+bool read_float8 (int fd, double& f)
+{
+ unsigned char buf[8];
+ if (read (fd, &buf, 8) != 8)
+ return false;
+
+#if WORDS_BIG_ENDIAN
+ unsigned char c;
+ c = buf[0]; buf[0] = buf[7]; buf[7] = c;
+ c = buf[1]; buf[1] = buf[6]; buf[6] = c;
+ c = buf[2]; buf[2] = buf[5]; buf[5] = c;
+ c = buf[3]; buf[3] = buf[4]; buf[4] = c;
+#endif
+
+ f = *(reinterpret_cast<double*>(buf));
+
+ return true;
+}
+