From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,bc1361a952ec75ca X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-08-31 09:10:06 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!newsfeed.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.gtei.net!news.voicenet.com!nntp2.aus1.giganews.com!border1.nntp.aus1.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!news-east.rr.com!cyclone.kc.rr.com!news.kc.rr.com!news-west.rr.com!lsnws01.we.mediaone.net!typhoon.san.rr.com!not-for-mail Message-ID: <3B8FB6CE.9491B249@san.rr.com> From: Darren New Organization: Boxes! X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.77 [en] (Windows NT 5.0; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Progress on AdaOS References: <9IFe7.12813$6R6.1221214@news1.cableinet.net> <9lghqu$ac6$1@nh.pace.co.uk> <3B7C3293.76F49097@home.com> <9lhefg$lgd$1@nh.pace.co.uk> <3B7D47F1.25D6FC78@boeing.com> <5ee5b646.0108171856.18631c4c@posting.google.com> <3B7F624B.7294D24F@acm.org> <9lr6je$5hj$1@nh.pace.co.uk> <9ltoi7$4is$1@nh.pace.co.uk> <3B82789B.8D195045@home.com> <9ltuo8$70n$1@nh.pace.co.uk> <3B829450.879B0396@home.com> <9mdh4e$q3v$1@nh.pace.co.uk> <9me03r$c302@news.cis.okstate.edu> <3B8AB6C8.910130C8@san.rr.com> <9metfo$aai2@news.cis.okstate.edu> <3B8BC332.214F95CA@san.rr.com> <9mhmlg$9aa1@news.cis.okstate.edu> <3B8D1B8F.9BDEDC38@san.rr.com> <9mkm5m$aai1@news.cis.okstate.edu> <3B8E6BDB.16D26AE8@san.rr.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 16:09:50 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 24.165.20.229 X-Complaints-To: abuse@rr.com X-Trace: typhoon.san.rr.com 999274190 24.165.20.229 (Fri, 31 Aug 2001 09:09:50 PDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 09:09:50 PDT Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:12609 Date: 2001-08-31T16:09:50+00:00 List-Id: > > Part of the > > problem is I've been falling into an argumentative mode; but it would > > have been real helpful if you explained things up front - gave a > > definition of file from the start, for example, or maybe some > > references, web or book. Here's another example to think about. UNIX already has (at least) two kinds of files: "plain" files and "directory" files. The calls on "plain" files are read, write, and stat. The calls on "directory" files are creat, unlink, stat, and readdir. Nobody complains they can't read directories as streams. tar doesn't treat the two kinds of files the same way. cp can't even deal with directory files. Many people seem to miss the forest for the trees, thinking that all files in UNIX are arrays of bytes. I'm suggesting that when you *really* have a file that has an internal structure, it can be appropriate to manage it with calls other than ones that map it to an array of bytes. SQL database files aren't arrays of bytes. You manage them with quite sophisticated calls. Sure, you can back up the database (perhaps) onto a serialized format, but I don't think anyone would say that the dump of the SQL tables onto a tape are "an SQL database". If you're building an AdaOS, why not make files that are managed with Ada semantics? -- Darren New San Diego, CA, USA (PST). Cryptokeys on demand.