mmdf@udel.UUCP (10/08/87)
In <569@louie.udel.EDU> Marty writes: >I'm not sure where f_size would come from for a block special device, >but if its >not 0, read won't allow read's beyond the limit of f_size. Why bother >checking f_size at all (which comes out of the inode's i_size field). Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding was that MINIX, unlike UNIX, supports the use of a size in the inodes of special devices. I think that this is a deliberate feature designed to prevent reading past the end of a device. For example, the inadvertent mounting of a 360K file system on a 1.2M floppy disk drive. The "fix" suggested in this mail would, I believe, defeat this protection. I wonder what the result would be? I guess I'll never know. Gary Ultra!Gary@Ames.ARPA