Magic number

Rex_chaos · 05-01-2002, 12:33 AM

Hello all,
Does anyone know what magic number is?

Thanks.

zmedico · 05-01-2002, 12:55 AM

I think it usally refers to a constant number that is used for some purpose.

linuxcool · 05-01-2002, 03:06 AM

The only magic number that I know of is the one at the end of the MBR ( Master Boot Record ). It's ' 55AA ' or ' AA55 '.

DMR · 05-01-2002, 03:30 AM

Quote:

Hello all,
Does anyone know what magic number is?

ROFLMAO! If I knew the Magic Number, do you think I'd share?!

Seriously, though:
In very general terms, "magic number" most often refers to a number/code stored at a certain location in a file which identifies the file's type. Believe it or not, there are actually man pages for this:
man magic
or
man file

Thymox · 05-01-2002, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rex_chaos
Hello all,
Does anyone know what magic number is?

Thanks.

Surely that would depend on context. The magic number of/for what?

marlaina1 · 05-01-2002, 03:21 PM

See www.pcwebopaedia.com for the definition. Also a man page for magic number.

BrianK · 05-01-2002, 09:21 PM

I thought that magic numbers tell the OS what kind of file it is dealing with... so it knows what application will run it.

edit: " Under Unix, the system and various applications programs (especially the linker) distinguish between types of executable file by looking for a magic number."

that came from http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/ht...ic-number.html