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in reply to Usage of a sparse file

Is the sparse file a documented format? I see mention in your path of "zimbra". Does the documentation for that OS project discuss how the sparse file is built, and how it's indexed? The operating system indeed only knows about the file's total size. It doesn't care or know about how the file is structured internally. There's also reference in your post to an ".mdb" file, which is probably a fairly well-known database. The database may even have housekeeping tools available to you once you know for sure which one it is. If those tools have a command line interface, Perl can drive it.

Update: I stand corrected. Live! Learn! ;)


Dave

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Re^2: Usage of a sparse file
by mishikal (Novice) on Mar 11, 2013 at 08:01 UTC
    A sparse file is a basic file concept. You can read about it here on Wikipedia

    All my question has to do with is whether or not Perl has a way to query actual usage from disk like "du" can. It does not matter what the file type is, as that has zero to do with the answer. It could be *any* sparse file, I simply am using one I have at hand to ask the question. Thanks!