Re: writing to files

In article <nvOdncw76Le_QzjfRVn-tQ@xxxxxxxxxxx>,
glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> In one project compression (of very wordy XML data) was one solution to
> the 2GB problem.

That can help in some situations, but not all.

Of course, it assumes that the compression program can handle a file
>2gb (and even more basically, that the file system can handle it). Odds
of that are at least reasonably good, but not certain.

It also assumes that the programs writing and reading the file can write
and read files >2gb. That is *FAR* from given. Of particular relevance
to this newsgroup is that there exist Fortran compilers that won't
handle such files, even if the underlying operating system is capable of
it.

Compressing after the fact can avoid problems with intermediate steps,
such as transferring the data around. For example, it would have worked
as a solution to the problem I had in burning a >2gb file to a DVD. But
it still leaves you vulnerable to some potential problems. Whether the
remaining problems are relevant r not depends on the particular
application.

--
Richard Maine | Good judgment comes from experience;
email: my first.last at org.domain | experience comes from bad judgment.
org: nasa, domain: gov | -- Mark Twain
.