🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <LKXB00G@drivax.UUCP> liberato@drivax.UUCP (Jimmy Liberato) writes:

| This is true to an extent.  There used to be a "built-in" feature of DOS
| that allowed you to have a "Switchar = -" entry in your config.sys which
| then forced the default switch character "/" to become a path separator
| (the "\" could then also be used indifferently as a path separator).  

  I think there's confusion between the COMMAND.COM level and the DOS
call interface level here. At the DOS call level, int 21, either / or \
are ALWAYS acceptable as path separators, without regard to the switchar
setting. The switchar setting is used by COMMAND.COM  to determine what
is an option. The call to read dir or open file and return handle, or
cd, are always allowed to use either character for path separation.

| Sam's final question about DOS getting "confused" I thought interesting.  Do you
| have any thoughts on what might be happening?

  Again, it is COMMAND.COM which is getting confused. There is obviously
some code there to attempt to use a new character, and if switchar is
NOT / to display that between path levels. It also seems not to be well
debugged. As far as I can tell DOS calls do not use the option indecer
(switchar) for anything, it's purely a CLI issue.
-- 
	bill davidsen - sysop *IX BBS and Public Access UNIX
davidsen@sixhub.uucp		...!uunet!crdgw1!sixhub!davidsen

"Getting old is bad, but it beats the hell out of the alternative" -anon