🚀 go-pugleaf

On Sun, 24 Dec 1995 22:30:58 GMT, Ambrose Li <acli@byron.net4.io.org> wrote:
> 
> Actually, it takes nothing for C libraries to accept /; and,
> in fact, if the C libraries are *not* treating / as a valid
> separator, they are using extra code to ensure that / is not
> recognized (based on the incorrect assumption that \ is the
> only valid directory separator). If you have played around
> with int 21h calls yourself, you will know that / has always
> been, and still is, a valid directory separator. Every time
> I see a program that rejects / I will conclude that that
> program is broken beyond repair.

... and this means that lots of standard DOS programs, including
COMMAND.COM, are broken beyond repair, because these programs do not
accept / on the command line as a valid directory separator, int 21h
nonwithstanding.

To make things worse, starting with DOS 3.something or DOS 5.0 (I
forget which), Microsoft disabled the internal function which allowed
the user to change the default 'switch character' from / to whatever
he or she desires.  This has the effect of hard-coding this switch
character as / on the command lines of programs such as COMMAND.COM,
and in all the internal commands such as 'dir', 'chdir', etc.

In other words, DOS itself is beyond repair.

-- 
Lloyd Zusman    	01234567 <-- The world famous Indent-o-Meter.
ljz@asfast.com          ^	     Indent or be indented.