GNU bug report logs - #11761
Slight bug in split :-)

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From: Pádraig Brady <P <at> draigBrady.com>
To: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
Cc: 11761 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#11761: Slight bug in split :-)
Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2012 20:26:54 +0100

On 06/22/2012 08:09 PM, Paul Eggert wrote:
>>From a filesystem point of view, would it be
> more efficient to invoke ftruncate at the end of
> writing, rather than at the beginning?  That way,
> if the file already exists and is of the right size,
> it won't need to be reallocated.  We're not trying
> to write any holes, so this optimization should be
> valid.
> 
> Please don't let this comment slow you down, as your
> patch is fine as-is.  I'm mainly asking because I was
> wondering about the issue in general.

Hmm, I suppose at the writing stage, truncating
after writing could be more efficient.

Though if we're updating a split set,
and the new set had some new files, then the new split set
could be more likely be on separate parts of the disk,
hence slowing future processing of the split set?

You could also argue that you should free up as
much place as possible and let the file system
decide where best to allocate stuff, which can
change over time.

I'd err on the side of simplicity here.

cheers,
Pádraig.

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