They're 32-bit values, which by convention are used as 4 printable
characters. A Linux implementation need not treat them any differently from
e.g. user and group IDs, at least in the kernel --- that is, the kernel
doesn't need to worry about the convention, just like it doesn't need to know
that conventionally one uses getpwuid() to map user IDs obtained from stat()
to user names.
(Arguably this is an inconsistency in HFS, because they are metadata of the
same variety as e.g. MIME types, and would therefore make more sense in the
resource fork. But HFS doesn't store them there [probably for speed when
searching for associations between documents and applications], so kernel HFS
support needs to have some way to cope.)
--
brandon s. allbery [os/2][linux][solaris][japh] allbery@kf8nh.apk.net
system administrator [WAY too many hats] allbery@ece.cmu.edu
carnegie mellon / electrical and computer engineering KF8NH
We are Linux. Resistance is an indication that you missed the point.
-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu
Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/