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From: cramer@kontron.UUCP (Clayton Cramer)
Newsgroups: net.micro.pc
Subject: Re: dos exec call (help)
Message-ID: <423@kontron.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 29-Jul-85 12:59:11 EDT
Article-I.D.: kontron.423
Posted: Mon Jul 29 12:59:11 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 1-Aug-85 21:06:10 EDT
References: <225@sdcarl.UUCP>
Organization: Kontron Electronics, Irvine, CA
Lines: 40

> I am considering the possibility of writing some subset of what looks like
> a unix "shell" (really just a history mechanism to cut down on repeated
> long command lines), since queries as to the existence of such a facility
> have been unsuccessfull. I have read the description of the dos EXEC call
> in the tech reference manual and in Norton's "programmers guide". I'm
> still a bit confused and remember some discussion about the subject a 
> while back. Could someone help me out with a more thourough description,
> and maybe an example of use? Are there tragic flaws to prevent such a
> scheme from working at all? I figure there must be stumbling blocks or
> someone would have succeeded at doing something like this already.
> 
I built a history mechanism in BASIC (!) a little while back for the AT
using BASIC's shell command.  I never got it completely working (limitations
of BASIC, and I don't use the AT enough to justify writing it in C), but
I will try to dig up the code and post it to this group sometime this
week; it may be of use as an example, or you might want to finish debugging
it!

> Another question:
> 	I am using the Mark Williams C compiler to port software written
> under Unix. They often read binary input from stdin. Such input is often
> cut off in the middle of a file (presumably because we run into a end of
> file character). Friends have run into this problem also. Is it really
> true that one cannot read binary input from stdin (a file), or is this
> a problem unique to the Mark Williams Compiler?
> 
Don't know about the Mark Williams C compiler, but a lot of C compilers I
have played with for the PC are inadequate or wrong when it comes to binary
input from stdin.  Aztec C from Manx, in particular, has one very severe
bug which prevents you from correctly reading any of the keystrokes which
generate 00 xx for a value.

Microsoft C V3.0 works perfectly for binary file input from stdin.

> Thanks in advance to any answers?
> 
> 
> -- 
> 	Andrew Voelkel
> 	{ucbvax,ihnp4,akgua,hplabs,sdcsvax}!sdcarl!andy