Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!rat!vlsisj!davidc
From: davidc@vlsisj.uucp (David Chapman)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Subject: Re: Changing cout mode to ios::binary in Borland C++
Message-ID: <1991May9.035652.1136@vlsisj.uucp>
Date: 9 May 91 03:56:52 GMT
References: <91123.104535UH2@psuvm.psu.edu> <91126.163800UH2@psuvm.psu.edu>
Sender: usenet@vlsisj.uucp (Usenet News)
Reply-To: davidc@vlsisj.uucp (David Chapman)
Organization: Compass Design Automation   San Jose, California
Lines: 25


In article <91126.163800UH2@psuvm.psu.edu>, UH2@psuvm.psu.edu (Lee
Sailer) writes:
|> So, an anonymous author says....
|> 
|> with it.  In addition, there may be systems on which the difference
|> between text and binary files is more than just newline translation.

Under VMS (a DEC operating system, in case you didn't know :-), text
files are normally stored in VAR (variable length record) format.  Every
line has a length at the front of it.  There really aren't any "newline"
characters in the file and it's not possible to perform random accesses
in this type of file (not that we've been able to figure out).  Binary
files are stored in fixed-length records, which you can seek in.

|> Anyway, once the machinery is set in motion, it may not be possible
|> to change a file from text to binary mode without completely resetting
|> the file.

Or rewriting the file completely.  :-(

                David Chapman

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