To: Peter Horan <uunet.uu.net!uunet!deakin.edu.au!peter>
Cc: Paul Lancette <uunet.uu.net!uunet!teleview.com.sg!lancette>,
        uunet.uu.net!uunet!sun.soe.clarkson.edu!djgpp, edward AT uunet DOT uu DOT net
Subject: Re: Problems opening > 20 files when using FOPEN
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 95 10:59:12 -0700
From: uunet.uu.net!palomino!edward

In UNIX of ancient, there was a max of 20 open file descriptors per
process. As UNIX has matured into the commercial market, this
restriction has been lifted as the UNIX operating system now allows
for more than 20 per process. This is configurable. The details as
to how it is done on a specific system may vary, but few modern
implentations of UNIX limit you to 20 file descriptors. UNIX
commands to look up for further details are getrlimit()/setrlimit()
with the RLIMIT_NOFILE flag. It would be best to use these functions
(when available) to ensure the most effecient use of resources. Some
systems allow 64 or more file descriptors to be open by any one
process.

Edward Maros