diff --git a/doc/api/console.md b/doc/api/console.md index 67d82a3ed5..ead2c36070 100644 --- a/doc/api/console.md +++ b/doc/api/console.md @@ -53,11 +53,15 @@ duplicate the browser's functionality exactly. ## Asynchronous vs Synchronous Consoles -The console functions are asynchronous unless the destination is a file. +The console functions are usually asynchronous unless the destination is a file. Disks are fast and operating systems normally employ write-back caching; it should be a very rare occurrence indeed that a write blocks, but it is possible. +Additionally, console functions are blocking when outputting to TTYs +(terminals) on OS X as a workaround for the OS's very small, 1kb buffer size. +This is to prevent interleaving between `stdout` and `stderr`. + ## Class: Console diff --git a/doc/api/process.md b/doc/api/process.md index 494a57ffe6..eb14cc7158 100644 --- a/doc/api/process.md +++ b/doc/api/process.md @@ -957,6 +957,10 @@ event and that writes can block when output is redirected to a file (although disks are fast and operating systems normally employ write-back caching so it should be a very rare occurrence indeed.) +Additionally, `process.stderr` and `process.stdout` are blocking when outputting +to TTYs (terminals) on OS X as a workaround for the OS's very small, 1kb +buffer size. This is to prevent interleaving between `stdout` and `stderr`. + ## process.stdin A `Readable Stream` for stdin (on fd `0`). @@ -1007,6 +1011,10 @@ event and that writes can block when output is redirected to a file (although disks are fast and operating systems normally employ write-back caching so it should be a very rare occurrence indeed.) +Additionally, `process.stderr` and `process.stdout` are blocking when outputting +to TTYs (terminals) on OS X as a workaround for the OS's very small, 1kb +buffer size. This is to prevent interleaving between `stdout` and `stderr`. + To check if Node.js is being run in a TTY context, read the `isTTY` property on `process.stderr`, `process.stdout`, or `process.stdin`: @@ -1102,4 +1110,4 @@ Will print something like: [Signal Events]: #process_signal_events [Stream compatibility]: stream.html#stream_compatibility_with_older_node_js_versions [the tty docs]: tty.html#tty_tty -[`JSON.stringify()`]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/JSON/stringify \ No newline at end of file +[`JSON.stringify()`]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/JSON/stringify diff --git a/lib/tty.js b/lib/tty.js index f3f84ca5a6..54a7b756ec 100644 --- a/lib/tty.js +++ b/lib/tty.js @@ -59,6 +59,13 @@ function WriteStream(fd) { writable: true }); + // Prevents interleaved stdout/stderr output in OS X terminals. + // As noted in the following reference, local TTYs tend to be quite fast and + // this behaviour has become expected due historical functionality on OS X, + // even though it was originally intended to change in v1.0.2 (Libuv 1.2.1). + // Ref: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/1771#issuecomment-119351671 + if (process.platform === 'darwin') this._handle.setBlocking(true); + var winSize = []; var err = this._handle.getWindowSize(winSize); if (!err) {