Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!dali.cs.montana.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!n8emr!bluemoon!bytehead From: bytehead@bluemoon.uucp (Bryan Price) Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc Subject: Re: Why is erase *.* slower with 4dos.com than with command.com? Message-ID: Date: 21 May 91 02:08:57 GMT References: <1991May20.143142.16378@monu0.cc.monash.edu.au> Sender: bbs@bluemoon.uucp (BBS Login) Organization: Blue Moon BBS ((614) 868-998[0][2][4]) Lines: 34 ins845b@monu4.cc.monash.edu.au (mr k.l. lentin) writes: > In article <1991May20.064529.1764@nic.funet.fi> akoivuma@finsun.csc.fi (Antti ...stuff deleted... > I have noticed the same with xtree/pro/gold/etc. I think the reason is that > xtgold and 4dos probably delete a file at a time whereas I think all DOS does > might find that del *.exe when there are lots of exe's might take longer than > del *.* in DOS. (I might also be wrong :-) Nope. DOS (COMMAND.COM) uses FCB's to do the deleting. If you use the ASCIIZ function calls, you MUST call dosfindfirst, dosfindnext to get each file and then delete them (It is faster to read the filenames first and then delete them, I've timed it...) With FCBs you just use the wild-cards and voila, all the files are deleted. Of course that means that you can't delete selectively, or make sure you can delete it by chaning it's attributes. My version of rm is just as fast as DOS on a local drive and under 100 files. On a network or over 100 files, DOS beats it hands down. I can delete 600 files in 2.2 seconds with DOS. It takes 1.5 minutes with my rm. Curious, DOS 5.0 supports a /P parameter for prompting of each file name for deletion.... The damn thing is probably still using FCBs though... (I've got to get a .sig file together... I find the default hideous!) > > |/ > |\evin This is from bytehead@bluemoon.uucp bytehead%bluemoon@nstar.rn.com who doesn't have their own obnoxious signature yet