Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!mcvax!ukc!stl!stc!datlog!dlhpedg!cl
From: cl@datlog.co.uk (Charles Lambert)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Tool Capsules (was: How does a program get its path name?)
Message-ID: <463@dlhpedg.co.uk>
Date: 11 Mar 88 17:10:24 GMT
References: <11923@brl-adm.ARPA> <7304@brl-smoke.ARPA> <7102@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> <8722@sunybcs.UUCP>
Sender: ls@dlhpedg.co.uk
Reply-To: cl@datlog.co.uk (Charles Lambert)
Organization: FSD@Data Logic Ltd, Queens House, Greenhill Way, Harrow, London.
Lines: 18

There have been several occasions when I've wanted a program to know where
it was invoked from,  and never found a satisfactory way.  Two examples:

    1.  A user-interface tool that dispatches other tools.  For security,
	I'd like the interface tool to dispatch it's helpers from the
	same installation directory,  without having to hard-code the
	path into it.  That way,  I would have a "tool capsule" that can
	be installed anywhere without the risk of people putting Trojan
	Horses (tools with the same name that do something naughty) in the
	path.

    2.  Self-documenting shell scripts.  If a shell script new where it was,
	it could use its own commentary as online documentation.

Has anyone implemented successful schemes like this?

---------------
Charles Lambert