Xref: utzoo comp.sys.ibm.pc:26806 comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d:2497
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!iuvax!bsu-cs!dhesi
From: dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d
Subject: Re: Virus warning
Summary: Bug in ARCMASTER?
Keywords: arcmaster,bugs
Message-ID: <6406@bsu-cs.UUCP>
Date: 30 Mar 89 16:27:31 GMT
References: <373@nbires.nbi.com> <9948@smoke.BRL.MIL> <4251@alvin.mcnc.org>
Reply-To: dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi)
Organization: CS Dept, Ball St U, Muncie, Indiana
Lines: 22

In article <4251@alvin.mcnc.org> felstein@mcnc.org.UUCP (Bruce M. Felstein)
writes:
>...the directory that you specify for it to use to unarc and arc files to 
>MUST be a special blank directory...
>If you didn't
>bother to read the docs you might specify your root directory to use
>for this function and after ARCMASTER was done, it would automatically
>erase all files in that directory.

Unfortunately, users won't always remember every fine detail in a user
manual.  I should know, I'm an experienced user of computers, and there
are details I keep overlooking all the time.  If a program does
something dangerous, it should take some care.

If the documentation says that the directory must be a special blank
directory, then the program should make sure that is *is* a blank
directory.  If there are any files in that directory, the program
should refuse to run, or at least confirm:  "Warning:  Directory is not
empty, all files will be deleted, are you sure?".
-- 
Rahul Dhesi         UUCP:  <backbones>!{iuvax,pur-ee}!bsu-cs!dhesi
                    ARPA:  dhesi@bsu-cs.bsu.edu