Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!dsinc!bagate!cbmvax!daveh
From: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.introduction
Subject: Re: Wildcards in the CLI
Message-ID: <20893@cbmvax.commodore.com>
Date: 23 Apr 91 22:24:31 GMT
References: <1991Apr16.155231.18782@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> <7384@munnari.oz.au> <6512@bwdls58.bnr.ca>
Reply-To: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie)
Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA
Lines: 34

In article <6512@bwdls58.bnr.ca> dbscoop2@bwdlh417.BNR.CA (Las Lovas) writes:

>The problem stems from the fact that C= (in their infinite wisdom) decided to
>use * to refer to the console device (STDIO), so they had to have a different
>convention for wildcards than the "standard" UNIX and (dare I day it...) 
>Messydos conventions.

Well, not quite.  MS-DOS and UNIX don't have an equivalent for # in their
pattern specification languages.  So it would be just as confusing to the
person who's refusing to lean AmigaDOS to have * as a direct replacement for
# as it would be for them to learn # in the first place.  The Apollo computer
Domain/OS (nee Aegis) actually does this; in that system, * works very much 
like #, only it's a postfix, not a prefix (eg, "#?" in AmigaDOS matches "?*" 
in Apollo).

Also, I should point out that the behavior of * is by no means standard; it
works differently in UNIX, MS-DOS, VAX/VMS, C64/C128 DOS, etc.  Under the
Amiga OS, #? means the same as * under UNIX.  And as mentioned, in 2.0, there
is a kludge in dos.library that equates * to #? if you ask for it.  

Personally, I can't see any more logic for * in AmigaDOS than I can for
:= in C language or a "Park" setting on a 5-Speed manual transmission.  They
are different critters, and once you learn what you're doing, you're happier
than resorting to either complaints or kludges.  Obviously, if you're just
starting out, this IS something to learn, but a very minor piece when compared
to what else is out there to pick up.




-- 
Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Amiga 3000) "The Crew That Never Rests"
   {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh      PLINK: hazy     BIX: hazy
      "That's me in the corner, that's me in the spotlight" -R.E.M.