Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ulowell!cbmvax!daveh
From: daveh@cbmvax.UUCP (Dave Haynie)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: 1.3 Format (and earlier)
Message-ID: <6515@cbmvax.UUCP>
Date: 5 Apr 89 20:11:21 GMT
References: <2344@van-bc.UUCP>
Organization: Commodore Technology, West Chester, PA
Lines: 57

in article <2344@van-bc.UUCP>, ubc-cs!mtsg.ubc.ca!Paul-Andre_Panon@van-bc.UUCP says:

>   I just got bit by what I consider to be a serious bug in the 1.3 Format
> command. What is the one thing a format command should never do? Format
> without confirmation of course! [...stuff deleted...]

>   run format drive df0: name Blank 

Don't RUN programs that need console input.  That's never going to work
right.  It would get confusing enough if you have several programs going,
all generating output to the same CLI.  It's pretty obvious that only one
program at a time can get meaningful input from a CLI.

For the program "Format", it's a supported (far as I know) feature that
"Format <NIL: ..." will invoke Format without the prompt.  This allows
programs (for instance, a backup-to-floppy program) to call Format with 
the Execute() function.  Not a bug, a feature.

> So he can still have access to that CLI/SHELL although it might get messy on
> the screen if he needs it since format constantly prints to that window. 

Nope, that just isn't going to work.  I don't know what the Shell would do in
this case, though I have a theory.  There are really 4 things that could 
happen:

	[1] CLI gets the input stream, Format gets NIL:
		In this case, you'll get just what happened with your
		setup.  And from Format's point of view, it's doing the
		right thing.  From your point of view, the RUN was
		wrong.

	[2] CLI gets NIL:, Format gets the input stream.
		In this case, the RUN would have been pointless anyway.

	[3a] They both get the input stream.
		In this case, even if Format waited for you to type
		RETURN, it would pause as soon as you typed anything else.
		The RUN was the wron thing to do.

	[3b] They both get part of the input stream.
		This has all the disadvantages of [3a], and no advantage.

> Joe User is half asleep. He doesn't realize what happened and thinks, 
> "Hmm. must have pressed CR twice accidentally." [...]

If Joe User is half asleep, he'd be much better doing something other than
working on his Amiga.  If you need ARE YOU SUREs and the like, use the
WorkBench interface; it's specifically intended for novice users who often
make mistakes.

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-- 
Dave Haynie  "The 32 Bit Guy"     Commodore-Amiga  "The Crew That Never Rests"
   {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh      PLINK: D-DAVE H     BIX: hazy
              Amiga -- It's not just a job, it's an obsession