READ(5) READ(5)
NAME
read, write - transfer data from and to a file
SYNOPSIS
Tread tag[2] fid[2] offset[8] count[2]
Rread tag[2] fid[2] count[2] pad[1] data[count]
Twrite tag[2] fid[2] offset[8] count[2] pad[1] data[count]
Rwrite tag[2] fid[2] count[2]
DESCRIPTION
The read request asks for count bytes of data from the file
identified by fid, which must be opened for reading, start-
ing offset bytes after the beginning of the file. Count
must be less than or equal to MAXFDATA (8192, defined in
<fcall.h>). The bytes are returned with the read reply mes-
sage.
The count field in the reply indicates the number of bytes
returned. This may be less than the requested amount. If
the offset field is greater than the number of bytes in the
file, a count of zero will be returned. For directories,
read returns an integral number of directory entries exactly
as in stat (see stat(5)), one for each member of the direc-
tory. The read request message must have offset and count
zero modulo DIRLEN.
The write request asks that count bytes of data be recorded
in the file identified by fid, which must be opened for
writing, starting offset bytes after the beginning of the
file. If the file has been opened append only, the data
will be placed at the end of the file regardless of offset.
Directories may not be written.
The write reply records the number of bytes actually writ-
ten. It is usually an error if this is not the same as
requested.
ENTRY POINTS
Read and write messages are generated by the corresponding
calls. Because of the MAXFDATA limit, more than one message
may be produced by a single call.
Page 1 Plan 9 (printed 12/25/24)