Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 5/3/83; site ukc.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!gamma!epsilon!zeta!sabre!bellcore!decvax!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!mcvax!ukc!rde
From: rde@ukc.UUCP (R.D.Eager)
Newsgroups: net.micro.pc
Subject: Re: conventions regarding quoted arguments to DOS commands
Message-ID: <5214@ukc.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 6-Jun-85 21:31:31 EDT
Article-I.D.: ukc.5214
Posted: Thu Jun  6 21:31:31 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 9-Jun-85 01:20:01 EDT
References: <715@pyuxqq.UUCP>
Reply-To: rde@ukc.UUCP (Bob Eager)
Organization: Computing Laboratory, U of Kent at Canterbury, UK
Lines: 23


Both  cases  mentioned (processing of quotes and expansion of wildcards)
are NOT done by the DOS command interpreter. It simply passes the entire
command line (after the command name)  to  the  program  being  invoked.
This is reasonable when you realise that this isn't UNIX, after all; DOS
has some UNIX-like features but it doesn't claim to BE UNIX!

Porting  of  useful  UNIX  programs  is another story. Any half decent C
runtime system should surely present arguments  to  a  program  in  UNIX
form,  at  least as an option. Surely it should handle quotes and expand
wildcards too; then porting of programs is much simplified.

This approach was used on a software tools kit (Lawrence Livermore  Labs
I  think),  where all the parameter munging was done OUTSIDE the program
but INSIDE the runtime system.
-- 
           Bob Eager

           rde@ukc.UUCP
           rde@ukc
           ...!mcvax!ukc!rde

           Phone: +44 227 66822 ext 7589