Xref: utzoo comp.os.vms:9290 comp.unix.wizards:11635 comp.lang.c:13200 Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!rutgers!iuvax!bsu-cs!cfchiesa From: cfchiesa@bsu-cs.UUCP (Christopher Chiesa) Newsgroups: comp.os.vms,comp.unix.wizards,comp.lang.c Subject: Re: File specification regularity (Was: Re: VMS vs. UNIX file system) Summary: Actually... Message-ID: <4243@bsu-cs.UUCP> Date: 8 Oct 88 16:48:56 GMT References: <206@arnold.UUCP> <25312@teknowledge-vaxc.ARPA> Organization: CS Dept, Ball St U, Muncie, Indiana Lines: 33 In article <25312@teknowledge-vaxc.ARPA>, mkhaw@teknowledge-vaxc.ARPA (Mike Khaw) writes: > In article <206@arnold.UUCP>, dave@arnold.UUCP (Dave Arnold) writes: > > To all you future filesystem designers, please avoid the following: > > SYS$SYSROOT[UTILS.ANUNEWS.SRC.NEWS_SRC]NEWSADD.OBJ;1 > > NOTE: SYS$SYSROOT is also a logical name which has 2 translations. > > Oh yeah, then there is the DECNET node specs: > > VAXB"LOGIN PASSWORD":: plus the above. > > I prefer: > > /sysroot/utils/anunews/src/news_src/news_add.obj > Speaking as a 3-year VMS veteran who's been munging about in UNIX for about a year now, I find that I prefer VMS file- and directory-specs, because I can tell at a glance whether the entity I am ultimately referencing is a file or a directory. In UNIX I have to wait to enter my command and then receive an error message to the effect that the entity I referred to was the wrong kind. On the other hand, it IS quicker to type slashes and names, than colons and brackets and dots and names... All in all, I can use EITHER system quite conveniently and I find that to be true on ALL computers, bar none, that I have tried: Atari and Commodore 8bits, Amigas, Intel minis, PC's with MS-DOS, and a slew of others. All it takes is some getting used to. Sometimes I think people just want instant comprehension and get all honked off when faced with a "learning curve." Perhaps I'm wrong, but isn't it really just a matter of calming down and paying attention to what you're doing, rather than quibbling about notation? Chris -- UUCP: !{iuvax,pur-ee,uunet}!bsu-cs!cfchiesa cfchiesa@bsu-cs.UUCP