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From: still@usceast.UUCP (Bert Still)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: Can't ls -l add file sizes properly??
Message-ID: <2463@usceast.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 21-Nov-87 14:14:27 EST
Article-I.D.: usceast.2463
Posted: Sat Nov 21 14:14:27 1987
Date-Received: Wed, 25-Nov-87 23:30:07 EST
References: <456@morgoth.UUCP>
Reply-To: still@usceast.UUCP (Bert Still)
Organization: University of South Carolina, Columbia
Lines: 38
Summary: Sure... but it's not the file sizes that counts...

In article <456@morgoth.UUCP> glidden@morgoth.UUCP (Ken A. Glidden) writes:
># ls -l
>total 40
>-rwxr--r--  1 glidden      2117 Aug  6 12:17 acctrpt
>-rwxr--r--  1 glidden       179 Mar  2  1987 age.csh
>-rwxrwxr--  1 root         1308 Aug  4 16:39 arcjobs.sh

		[... other files left out ...]

>-rw-r--r--  1 root         1132 Aug  4 14:11 tmp
>                         ======
>SUBTOTAL------>          35,725
>
>****
>Why does the ls -l "total" give me 40Kb and my manual addition of the file 
>sizes give me 35.7Kb !?!?!?! (Note: This came from Ultrix 2.0 on a DEC uVAX II)
>****
>

	What you need to notice here, is that the "total 40" line indicates
how many disk BLOCKS are in use inside this directory. If a file occupies any
part of a disk block, the whole block will be allocated to that file. Thus, the
file age.csh occupies 1 block, while arcjobs.sh occupies 2. If you divide the
character-count of each file by 1024, then round each answer up and sum, you
will get the 40 listed. The "wasted space" is usually called overhead, and that
is why 1k blocks were chosen over 2k or 4k blocks.

					Bert

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UUCP:   ...seismo!ncr-sd!ncrcae      #  US SNAIL:  Bert Still
                 !usceast!still      #             Dept of Mathematics
CSNET:  still@cs.scarolina.edu       #             University of South Carolina
                                     #             Columbia, SC 29208
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