23 lines
1.1 KiB
Plaintext
23 lines
1.1 KiB
Plaintext
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safecat is a program which implements D. J. Bernstein's
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maildir algorithm to copy stdin safely to a file in a speci-
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fied directory. With safecat, the user is offered two assur-
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ances. First, if safecat returns a successful exit status,
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then all data is guaranteed to be saved in the destination
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directory. Second, if a file exists in the destination
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directory, placed there by safecat, then the file is guaran-
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teed to be complete.
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When saving data with safecat, the user specifies a destina-
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tion directory, but not a file name. The file name is
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selected by safecat to ensure that no filename collisions
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occur, even if many safecat processes and other programs
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implementing the maildir algorithm are writing to the direc-
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tory simultaneously. If particular filenames are desired,
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then the user should rename the file after safecat com-
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pletes. In general, when spooling data with safecat, a sin-
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gle, separate process should handle naming, collecting, and
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deleting these files. Examples of such a process are dae-
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mons, cron jobs, and mail readers.
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WWW: ${HOMEPAGE}
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