Re: [Bug-tar] problem with sys_drain_input_pipe() removal

[Mike Frysinger]

On Monday 29 December 2008 06:25:58 Sergey Poznyakoff wrote:
> Mike Frysinger <address@hidden> ha escrit:
> > i dont have a full list of issues available as they've been lost to
> > time,
>
> Oh, that's a pity. If you find any, please let me know.

my (limited) understanding of the tar archive format is that there is no 
header that states "the archive is exactly XXX bytes long" or "contains 
exactly XXX records".  in other words, ignoring the misbehavior of tar, it is 
entirely possible for the compressor to exit abnormally at locations in the 
stream such that tar simply thinks there is nothing left (and so exits with 
0).  or such that the stuff it is given, tar interprets as garbage and so 
discards and exits with 0.

my point is that willfully screwing the guy feeding tar via a pipe is a bad 
idea as it takes away a very accurate indicator of whether the process 
completed properly.
-mike

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