diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'NOTE-WARNING')
-rw-r--r-- | NOTE-WARNING | 34 |
1 files changed, 34 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/NOTE-WARNING b/NOTE-WARNING new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6b1c197 --- /dev/null +++ b/NOTE-WARNING @@ -0,0 +1,34 @@ +****************************************************************************** + W A R N I N G +****************************************************************************** + +Gdbm files have never been `portable' between different operating systems, +system architectures, or potentially even different compilers. Differences +in byte order, the size of file offsets, and even structure packing make +gdbm files non-portable. + +Gdbm version 1.9 includes `large file' support, enabling it on operating +systems where it is not the default. `Large file' support is essentially +when a system uses 64bit file offsets. Gdbm has, of course, supported `large +files' on systems where it was the default for a very long time. + +On some systems, such as Solaris, this functionality is not enabled by +default. Gdbm will now enable it. THIS MEANS THAT GDBM 1.9 MAY NOT BE +ABLE TO ACCESS DATABASES CREATED BY PREVIOUS VERIONS ON THE SAME SYSTEM. + +Running the `configure' script with the `--disable-largefile' flag should +produce a backwards-compatible build on such a system. However, for maximum +compatibility, and increased functionality, you may want to have your +application produce a portable copy of your database with the 1.8.3 version +of the library, and then load it back into version 1.9. + +Gdbm 1.9 contains a utility designed to help you produce such a portable +copy: gdbmexport. To build it, configure the package with the +--enable-gdbm-export option. For the information on how to use this +utility, refer to the documentation, chapter 17 "Export a database into +a portable format." (run `info gdbm gdbmexport' to access it, once +gdbm 1.9 has been installed, or `info -f doc/gdbm.info gdbmexport' to +access the shipped info file). + + + |