> On 11/29/06, Chris Suter <email@hidden> wrote:
>>
>> One thing to be wary of (although it might not occur in your
>> case), is that
>> both writeData and availableData can block if there isn't
>> sufficient buffer
>> space.
>
> How can availableData block if the pipe it is reading from becomes
> full?
You're quite right, obviously it can't. It can block when there is no
data. Anyway, that's irrelevant. My point still stands, I believe you
could still get the deadlock: writeData blocks on a full buffer &
puts or stdout.flush in Ruby blocks waiting on a full buffer.
Correct a deadlock potential exists because they are waiting on each
other to drain their respective output pipes... for that to happen
would require one to get ahead of the other or for one to write out a
large enough amount of data before being fully able to drain its input
pipe.
This type of issue can be addressed by read in background
functionality or by using two threads in his application (one to fill
the pipe and the other to drain the pipe).
