EOF with pipes.

[boyd at basser.UUCP]

    > It sure would be neat if EOF's could be sent down pipes.

I'm sure that what you need here is not EOF's down pipes
but a *protocol*.  After all, EOF means that the other end
of the pipe has been closed, and not some other magical event.

    > Is it actually hard to implement in any version of UNIX?

I'm also sure that it wouldn't be very hard to break pipes too.
At least it'd be a step forward in the apparent quest to break
everything, that up till now worked in the stated way.

    > Wouldn't be very compatible with the rest of the world ...

Exactly, it wouldn't be very compatible.  But I see that it's
already been done at RAND with that ridiculous eofp() junk.

I just dread the thought of "eofp() meets _filbuf()".