cvs commit: src/lib/libc/sys stat.2

Bruce Evans bde at zeta.org.au
Tue May 13 03:17:47 PDT 2003


On Tue, 13 May 2003, Doug Barton wrote:

> dougb       2003/05/13 01:10:05 PDT
>
>   FreeBSD src repository
>
>   Modified files:
>     lib/libc/sys         stat.2
>   Log:
>   * The copy of the stat struct in the man page has rotted, so remove it.
>   Those who really need this information can find it in the include file.

Er, I think standard structs like this are among the few structs that
should be documented in man pages.  The man page still has references
to some of the fields in the struct.  POSIX.1 documents the fields
in detail in its specification of <stat.h> (its specification of stat(2)
just names the required fields).  This is organized like:

    The stat struct shall contain ...
    dev_t   st_dev    Device ID ...
    ...

WHat man pages shouldn't have so much of is a verbatim copy of the header
that gives implementation details like S_IFREG, at least when the
corresponding portable interfaces like S_ISREG() are undocumented.
S_ISREG() has only been standard for 15 years.

Bruce


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