select would indicate pipe is readable when there's no data in pipe and write end is closed?

I am reading *The Linux Programming Interface*. From *63.2.3 When Is a File Descriptor Ready?*, it says: > Correctly using select() and poll() requires an understanding of > the conditions under which a file descriptor indicates as being ready. > SUSv3 says that a file descriptor (with O_NONBLOCK clear) is > considered to be ready if a call to an I/O function would not block, > *regardless of whether the function would actually transfer data*. The key point is italicized: select() and poll() tell us whether an > I/O operation would not block, rather than whether it would > successfully transfer data. In this light, let us consider how these > system calls operate for different types of file descriptors. We show > this information in tables containing two columns: > > - The select() column indicates whether a file descriptor is marked as readable (r), writable (w), or having an exceptional condition (x). > > .... > > Pipes and FIFOs > > Table 63-4 summarizes the details for the read end of a pipe or FIFO. > The Data in pipe? column indicates whether the pipe has at least 1 > byte of data available for reading. In this table, we assume that > POLLIN was specified in the events field for poll(). > > .... > > Table 63-4: select() and poll() indications for the read end of a > pipe or FIFO > > Condition or event | select() | poll() > Data in pipe? | Write end open? | > no | no | r | POLLHUP > yes | yes | r | POLLIN > yes | no | r | POLLIN | POLLHUP > > And Table 63-5: select() and poll() indications for the write end > of a pipe or FIFO > (In this table, we assume that POLLOUT was specified in the events field for poll().) > > Condition or event | select() | poll() > Space for PIPE_BUF bytes? | Read end open? | > no | no | w | POLLERR > yes | yes | w | POLLOUT > yes | no | w | POLLOUT | POLLERR I don't understand the 1st row condition of both tables. No data in pipe, write end closed, select() would indicate that as a readable file descriptor? Why? Shouldn't select() block till there's data in the pipe? No space for PIPE_BUF bytes, read end closed, select() would indicate that as a writeable file descriptor?