NetNews Offline 2/NetNews Offline Volume 2.iso/news/comp/lang/c-part1/5907

Text File | 1996-08-05 | 5.2 KB | 125 lines

Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Path: uu4news.netcom.com!zodiac!szh
From: [e-mail] (Syed Zaeem Hosain)
Subject: Re: What to do when feof() is NOT feof()
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Sender: [e-mail] (Syed Zaeem Hosain)
Nntp-Posting-Host: zodiac
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Z Consulting Group
References: <4gb7r3$[e-mail]>
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 1996 06:51:29 GMT

In article <4gb7r3$[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Mike McCarty) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]>,
>Syed Zaeem Hosain <[e-mail]> wrote:
>
>)I would have to differ. Dan has always offered *correct* advice when it
>)is called for. While I do not necessarily always agree with his way of
>)doing so, his point here is still well taken.
>
>This is false. On more than one occasion Dan has posted incorrect
>information, and when challenged either just silently gone away, or
>responded with verbal abuse.

Again, I guess I differ. In all the posts I have read from Dan, he has
been right, albeit not tactful all the time. I believe in reading the
content and not worrying too much about the phrasing in his posts.

>)When somebody is asking a question about something (that they are
>)obviously unknowledgable or confused about), giving them incorrect
>)answers only propagates the confusion. So please don't guess, please
>)don't offer any incorrect suggestions, please don't confuse them
>)further, etc.
>
>I think that guessing can be very helpful, myself. Especially when a
>newbie has asked a "fuzzy" question. Then guessing things like
>
>    I think that you are using an MSDOS machine; if so then...
>
>        or
>
>    assuming you meant ... then ...
>
>can be very useful. And in any case, where does the charter of this
>newsgroup state that only bona fide, certified, Dan Pop-a-fied experts
>are allowed to post responses? This is an UNMODERATED newsgroup.

If the user asks a fuzzy question, then it is perfectly fair to preface
with the appropriate questions to get more information and provide a
good answer, but to make incorrect general statements about the
language only misleads the original query originator.

>)>I may not be an expert but I know if you open a file with fopen(
>)>"filename", "rt"), then fgets stops reading when it finds a ascii 26 and
>)>signals end-of-file. If you open it with fopen( "filename","rb") it reads until
>)>the real end-of-file. I noticed in your smart-ass reply you did not offer any
>)>answers to his problem. Maybe you should take you own advice.
>)
>)On my SunOS system, there is no such ascii 26 byte denoting end of file
>)and fgets will *not* terminate in this manner. The point is that by
>)making such incorrect responses (like you did by insisting on this
>)point) is just plain wrong. It has nothing to do with the language or
>)how the end of files are denoted in most operating systems. Even in
>)PC's running MSDOS, there is no such requirement that there *must* be
>)an ascii 26 at the end of text files. Certain editors (Brief is an
>)example. microEMacs is another) can easily be configured to create such
>)ascii files without this byte.
>
>His response is not incorrect. It is just incomplete. There is a
>difference.

Perhaps. But I'd argue that the incompleteness, particular in this
case, makes it incorrect since it is very misleading. So I prefer to
call it "incorrect".

>But calling someone an idiot is incorrect.

Here I take objection. I did not call *anyone* an idiot - where in
my posts do you see that?

>)Note that even the EOF result returned (look in stdio.h) has nothing to
>)do with the actual byte at the end of the file.
>
>Yes, it does, on some systems. This is a very strong statement for you
>to make, especially in light of the next statement.

Okay, I stand corrected - it was a bit strong. So let me change it
appropriately: *as far as I know*, on many systems, the EOF result as
mentioned in stdio.h is -1 (and I will be the first to admit that this
is not a requirement per se).

But *I* have not seen any system where the actual last byte in files
*has* to be -1 or, for that matter, the *same* as the value of the
define of EOF in stdio.h. Can you please provide some examples of
systems where this is indeed true?

>)The bottom line still is: please do not offer answers if you do not
>)know the correct answer.
>
>Ah, I see. Do as I say, not as I do. Since you offered answers here
>which are not correct.

Please feel free to provide me with exact corrections - I am always
willing to listen and learn. But "you are wrong" comments, without
any further clarification or explanation, does not mean much to me.

>It would be a lot calmer and more fun to read this group if people could
>treat each other with a normal dose of courtesy.

Certainly. But I'd say that I was a heck of a lot more polite in my
responses than you, no?

And it would be even more fun if all the posts were discussing the C
language, so I am going to shut up on this particular thread now. (And
the crowd roars out their approval! :-))

                                Z


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