zero(7)


zero -- source of zeroes

Description

A zero special file is a source of zeroed unnamed memory.

Reads from a zero special file always return a buffer full of zeroes. The file is of infinite length.

Writes to a zero special file are always successful, but the data written is ignored.

Mapping a zero special file creates a zero-initialized unnamed memory object of a length equal to the length of the mapping and rounded up to the nearest page size as returned by sysconf(3C). Multiple processes can share such a zero special file object provided a common ancestor mapped the MAP_SHARED object.

Files

/dev/zero

References

fork(2), mmap(2), sysconf(3C)
© 2004 The SCO Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
UnixWare 7 Release 7.1.4 - 25 April 2004