Initially, a full disk is not classified as an error in the regular nodejs file write operations. You specify a number of bytes to be written and receive the count of bytes actually written. If these two values do not match (indicating that all bytes were not written), it is assumed that there may be a disk full issue, but this does not generate an error at the fundamental level of writing.
In addition, nodejs streams do not appear to verify if all bytes have been successfully written, making it difficult for the stream's user to check for completion. This oversight appears to present a significant flaw in the implementation. While streams are efficient when operating smoothly, they can be challenging to manage when errors arise due to limited error communication mechanisms. As such, some developers opt for manual reads and writes to maintain control over the process. This approach might be recommended in this scenario.
An inspection of the file writeStream source code reveals that it does not include any checks to confirm successful byte writes. Detecting a full disk during a write operation seems to rely solely on verifying the completion of byte writes, which the stream appears to overlook without raising an error. While alternative detection methods could exist, such as through buffer overflow leading to false returns from w.write(), incorporating timeout-based checks for the absence of a drain event might help identify underlying issues like disk space constraints.
Furthermore, implementing a callback with w.write() to capture potential errors may provide additional insights into the status of the write operation. However, the lack of clear error reporting channels within the callback mechanism adds to the challenge of precisely pinpointing the source of any encountered problems.