Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!bbn!rochester!udel!gatech!dcatla!ittfb
From: ittfb@dcatla.UUCP (Thomas F. Blakely)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.sys.att
Subject: Re: Anyone know how to discover the DOS switch character?
Message-ID: <2157@dcatla.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 13-Nov-87 08:24:53 EST
Article-I.D.: dcatla.2157
Posted: Fri Nov 13 08:24:53 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 15-Nov-87 09:53:30 EST
References: <2678@ihlpf.ATT.COM> <2257@ihuxy.ATT.COM>
Reply-To: ittfb@dcatla.UUCP (Thomas F. Blakely)
Organization: DCA Inc., Alpharetta, GA
Lines: 26
Keywords: DOS, IBMPC, PC6300, switch, assembler
Xref: mnetor comp.sys.ibm.pc:10126 comp.sys.att:1749

In article <2257@ihuxy.ATT.COM> vg55611@ihuxy.ATT.COM (gopal) writes:
>But, why read the switchar at all ?   Just replace all occurrences of '/'
>with '\' in the arg string (or the string of concern) and then the user of
>your program can use either.  This is what I do with programs I write.

This is not a good idea.  You are replacing _potential_ switch characters
with the _path-separator_ character.  Also, it limits you to those two
characters.  Someone may want to use something obscure (like '-' :-).

Using something unique from the path character allows command line
constructs like:

    command/sw1/sw2 arg1/asw1 arg2/asw2

This allows global options (sw1, sw2) and options specific to each argument
(asw1, asw2).  We have a lot of users here used to VMS, and this is real
handy.  If you just replace all '/' with '\', argv[0] looks like:

    /root/bin/command/sw1/sw2

This is a not very clean parse.  Besides, DOS function 37H works, and it's
actually easier to call it than to have to massage the command arguments.

T. Blakely
(404)442-4866
{gatech, sun!sunatl}!dcatla!ittfb