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From: t68@nikhefh.nikhef.nl (Jos Vermaseren)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
Subject: environment in desktop
Message-ID: <1070@nikhefh.nikhef.nl>
Date: 27 Nov 90 13:49:56 GMT
Sender: t68@nikhef.nl (Jos Vermaseren)
Organization: Nikhef-H, Amsterdam (the Netherlands).
Lines: 25

Hi,

Can anyone help me with the following?
For an application in the new TOS on the TT it would be
nice if the application can read some variables from the
environment. When an application has been made into an icon
on the desktop the file that is dragged on it wants to
assume that the current directory is the one it came from.
On the other hand the program that lies on the desktop may
want to get additional files from its own directory. There
is only one current directory -> conflict.
The environment would solve this. Hence the question:
is there an official legal Atari sanctioned way to add variables
to the environment of the desktop? The only way I can come up
with is a terrible hack that leaves a little resident job with
the new string. It has to look amoung its ancestors for which one
is the desktop and then modify its pointer to the environment.
If this is the `official' way I would like to know that too,
but it is quite thinkable that there are already better ways.
After all, the new desktop seems to be somewhat ahead of its 
documentation (as nearly all programs, except those from ...).

Many thanks in advance

Jos Vermaseren