[erlang-questions] file:read_file won't read from /proc

[Jachym Holecek]

Hello,

# Martin DeMello 2010-03-04:
> 4> {ok, B} = file:read_file("/proc/cpuinfo").
> {ok,<<>>}
> 
> Why is B empty?

The read_file/1 thing check file size and then attempts to read exactly
that many bytes. The size of /proc/cpuinfo is zero[*], thus read_file/1
correctly reads zero bytes and represents the result with empty binary.

Gotta love UN*X for its sense of consistency, right? ;-)

Regards,
	-- Jachym

[*] Checked on NetBSD and Linux.