Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!hao!hplabs!pesnta!peora!codas!bsdpkh!latham
From: latham@bsdpkh.UUCP (Ken Latham)
Newsgroups: net.unix
Subject: Re: /bin/ls -C Question the ANSWER!
Message-ID: <173@bsdpkh.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 23-Feb-86 02:14:48 EST
Article-I.D.: bsdpkh.173
Posted: Sun Feb 23 02:14:48 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 26-Feb-86 05:56:57 EST
References: <337@chinet.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T-IS (SDSS), Orlando Fl.
Lines: 31

> Ok, here is my question to the net.  Why does ls -C Sometimes
> NOT print across the screen?  Most of the time when I enter
> a ls -C I get a nice diretory like:
> News    fvps.c  h19     mbox    vps.c
> But some times a directory will list one per line on me.  What does
> ls make this decision on?

We have been having this problem for a while now,  it suddenly struck me
the other day.  When ever I changed names of files created by vnews the
problem went away... AHA I thought ... control charaters in the names
^h's maybe not getting filtered out and causing problems with an unprepared
"ls" command.

	Alas, This wasn't it .... od -c revealed the problem

every time a 14 character name showed up "ls" would list one per line.
I get rid of the 14 character names and all is fine.

Conclusion:

	"ls" believes that 14 character names won't fit well across the
page...so he lists 1/line.  actually 5 16-charater names will fit ....
this would work for 14-char name, a 1-char designator and 1-space separator
( who ever wrote ls must not be very good at math :-)  )

				This is under sysv on 3b[25],


			Ken Latham, AT&T-IS (via AGS Inc.), Orlando , FL

			uucp: ihnp4!bsdpkh!latham