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Last update: 10 April,2001

                                                                1003.1-90 #29
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	Interpretation Number:	(to be assigned by the IEEE)
	Topic:			SSIZE_MAX minimum values
	Relevant Sections:	2.8.6
	Classification:		Editorial defect.


Interpretation Request: (Defect Report)
-----------------------

  Table 2-7 in section 2.8.6 (Invariant Values) lists
  {_POSIX_SSIZE_MAX} as the value for the symbol {SSIZE_MAX}.  It
  is not made clear in this section that an implementation is per-
  mitted to support a value for {SSIZE_MAX} that exceeds
  {_POSIX_SSIZE_MAX}.

  Without clarification, it might be possible to interpret the
  standard as requiring all implementations to set {SSIZE_MAX} to
  32767.  The text of sections 2.8.2 through 2.8.5 explicitly per-
  mit the symbols in tables 2-5 and 2-6 to take on values larger
  than the minimum values in table 2-3.  The third columns of
  tables 2-4 and 2-5 are even titled "Minimum Value".

  In contrast to this possible interpretation, BSD currently de-
  clares the read() and write() functions with return values and
  nbyte parameters to be 32-bit signed ints, for which SSIZE_MAX
  would be defined to be MAX_INT, 21474783647 not 32767.


IEEE Interpretation for 1003.1-1990 (9945-1:1990):
--------------------------------------------------

The third column header in table 2-7 had the word "Minimum"
inadvertantly omitted.

Rationale for Interpretation:
-----------------------------
This is an editorial defect with no impact on test assertions.
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