Re: [Bug-ed] editing a large file with ed

[Antonio Diaz Diaz]

Hello,

Enda wrote:
> $ ed largefile
> No space left on device
> 1,$d
> w
> 0
> q
>
> I am trying to empty the contents of a file. The above works, but should I be worried 
> about the  "No space left on device" warning.

As Claudio said, it would help to know which version of ed you are 
using. Current version of GNU ed will fail with an exit status of 2 if 
"largefile" is a regular file, or ignore the error otherwise.

Claudio is also probably right in that you are just out of space in /tmp.

Is there any reason to read the whole "largefile" in /tmp just to 
truncate it, instead of, say, doing a "rm" followed by a "touch"?


Regards,
Antonio.