> On a side note, I remember NTFS supporting sparse file in Windows, although I
> believe the application has to do special api call (DeviceIoControl maybe?) on
> the file handle or something like that to take advantage of it. Although I would
> imagine supporting it would result in an unnecessary headache to the developers.
>
>
>
>

Sparse files are not "new" in any way...

The first time I read about sparse files was way before the creation of 
NTFS. It dates back to when I was using my Apple ][+ and Apple DOS 3.3. 
Even back then, it was possible to create a file that, if not sparse, 
could weight at a few Mb on a floppy that had a capacity of less than 
400 Kb.
I even created a few with some small programms writen in Basic.

I would'nt be surprised if it was possible in even the early verions of 
MS-DOS under the FAT12 file system... After all, Apple DOS was writen my 
Microsoft a few years before the first PCs.


Alain

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