aboutsummaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/lib/kernel/doc/src/file.xml
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'lib/kernel/doc/src/file.xml')
-rw-r--r--lib/kernel/doc/src/file.xml43
1 files changed, 37 insertions, 6 deletions
diff --git a/lib/kernel/doc/src/file.xml b/lib/kernel/doc/src/file.xml
index b674b3ca93..2ab35b9b05 100644
--- a/lib/kernel/doc/src/file.xml
+++ b/lib/kernel/doc/src/file.xml
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
<p>Regarding filename encoding, the Erlang VM can operate in
two modes. The current mode can be queried using function
- <seealso marker="#native_name_encoding"><c>native_name_encoding/0</c></seealso>.
+ <seealso marker="#native_name_encoding/0"><c>native_name_encoding/0</c></seealso>.
It returns <c>latin1</c> or <c>utf8</c>.</p>
<p>In <c>latin1</c> mode, the Erlang VM does not change the
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
terminal supports UTF-8, otherwise <c>latin1</c>. The default can
be overridden using <c>+fnl</c> (to force <c>latin1</c> mode)
or <c>+fnu</c> (to force <c>utf8</c> mode) when starting
- <seealso marker="erts:erl"><c>erts:erl</c></seealso>.</p>
+ <seealso marker="erts:erl"><c>erl</c></seealso>.</p>
<p>On operating systems with transparent naming, files can be
inconsistently named, for example, some files are encoded in UTF-8 while
@@ -81,6 +81,23 @@
<p>See also section <seealso marker="stdlib:unicode_usage#notes-about-raw-filenames">Notes About Raw Filenames</seealso> in the STDLIB User's Guide.</p>
+ <note><p>
+ File operations used to accept filenames containing
+ null characters (integer value zero). This caused
+ the name to be truncated and in some cases arguments
+ to primitive operations to be mixed up. Filenames
+ containing null characters inside the filename
+ are now <em>rejected</em> and will cause primitive
+ file operations fail.
+ </p></note>
+ <warning><p>
+ Currently null characters at the end of the filename
+ will be accepted by primitive file operations. Such
+ filenames are however still documented as invalid. The
+ implementation will also change in the future and
+ reject such filenames.
+ </p></warning>
+
</description>
<datatypes>
@@ -96,9 +113,21 @@
</datatype>
<datatype>
<name name="filename"/>
+ <desc>
+ <p>
+ See also the documentation of the
+ <seealso marker="#type-name_all"><c>name_all()</c></seealso> type.
+ </p>
+ </desc>
</datatype>
<datatype>
<name name="filename_all"/>
+ <desc>
+ <p>
+ See also the documentation of the
+ <seealso marker="#type-name_all"><c>name_all()</c></seealso> type.
+ </p>
+ </desc>
</datatype>
<datatype>
<name name="io_device"/>
@@ -112,21 +141,23 @@
<name name="name"/>
<desc>
<p>If VM is in Unicode filename mode, <c>string()</c> and <c>char()</c>
- are allowed to be &gt; 255.
+ are allowed to be &gt; 255. See also the documentation of the
+ <seealso marker="#type-name_all"><c>name_all()</c></seealso> type.
</p>
</desc>
</datatype>
<datatype>
<name name="name_all"/>
<desc>
- <p>If VM is in Unicode filename mode, <c>string()</c> and <c>char()</c>
+ <p>If VM is in Unicode filename mode, characters
are allowed to be &gt; 255.
<c><anno>RawFilename</anno></c> is a filename not subject to
Unicode translation,
meaning that it can contain characters not conforming to
the Unicode encoding expected from the file system
(that is, non-UTF-8 characters although the VM is started
- in Unicode filename mode).
+ in Unicode filename mode). Null characters (integer value zero)
+ are <em>not</em> allowed in filenames (not even at the end).
</p>
</desc>
</datatype>
@@ -1825,7 +1856,7 @@ f.txt: {person, "kalle", 25}.
<p>The functions in the module <c>file</c> usually treat binaries
as raw filenames, that is, they are passed "as is" even when the
encoding of the binary does not agree with
- <seealso marker="#native_name_encoding"><c>native_name_encoding()</c></seealso>.
+ <seealso marker="#native_name_encoding/0"><c>native_name_encoding()</c></seealso>.
However, this function expects binaries to be encoded according to the
value returned by <c>native_name_encoding()</c>.</p>
<p>Typical error reasons are:</p>