Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!microsoft!steveha From: steveha@microsoft.UUCP (Steve HASTINGS) Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer Subject: Thompson Toolkit (was Re: Where can I get MKS toolkit?) Message-ID: <72771@microsoft.UUCP> Date: 5 Jun 91 21:06:50 GMT References: <675397058.18@sunbrk.FidoNet> <1991Jun2.004359.25708@dell.dell.com> <140@grot.ca41.csd.mot.com> Reply-To: steveha@microsoft.UUCP (Steve Hastings) Organization: Microsoft International Products Group Lines: 71 In article <140@grot.ca41.csd.mot.com> brian@grot.ca41.csd.mot.com (Brian Smithson) writes: >How does [Thompson Toolkit] compare with MKS in terms of price, "completeness", >and faithfulness to UNIX (to the extent possible in MSDOS-land)? >And which UNIX? System V or BSD? Which shell(s) does it have? MKS Utilities attempt a total and perfect emulation of UNIX, to the maximum extent possible, even if it interferes with usability. This is both a good and bad thing. IMHO, MKS is unusable because they insist on treating "c:foo" as identical to "c:/foo"; they claim this is more UNIX compatible and therefore desirable. I say that if I had meant "c:/" I would have typed "c:/" instead of "c:" and it is a pain to use MKS when you work with networks and can have long paths on a half dozen drives or more. Thompson Toolkit attempts to blend the best of the UNIX and PC environments, and IMHO it succeeds well. It allows you to type pathnames with either forward slashes or backward slashes, or any combination, but it still lets you use backslashes as escape characters (like UNIX does). It allows you to use the arrow keys to recall old commands and edit them, or use the C Shell '!' syntax ("!v" for the last command starting with 'v') or even a combination of both. I especially like the way Thompson Toolkit allows you to type forward slashes in paths being passed to other programs: it can fix up the command line before it spawns the other program, converting forward slashes to backslashes and dashes to forward slashes. This is better than globally altering the SWITCHAR setting under DOS, since it works with all programs and not just the ones that call DOS to parse their command lines. (It does not work *inside* programs. This limitation doesn't bother me.) Thompson Toolkit costs less than MKS, and much less than the Hamilton C Shell. MKS and Hamilton have features missing from Thompson Toolkit, such as shell functions. MKS and Thompson Toolkit are both available under both DOS and OS/2; Hamilton C Shell is OS/2 only. I like being able to write shell scripts that run equally well under DOS or OS/2, so I am not interested in Hamilton C Shell at this time. The Thompson Toolkit is a hacked version of a Bourne Shell. It has many extensions from C Shell and some from the Korn Shell. It is compatible enough that I have used it to unpack shar archives. It has C Shell style aliases, and a future version will have shell functions. The AWK product, available at extra cost, is an outstanding version of AWK. The AWK Development Kit includes an AWK compiler that makes standalone .EXE files that run under either DOS or OS/2. Compiled AWK programs can handle up to 4 megabytes of data at a time, doing their own virtual memory (swapping data onto your hard disk) as necessary. Technical support from Thompson Automation has been outstanding. The author of the software, Pat Thompson, often answers questions. Prices: Thompson Toolkit for DOS $149 Thompson Toolkit for DOS and OS/2 $179 add $50 to get AWK add $150 to get the AWK Development Kit (including compiler) You can order it from: Thompson Automation 5616 SW Jefferson Portland, OR 97221 503/224-1639 I have no connection with Thompson Automation, except that I am a satisfied customer who has used the Toolkit for years. -- Steve "I don't speak for Microsoft" Hastings ===^=== ::::: uunet!microsoft!steveha steveha@microsoft.uucp ` \\==|