = 4,endian="little", ...)
  f64 <- function(f, ...) readBin(f, what = "numeric", size = 8, endian="little",...)
  #
  # Load raw data in memory:
  #
  fc <- file(filename, open = "rb")
  rawdata <- readBin(fc, what = "raw", n = pied.de.pilote*max.bytes.in.file,endian="little")
  if(verbose) print(paste("number of bytes in file", filename, "is", length(rawdata)))
  close(fc)
  #
  # Make a list to store results:
  #
  res <- list(Header = NULL, Directory = NA, Data = NA)
  #
  # Header section is 128 bytes long, located at a fixed position at the
  # beginning of the file. We essentially need the number of item and dataoffset
  #
  res$Header$abif <- RTC(rawdata[1:4])
  if(res$Header$abif != "ABIF") stop("file not in ABIF format")
  if(verbose) print("OK: File is in ABIF format")

  res$Header$version <- SInt16(rawdata[5:6])
  if(verbose) print(paste("File in ABIF version", res$Header$version/100))
  
  res$Header$DirEntry.name <- rawdata[7:10]
  if(verbose) print(paste("DirEntry name: ", RTC(res$Header$DirEntry.name)))

  res$Header$DirEntry.number <- SInt32(rawdata[11:14])
  if(verbose) print(paste("DirEntry number: ", res$Header$DirEntry.number))
  
  res$Header$DirEntry.elementtype <- SInt16(rawdata[15:16])
  if(verbose) print(paste("DirEntry elementtype: ", res$Header$DirEntry.elementtype))

  res$Header$DirEntry.elementsize <- SInt16(rawdata[17:18])
  if(verbose) print(paste("DirEntry elementsize: ", res$Header$DirEntry.elementsize))

  # This one is important:
  res$Header$numelements <- SInt32(rawdata[19:22])
  if(verbose) print(paste("DirEntry numelements: ", res$Header$numelements))
  
  # This one is important too:
  res$Header$dataoffset <- SInt32(rawdata[27:30])
  if(verbose) print(paste("DirEntry dataoffset: ", res$Header$dataoffset))
  dataoffset <- res$Header$dataoffset + 1 # start position is 1 in R vectors
  
  res$Header$datahandle <- SInt32(rawdata[31:34])
  if(verbose) print(paste("DirEntry datahandle: ", res$Header$datahandle))

  res$Header$unused <- SInt16(rawdata[35:128], n = 47)
  # Should be ingnored and set to zero
  res$Header$unused[1:length(res$Header$unused)] <- 0
  if(verbose) print(paste("DirEntry unused: ", length(res$Header$unused), "2-byte integers"))

  #
  # The directory is located at the offset specified in the header,
  # and consist of an array of directory entries.
  # We scan the directory to put values in a data.frame:
  #
  dirdf <- data.frame(list(name = character(0)))
  dirdf$name <- as.character(dirdf$name) # force to characters
  
  for(i in seq_len(res$Header$numelements)){
    deb <- (i-1)*res$Header$DirEntry.elementsize + dataoffset
    direntry <- rawdata[deb:(deb + res$Header$DirEntry.elementsize)]
    dirdf[i, "name"] <- RTC(direntry[1:4])
    dirdf[i, "tagnumber"] <- SInt32(direntry[5:8])
    dirdf[i, "elementtype"] <- SInt16(direntry[9:10])
    dirdf[i, "elementsize"] <- SInt16(direntry[11:12])
    dirdf[i, "numelements"] <- SInt32(direntry[13:16])
    dirdf[i, "datasize"] <- SInt32(direntry[17:20])
    dirdf[i, "dataoffset"] <- SInt32(direntry[21:24])
  }
  if(verbose){
  	 print("Element found:")
  	 print(dirdf$name)
  }
  #
  # Save Directory and make a list to store data:
  #
  res$Directory <- dirdf
  res$Data <- vector("list", nrow(dirdf))
  names(res$Data) <- paste(dirdf$name, dirdf$tagnumber, sep = ".")
  #
  # Data extraction:
  #
  for(i in seq_len(res$Header$numelements)){
    deb <- (i-1)*res$Header$DirEntry.elementsize + dataoffset
    # Short data are stored in dataoffset directly:
    if(dirdf[i, "datasize"] > 4){
      debinraw <- dirdf[i, "dataoffset"] + 1
    } else {
      debinraw <- deb + 20
    }
    elementtype <- dirdf[i, "elementtype"]
    numelements <- dirdf[i, "numelements"]
    elementsize <- dirdf[i, "elementsize"]
    data <- rawdata[debinraw:(debinraw + numelements*elementsize)]
    # unsigned 8 bits integer:
    if(elementtype == 1) res$Data[[i]] <- UInt8(data, n = numelements)
    # char or signed 8 bits integer
    if(elementtype == 2){
        res$Data[[i]] <- tryCatch(RTC(data),finally=paste(rawToChar(data,multiple=TRUE),collapse=""),error=function(er){cat(paste("an error was detected with the following  message:",er," but this error was fixed\n",sep=" "))})
        }
    
    # unsigned 16 bits integer:
    if(elementtype == 3) res$Data[[i]] <- UInt16(data, n = numelements)
    # short:
    if(elementtype == 4) res$Data[[i]] <- SInt16(data, n = numelements)
    # long:
    if(elementtype == 5) res$Data[[i]] <- SInt32(data, n = numelements)
    # float:
    if(elementtype == 7) res$Data[[i]] <- f32(data, n = numelements)
    # double:
    if(elementtype == 8) res$Data[[i]] <- f64(data, n = numelements)
    # date:
    if(elementtype == 10)
      res$Data[[i]] <- list(year = SInt16(data, n = 1), 
       month = UInt8(data[-(1:2)], n = 1), day = UInt8(data[-(1:3)], n = 1))
    # time:
    if(elementtype == 11)
      res$Data[[i]] <- list(hour = UInt8(data, n = 1), 
        minute = UInt8(data[-1], n = 1), second = UInt8(data[-(1:2)], n = 1),
        hsecond = UInt8(data[-(1:3)], n = 1))
    # pString:
    if(elementtype == 18){
      n <- SInt8(rawdata[debinraw])
      pString <- RTC(rawdata[(debinraw+1):(debinraw+n)])
      res$Data[[i]] <- pString
    }
    # cString:
    if(elementtype == 19) res$Data[[i]] <- RTC(data[1:(length(data) - 1) ])
    # user:
    if(elementtype >= 1024) res$Data[[i]] <- data
    # legacy:
    if(elementtype %in% c(12, 13)) 
      warning("unimplemented legacy type found in file")
    if(elementtype %in% c(6, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 128, 256, 384))
      warning("unsupported legacy type found in file")
  }
  return(res)
}
