Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ncar!boulder!seri!wind55!marshall From: marshall@wind55.seri.gov (Marshall L. Buhl) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: Need input for future DOS release Message-ID: <1990Mar29.213911.9569@seri.gov> Date: 29 Mar 90 21:39:11 GMT References: <1990Mar29.165634.1267@eng.umd.edu> Sender: news@seri.gov (news [NO CHARGE]) Distribution: usa Organization: Solar Energy Research Institute Lines: 106 chuck@eng.umd.edu (Chuck Harris) writes: >Dear Microsoft, > These are a few things I would like to see in dos: >1) a 'mv' command that works like unix (easy to do, I did it years ago). I would prefer one that works BETTER than the *nix one. I want it to work just like XCOPY, but to move instead. I'm no *nix guru, but I know that "mv *.f *.for" does not work. Many times when I use mv, I'm surprised at the result. >2) a 'rm' command that can do rm -[irf] (eg kill a directory and everything > in it, and prompt individual deletions if desired.) > If you must ask questions on a *.* deletion, make an environment variable > that will turn them off. >3) a 'more' that takes file names as well as stdin (easy to do, I did it too) I gave up on more years ago. I use the SEE editor. I almost always want to go back. If I don't, I just use TYPE with ^S/^Q. >4) gimme 'ls' and don't calculate the disk size unless I ask for it...It takes > too long. Get a decent PC. It takes much less than a second on my 300 MB disk. >5) Use the switchar function in all of your utilities so I can stop smacking > myself on the side of the head when I slip into 'unix' thinking while I am > in dos (eg. using '/' instead of '\'). Bill Gates in effect gave all the > professional programmers in the world the finger when he allowed '\' to be > the path separator, and '/' to be the option switch. You mean profession *nix programmers - don't you. It never bothered me and I've been programming since '72. >6) command lines longer than 128 chars (difficult I know). A keybuffer that is > humungous would be nice too 15 chars is a joke (a rather bad one at that). A crime is more like it. >7) 'chmod' that knows about hidden files too (easy to do, we all did it). System files too! >8) DUMP EDLIN!!! nobody I know can use it. Me I'm old enough to figure it out > but still can't use it reliably. Why not license JOVE? (an emacs like > editor that works great on pc's. I don't know JOVE or emacs. Are they easy to learn and use? Can I teach them to a new user in 15 minutes? Are they "modeless", or do you have to "escape" from input mode to move the cursor like vi? Yuck. How pathetic! >9) put a little help in your commands so that when I screw up the arguments > and the command knows it, it will prompt me like unix does. > (eg. "ls -[aslRtc] [file] ...") Wouldn't hurt. While we're at it, how about unreadable online man pages? ;-) >10)Is it really too late to fix wildcards so that they work correctly? The > first time I typed DEL *r*.c and wiped my directory of all c programs, I > almost died. (so did my PC!). Can we sue over this? ;-) >11)What about a way of setting screen and text colors that doesn't require > the ansi.sys abortion? Hear. Hear. >12)What about fixing the ansi.sys abortion? If you need an example, go talk > to Hershey Micro Consulting about FANSI-Console. >13)Oh yeah, how about moving all of the commands out of command.com, and > onto disk. Most of your audience has discovered the harddisk, and we sure > could use the ram space they would release. Make room! Make room! >14)Fix CHKDSK so that it understands the JOIN command, and checks ALL of the > disks rather than quitting when it finds a joined directory. It is a real > pain to have to go down to root, and un-join my disks, then run chkdsk, > and then re-join everything. >15)Fix JOIN so that it can join disks to directories other than those at > root. >16)Loooong paths would be nice too. I prefer the temporary technique for applications. >17)history like is done in kornshell would be nice. You mean you would want to do the same thing more than once? ;-) >18)alias strings would be great! as long as you can un-alias them on the fly. I'll second that. > Well, that should be enough to keep you busy into the 21th century. >Thanks for listening. Great ideas! -- Marshall L. Buhl, Jr. EMAIL: marshall@wind55.seri.gov Senior Computer Engineer VOICE: (303)231-1014 Wind Research Branch 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393 Solar Energy Research Institute Solar - safe energy for a healthy future