Re: [vox-tech] file stuff

[Micah Cowan <micah@coMAPSwanbox.com>]

On Fri, Nov 17, 2000 at 03:30:46PM -0800, Peter Jay Salzman wrote:
> i'm reading a book on files under unix, and it isn't clear on a point -
> 
> what is the difference between file descriptor flags (in the process table
> entry) and file status flags (in the file table)?

I think you might be confusing the two...

>From the texinfo docs:
"Currently there is just one file descriptor flag: `FD_CLOEXEC'"

> 
> they look the same to me -- the flags you specify with open().   right?
> 
> pete

Check out the libc texinfo docs.

$ info libc

It's under Low-Level I/O.

More from docs:
<<
   "File status flags" are used to specify attributes of the opening of
a file.  Unlike the file descriptor flags discussed in *Note Descriptor
Flags::, the file status flags are shared by duplicated file descriptors
resulting from a single opening of the file.  The file status flags are
specified with the FLAGS argument to `open'; *note Opening and Closing
Files::.

   File status flags fall into three categories, which are described in
the following sections.

   * Access Modes::, specify what type of access is allowed to the
     file: reading, writing, or both.  They are set by `open' and are
     returned by `fcntl', but cannot be changed.

   * Open-time Flags::, control details of what `open' will do.
     These flags are not preserved after the `open' call.

   * Operating Modes::, affect how operations such as `read' and
     `write' are done.  They are set by `open', and can be fetched or
     changed with `fcntl'.

   The symbols in this section are defined in the header file `fcntl.h'.
>>

hope that helps!
Micah