Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!mks.com!andy
From: andy@mks.com (Andy Toy)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.apps
Subject: Re: MKS Toolkit and DESQView or Windows
Message-ID: <1990Dec21.164510.19955@mks.com>
Date: 21 Dec 90 16:45:10 GMT
References: <1990Dec18.163111.1798@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> <18875@hydra.gatech.EDU>
Organization: Mortice Kern Systems, Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA
Lines: 23

In article <18875@hydra.gatech.EDU> jgb@prism.gatech.EDU (James G. Baker) writes:
>I am a big mks and DESQview fan but had trouble mixing the two.  I wanted a 
>ksh (mks) window but I think mks messes with command.com or DOS at the 
>DESQview level.  

None of the MKS commands `mess' with DOS or command.com.

>Mks, I believe, uses an undocumented DOS call that allows
>the switch character to be "-" instead of "/".  Some programs can handle it
>(Norton, I think), but others die.  (This also allows the file system
>to use "/" instead of "\".  Note: I was using MKS 2.3 and DV 2.26.

The problem is that lots of applications hardcode the switches and call
various programmes with the wrong switch character.  This problem
usually occurs when programmes try to call command.com resulting with
the error `Specified COMMAND search directory bad'.  I would hardly say
that changing the switch character is undocumented.  The DOS call is
documented and even my Toshiba T1000 with DOS 2.11 allows me to change
the switch character by putting `SWITCHAR=-' in the CONFIG.SYS file.
-- 
Andy Toy, Mortice Kern Systems Inc.,       Internet: andy@mks.com
  35 King Street North, Waterloo,       UUCP: uunet!watmath!mks!andy
      Ontario, CANADA N2J 2W9      Phone: 519-884-2251  FAX: 519-884-8861