Re: Big files in ext2fs (but not i_osync)

Nahshon (nahshon@actcom.co.il)
Tue, 3 Mar 1998 18:45:14 +0200 (EET)

> The capability for handling sparse files is quite powerful, and when
> you are talking about databases or other aggregate file types it is a
> very useful feature, especially for stuff you want to mmap().

I agree.

> A problem with it in its current configuration is the lack of a
> punch() system call that can be used to hole out unused blocks, but to
> say that sparse files are broken and obsolete is nothing but crap.

AIX implements fclear(fd, len). From the program's point of view it is
similar to write(fd, zeros len). On file systems that support
holes it deallocates blocks which are fully contained in the cleared
area.

Itai

-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu