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Path: utzoo!linus!security!genrad!decvax!harpo!eagle!allegra!alice!rabbit!ark
From: ark@rabbit.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.micro.pc
Subject: PC-dosDOS queries
Message-ID: <2040@rabbit.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 10-Oct-83 11:11:51 EDT
Article-I.D.: rabbit.2040
Posted: Mon Oct 10 11:11:51 1983
Date-Received: Tue, 11-Oct-83 00:05:58 EDT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill
Lines: 40

I sure hope someone from Microsoft is reading this...


I'm using an IBM PC-XT with DOS 2.0, and I've got some questions:

1.  It appears that none of the routines in DOS or BIOS will let me
    do interrupt-driven I/O to the RS-232 serial port.  Instead, I
    must grab the interrupt vector and do it all myself.  I can see no
    other way of writing a program that does even something as simple
    as copying characters from the serial port to the screen, because
    sending out a character that causes a scroll can take more than one
    character time at 1200 baud so I lose data.  Suggestions?

2.  There's a lot of software out there that doesn't know about directories,
    and won't because it has to stay compatible with older operating systems.
    These programs include the Pascal compiler, the macro assembler,
    various editors, and so on.  Life would be much easier if I could say:

	MODE Q=C:\SYS

    thus inventing a fictional drive Q that the system would map to c:\sys
    for me.  A bit of a kludge, but so are most compatibility hacks.

3.  How do I change a volume label without reformatting the volume?

4.  Some programs, such as diskcopy, format, compare, automatically
    recycle when they are done. Format, for example, asks if I want to
    format something else.  I can understand why this would be important
    on a machine with only one floppy drive and no hard disk.  HOWEVER,
    I find it a nuisance on the XT.  A program should do exactly what I
    asked it to and then shut up.

5.  Several DOS programs seem to insist on a single file name only,
    even though that name can have wildcard characters.  For instance,
    I do not think I can say "ERASE X Y Z" and have three files vanish.
    Similarly, I would like to say 'FIND "FOO" A B C'

6.  Finally, the linker appears to be able to break open a structure
    called a "library".  How do I create such a thing myself?  How can
    I find out what's in one?