lseek beyond EOF se-man-tic gripe

R.GUR reha at orion.UUCP
Mon Aug 29 12:43:43 AEST 1983


Andy,
	This is in response to why the "gap" in files "feature" is documented
	in the 4.1BSD manuals and not the USG III and V manuals.

	I suspect that the 4.1 BSD manuals are descendents of the earlier
	V7 documents which had many details of the internal implementation
	of files within the kernel. I think that taking the implementation
	details (of files) out of the USG III and V manuals was a step in
	the right direction. 

	Ordinary programmers using files on UNIX should not use details on how
	files are handled within the kernel.  All that should be in the manual
	is that seeks beyond EOF are permitted. There should be a separate
	document entitled "The UNIX I/O System" or something like that to
	exhort the nitty gritty for "system programmers".


						orion!reha



More information about the Comp.unix.wizards mailing list