Issue #11224: Improved sparse file read support (r85916) introduced a
regression in _FileInFile which is used in file-like objects returned
by TarFile.extractfile(). The inefficient design of the
_FileInFile.read() method causes various dramatic side-effects and
errors:
- The data segment of a file member is read completely into memory
every(!) time a small block is accessed. This is not only slow
but may cause unexpected MemoryErrors with very large files.
- Reading members from compressed tar archives is even slower
because of the excessive backwards seeking which is done when the
same data segment is read over and over again.
- As a backwards seek on a TarFile opened in stream mode is not
possible, using extractfile() fails with a StreamError.
3 files changed