3 files changed, 66 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/src/preview/mod.rs b/src/preview/mod.rs
index ed49778..0eea813 100644
--- a/src/preview/mod.rs
+++ b/src/preview/mod.rs
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 mod preview;
 mod preview_state;
+mod zero_len_file_view;
 
 pub use {
     preview::Preview,
     preview_state::PreviewState,
+    zero_len_file_view::ZeroLenFileView,
 };
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq)]
diff --git a/src/preview/preview.rs b/src/preview/preview.rs
index ecf6850..19c444e 100644
--- a/src/preview/preview.rs
+++ b/src/preview/preview.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
-
 use {
-    super::PreviewMode,
+    super::*,
     crate::{
         app::{AppContext, LineNumber},
         command::{ScrollCommand},
@@ -25,6 +24,7 @@ pub enum Preview {
     Image(ImageView),
     Syntactic(SyntacticView),
     Hex(HexView),
+    ZeroLen(ZeroLenFileView),
     IOError(io::Error),
 }
 
@@ -87,6 +87,10 @@ impl Preview {
     ) -> Self {
         match SyntacticView::new(path, InputPattern::none(), &mut Dam::unlimited(), con) {
             Ok(Some(sv)) => Self::Syntactic(sv),
+            Err(ProgramError::ZeroLenFile) => {
+                debug!("zero len file - check if system file");
+                Self::ZeroLen(ZeroLenFileView::new(path.to_path_buf()))
+            }
             // not previewable as UTF8 text
             // we'll try reading it as binary
             _ => Self::hex(path),
@@ -136,6 +140,7 @@ impl Preview {
         match self {
             Self::Image(_) => Some(PreviewMode::Image),
             Self::Syntactic(_) => Some(PreviewMode::Text),
+            Self::ZeroLen(_) => Some(PreviewMode::Text),
             Self::Hex(_) => Some(PreviewMode::Hex),
             Self::IOError(_) => None,
         }
@@ -226,6 +231,7 @@ impl Preview {
         match self {
             Self::Image(iv) => iv.display(w, screen, panel_skin, area, con),
             Self::Syntactic(sv) => sv.display(w, screen, panel_skin, area, con),
+            Self::ZeroLen(zlv) => zlv.display(w, screen, panel_skin, area),
             Self::Hex(hv) => hv.display(w, screen, panel_skin, area),
             Self::IOError(err) => {
                 let mut y = area.top;
diff --git a/src/preview/zero_len_file_view.rs b/src/preview/zero_len_file_view.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5ec3045
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/preview/zero_len_file_view.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+use {
+    crate::{
+        display::{CropWriter, SPACE_FILLING, Screen, W},
+        errors::ProgramError,
+        skin::PanelSkin,
+    },
+    char_reader::CharReader,
+    crossterm::{
+        cursor,
+        QueueableCommand,
+    },
+    std::{
+        fs::File,
+        path::PathBuf,
+    },
+    termimad::{Area},
+};
+
+/// a (light) display for a file declaring a size 0,
+/// as happens for many system "files", for example in /proc
+pub struct ZeroLenFileView {
+    path: PathBuf,
+}
+
+impl ZeroLenFileView {
+    pub fn new(path: PathBuf) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            path,
+        }
+    }
+    pub fn display(
+        &mut self,
+        w: &mut W,
+        _screen: Screen,
+        panel_skin: &PanelSkin,
+        area: &Area,
+    ) -> Result<(), ProgramError> {
+        let styles = &panel_skin.styles;
+        let line_count = area.height as usize;
+        let file = File::open(&self.path)?;
+        let mut reader = CharReader::new(file);
+        // line_len here is in chars, and we crop in cols, but it's OK because both
+        // are usually identical for system files and we crop later anyway
+        let line_len = area.width as usize;
+        for y in 0..line_count {
+            w.queue(cursor::MoveTo(area.left, y as u16 + area.top))?;
+            let mut cw = CropWriter::new(w, area.width as usize);
+            let cw = &mut cw;
+            if let Some(line) = reader.next_line(line_len, 15_000)? {
+                cw.queue_str(&styles.default, &line)?;
+            }
+            cw.fill(&styles.default, &SPACE_FILLING)?;
+        }
+        Ok(())
+    }
+}