tee command without buffering

[Chris Torek]

In article <509 at brl-tgr.ARPA> kvancamp at ardc.arpa (LCWSL) writes:

> The fourth reply I got was from someone who said that what I wanted
> [`stopping buffering of the tee command'] is impossible because
> the buffering is inherent in the system (i.e., it isn't the fault
> of tee because tee already works on only one byte at a time).

Close.  The problem is not in tee, but neither is it in the system:
It is in the command you are using on the left hand side of the
pipe.  Most standard I/O libraries automatically line buffer file
output if the file itself is a terminal, and block buffer the output
otherwise.  A careful program will use `fflush' at appropriate
points; indeed, I find that the `helpful' line buffering is
unnecessary and even problematical at times.

If a program behaves differently---aside of course from speed---when
its output is run through an unbuffered `cat'-like filter (e.g.,
`tee /dev/null'), it is not well written.
-- 
In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 454 4251)
UUCP:	seismo!umcp-cs!chris
CSNet:	chris at umcp-cs		ARPA:	chris at mimsy.umd.edu