Is write(2) "atomic" ?

Metro T. Sauper metro at asi.UUCP
Wed Jul 13 23:41:41 AEST 1988


>From article <23801 at bu-cs.BU.EDU>, by bzs at bu-cs.BU.EDU (Barry Shein):
> 
>>Do UNIX semantics guarantee that write(2) calls will be "atomic" ?
>>
>>		      Naim Abdullah
> 
> I think the result is indeterminate (undefined), .......
> 
> 	-Barry Shein, Boston University

I believe that it also depends on the mode you opened the file with.

My Programmers reference manual for Unix SYstem V r3.1, indicates that if
you open a file with mode "a" (append) you are guarenteed to write to the
current end of the file whether or not someone else has appended to the file.


-- 
Metro T. Sauper, Jr.                              Assessment Systems, Inc.
Director, Remote Systems Development              210 South Fourth Street
(215) 592-8900                 ..!asi!metro       Philadelphia, PA 19106



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