From de69ae1753ec8f7341faa4562b90270b1912404e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Fred Drake Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 17:40:52 +0000 Subject: Updated version from Moshe, with a re-written warning about the side-effect of cmpcache.cmp() using statcache.stat() internally. --- Doc/lib/libcmpcache.tex | 39 +++++++++++---------------------------- 1 file changed, 11 insertions(+), 28 deletions(-) diff --git a/Doc/lib/libcmpcache.tex b/Doc/lib/libcmpcache.tex index cac08ed..dab987e 100644 --- a/Doc/lib/libcmpcache.tex +++ b/Doc/lib/libcmpcache.tex @@ -5,32 +5,15 @@ \sectionauthor{Moshe Zadka}{mzadka@geocities.com} \modulesynopsis{Compare files very efficiently.} -The \module{cmpcache} module defines a function to compare files, taking all -sort of short-cuts to make it a highly efficient operation. +The \module{cmpcache} module provides an identical interface and similar +functionality as the \refmodule{cmp} module, but can be a bit more efficient +as it uses \function{statcache.stat()} instead of \function{os.stat()} +(see the \refmodule{statcache} module for information on the +difference). -The \module{cmpcache} module defines the following function: - -\begin{funcdesc}{cmp}{f1, f2} -Compare two files given as names. The following tricks are used to -optimize the comparisons: - -\begin{itemize} - \item Signatures (type, size and mtime) are computed via - \refmodule{statcache} - \item Files with identical type, size and mtime are assumed equal. - \item Files with different type or size are never equal. - \item The module only compares files it already compared if their - signature changed. - \item No external programs are called. -\end{itemize} -\end{funcdesc} - -Example: - -\begin{verbatim} ->>> import cmpcache ->>> cmpcache.cmp('libundoc.tex', 'libundoc.tex') -1 ->>> cmpcache.cmp('libundoc.tex', 'lib.tex') -0 -\end{verbatim} +\strong{Note:} Using the \refmodule{statcache} module to provide +\function{stat()} information results in trashing the cache +invalidation mechanism: results are not as reliable. To ensure +``current'' results, use \function{cmp.cmp()} instead of the version +defined in this module, or use \function{statcache.forget()} to +invalidate the appropriate entries. -- cgit v0.12