Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!labrea!decwrl!hplabs!sdcrdcf!ism780c!ico!nbires!maa
From: maa@nbires.nbi.com (Mark Armbrust)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: ms-dos 3.3 question (concerning FORMAT)
Summary: Documentation bug
Keywords: msdos 3.3,format,microsoft docs,switches
Message-ID: <1242@nbires.nbi.com>
Date: 14 Jan 88 20:39:22 GMT
References: <852@hubcap.UUCP>
Reply-To: maa@nbires.UUCP (Mark Armbrust)
Organization: NBI Inc, Boulder CO
Lines: 21

In article <852@hubcap.UUCP> kaires@hubcap.UUCP (Robert G Kaires) writes:
>I recently purchased a copy of MS-DOS 3.3 and happened across some
>(apparently) strange documentation on pg. 74 of "Users Guide and Users
>Reference" concerning the FORMAT command.  Near the bottom of the page,
>where it describes the FORMAT switches, it states (under the /s option):

	"Copies the operating system files listed in the file 
	'formats.tbl' from the disk in the default drive to the 
	newly formatted disk.  The newly formated disk must be 
	1.2 megabytes or greater in size; otherwise FORMAT 
	rejects the command."

I just checked our (NBI's) version of the 3.30 reference manual and found the
same comment, so I decided to check the source.  [The only correct documen-
tation is usually the source. 8-) ]

The 3.30 OEM version of FORMAT explicitly copies MSDOS.SYS, IO.SYS, and
COMMAND.COM when the /S option is used.  There seems to be no disk size check
for the /S option other than that the system must fit on the disk.

All bets are off concerning how IBM's version of FORMAT works in PCDOS 3.3x!