Reading Bytes?

[The_Experienced_Noob]

Is there any way to read bytes from a file? I want to make an app that will interpret .dta files. I know how they’re set up, but only byte-to-byte. I guess I could probably read characters and then translate, but I was hoping there’d be an easier way. . .

Sorry if this is the wrong forum for this, but I’m making the app in Xcode.

[The_Experienced_Noob]

Never mind, I’m a moron

set fil to read file ":path:to:file"
set bytes to {}
repeat with i from 1 to 50
	set end of bytes to (ASCII number of character i of fil)
end repeat
return bytes

Man, I’m kicking myself.