Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uunet!ficc!peter From: peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) Newsgroups: comp.lang.c Subject: Re: ansi c and directories Message-ID: <7193@ficc.uu.net> Date: 3 Dec 89 03:27:20 GMT References: <225800244@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu> <3332@cbnewsd.ATT.COM> <7127@ficc.uu.net> <11707@smoke.BRL.MIL> <7156@ficc.uu.net> <1292@uwm.edu> Reply-To: peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) Organization: Xenix Support, FICC Lines: 19 > |>>So, what should the first argument to fopen() be on an Unisys 1100? > |> A filename, whose mapping to file access is defined by the implementation. > |Good. We've established that. Now why can't the same semantics be defined > |for directory reading utilities? > I'm sure the concept of a file is more inherit to operating > systems than is the concept of a directory. In any system for which files have names, there is at least one directory. Thus a routine that returns the names of files in at least the current directory is more generally portable than system(). And, as you pointed out, system() is in the standard. -- `-_-' Peter da Silva. +1 713 274 5180. . 'U` Also or . "The basic notion underlying USENET is the flame." -- Chuq Von Rospach, chuq@Apple.COM