Re: fseek past the eof

From: Xenos (dont.spam.me_at_spamhate.com)
Date: 11/30/04 

Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 10:10:56 -0500

"Joe Wright" <joewwright@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:weadnfEJcudrUjbcRVn-iA@comcast.com...
> Xenos wrote:
> > Can anyone tell me what the standard says about using fseek (on a binary
> > file) to seek past the end-of-file? I can't find anything in my (draft)
> > copy of the standard, nor in the FAQ.
> >
> > Thanks
>
> I'm curious why you would, and what you would expect to find,
> seeking past end-of-file. Perhaps I misunderstand.
>
> Still curious, how would you know where end-of-file is and that you
> are seeking past it?
>
I'm not. We have some vendor code that does, which is having problems.
Before I talk to them about it, I want to understand the standard. I don't
want to run my mouth without knowing what the hell I'm talking about.

Why do it? It creates what is called a "sparse file," a file with holes.
A lot of executables to it (but for what reason, I do not know). It can be
done on Windows and Unix, but I don't know if its implementation specific or
part of the standard.

Thanks.

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