Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!amdahl!nsc!pyramid!infmx!aland
From: aland@infmx.UUCP (Dr. Scump)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: update: re: pathlength, environment space
Summary: the final (?) word on the SHELL directive in DOS 3.X
Keywords: pathlength, environment space
Message-ID: <2183@infmx.UUCP>
Date: 23 Aug 89 04:49:50 GMT
References: <1072@neptune.AMD.COM>
Reply-To: aland@infmx.UUCP (alan denney)
Organization: INFORMIX Professional Services ("Peace thru Normalization")
Lines: 40

In my original followup, I posed the question as to the validity of the
second parameter of the given SHELL parameter.  For example, to expand
environment space to 640 bytes in DOS 3.2 or 3.3, the documented
command is:

   SHELL=c:\command.com /p /e:640

whereas the original posters gave this form:
(where command.com in c:\dosdir)
   SHELL=c:\dosdir\command.com c:\dosdir /p /e:640

note the additional second parameter: the directory in which
command.com resides.

My findings:
   1) I cannot find this documented *anywhere*, even though several
      people claimed that it is "clearly documented under COMMAND".
      I checked PC DOS 3.2, PC DOS 3.3, and variants of MS DOS 3.1,
      3.2, and 3.3.  Nowhere could I find it -- not under CONFIG.SYS,
      under COMMAND, anywhere.  Checked IBM, Zenith, and Tatung manuals,
      (Zenith usually being the most thorough of the DOS manuals I see).
   2) It appears to work for any DOS 3.1+  (presumably 3.0 also?).
      I tested with variants of DOS 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3.  Worked fine
      in every case (allowing for the different environment size
      notation for DOS 3.1 -- paragraphs instead of bytes).
      Every machine booted properly and left COMSPEC pointing to the
      proper file name.  This allows you to move command.com out of 
      the root, where I suppose it is more easily found by worms...

Thanks for the help, everyone.  Informix database products customers:
this will be noted in the next release of the DOS Products Installation
Guide and Release Notes.

--
    Alan S. Denney  @  Informix Software, Inc.    
         {pyramid|uunet}!infmx!aland                 "I want to live!
   --------------------------------------------       as an honest man,
    Disclaimer:  These opinions are mine alone.       to get all I deserve
    If I am caught or killed, the secretary           and to give all I can."
    will disavow any knowledge of my actions.             - S. Vega