Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!uokmax!servalan!ben
From: ben@servalan.uucp (Ben Mesander)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.tech
Subject: Re: file name *
Summary: NIL:
Keywords: NIL:, Workbench, file name *
Message-ID: <1990Jun16.221623.4633@servalan.uucp>
Date: 16 Jun 90 22:16:23 GMT
References: <1636@raybed2.msd.ray.com> <4069@jato.Jpl.Nasa.Gov> <2707@ektools.UUCP> <533@oregon.oacis.org>
Sender: Ben Mesander
Organization: Ministry of Silly Walks
Lines: 28

In article <533@oregon.oacis.org> jmeissen@oregon.oacis.org (John Meissen) writes:
>> In article <1636@raybed2.msd.ray.com> lah@raybed2.msd.ray.com (LANCE HOLMES) writes:
> >Does anyone know what is generating a file named *.
>
>
>In case you haven't figured out the obvious, the filename occurs when the program
>attempts to open the console to print a message, and uses the AmigaDOS-endorsed
>method of openning "*", which is defined to be the console. Of course, under
>Workbench there is no console, and so a disk file in the current directory
>is created with that name instead.
>-- 
>John Meissen .............................. Oregon Advanced Computing Institute
>jmeissen@oacis.org        (Internet) |
>..!sequent!oacis!jmeissen (UUCP)     |               "Go Blazers!!"
>jmeissen                  (BIX)      |


It can also happen when a program that opens a window with file name '*' when
you have redirected its output to NIL:. I ran into this problem with AMXLISP.
Even though I have never seen it direct any output to the window that started
it, when I put 'amxlisp >nil:' in an ICONX script, it would create file '*'
in the root directory of my hard drive. I'm not sure if this has anything to
do with the fact that NIL: is not a 'real' amigados device. I ran across it 
with a script I attached to an icon that ran emacs, amxlisp, and started
a cli, and then exited. 


ben@servalan.UUCP