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From: peter@sugar.UUCP (Peter da Silva)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: What real non-UNIX 'C' compilers implement...
Message-ID: <672@sugar.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 8-Sep-87 10:35:55 EDT
Article-I.D.: sugar.672
Posted: Tue Sep  8 10:35:55 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 10-Sep-87 07:22:19 EDT
Organization: Sugar Land UNIX - Houston, TX
Lines: 38

To: Doug Gwynn.

Mail is off the hook, so I'll post a reply here. I think it's of general
interest, anyway.

> [ Doug sent me mail saying most non-UNIX 'C' compilers probably don't
>   implement read/write anyway ]

Well, actually, every non-UNIX 'C' compiler I've used has had read and write.
In fact, some have not had fread/fwrite (the ones that emulated pre-version-7
libraries). Usually fread and fwrite are implemented in terms of read and
write, even when that is a brain damaged thing to do (Lattice 'C' on the IBM
does this and breaks fseek for text files. Manx 'C' on the Amiga does this
despite the AmogaDOS having a read and a write with identical semantics to
UNIX). On a couple, read/write are used for binary I/O and fread and fwrite
and (mainly) fprintf and fgets are used for text I/O.

Database:

	VAX/VMS 'C'.
	DECUS 'C' for the PDP-11 is so screwed up I can't remember what
		it implemented.
	BDS-C for the Z80, no fread/fwrite (actually implemented UNIXio
		functions with stdio names).
	Small-C for the 8080 with the library that came with my copy.
	Lattice and Manx 'C' on the Amiga.
	Lattice, Microsoft, and de Smet 'C' on the IBM-PC.

I would probably recommend implementing read/write because in preactical
terms that's what most people tend to use for binary file-fiddling. And you
don't want to disappoint people wanting to port their binary file-fiddlers,
now would you? But make them efficient... on MS-DOS, frex, make them straight
mappings to the MS-DOS "UNIX-style" I/O. On the Amiga, make them aliases for
Read and Write (etc.)... this will break people who do read(0) and write(1),
but these people are probably doing pipe(&pip) and fork() and stuff anyway.
-- 
-- Peter da Silva `-_-' ...!seismo!soma!uhnix1!sugar!peter
--                 'U`  <-- Public domain wolf.