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Path: utzoo!utgpu!utfyzx!sq!dave
From: dave@sq.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: vms vs unix
Message-ID: <1987May23.151522.8252@sq.uucp>
Date: Sat, 23-May-87 15:15:22 EDT
Article-I.D.: sq.1987May23.151522.8252
Posted: Sat May 23 15:15:22 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 24-May-87 01:15:21 EDT
References: <7494@brl-adm.ARPA> <5876@brl-smoke.ARPA>
Reply-To: dave@sq.UUCP (David R. Seaman)
Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto
Lines: 23
Checksum: 26151

In article <7494@brl-adm.ARPA> SULLIVAN%suny-bing.csnet@RELAY.CS.NET writes:
>Regardless of limits on the number of commands remembered, the command
>editing facility of vms (invoked with up-arrow) is one of the few things
>really nice about vms.  Shell-writers' alert!  such a facility would be a
>very fine addition to unix.

Be Warned. The history mechanism in vms can cause problems with dcl scripts.
If you have a script that prompts the user for a password that locks
the screen (for example). The script traps the interrupts and turns of echo
until the correct password is entered. If a user types the up-arrow the
password is entered correctly from the history!  This is prevented by
ensuring that you turn of the history in such scripts.

					David R. Seaman
------
You must excuse my waiter, for he is from Barcelona.  - F.T.
{utai,utzoo}!sq!dave	UUCP
dave@sq.utoronto.edu	BITNET

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