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
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