Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!comcon!roy
From: roy@comcon.UUCP (Roy M. Silvernail)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Redirection and piping
Summary: I hate it when that happens
Message-ID: <162@comcon.UUCP>
Date: 14 Dec 89 04:05:09 GMT
References: <89345.110313MHS108@PSUVM.BITNET} <8161@cg-atla.UUCP>
Organization: Computer Connection - Anchorage, Alaska
Lines: 27

In article <8161@cg-atla.UUCP}, fredex@cg-atla.UUCP (Fred Smith) writes:
} 
} Many DOS programs are quite unfriendly in this manner, in that they assume that
} theyown the whole machine and can do anything they please. This works fine only
} in the case where they do not need to interact with other programs (obviously
} the situation envisioned by the designers of that program).

Fred, I wonder if this hasn't crept in because DOS programmers moved up
from single-tasking micros. I definitely dislike programs that make the
assumption that they own the machine.

} 
} As an aside, let me give you an illustration. I have written a unix-like more
} program for DOS which reads the keyboard via BIOS services. The reason it does
} this is that it is possible that more may be displaying data from a pipe or
} otherwise redirected file, but still needs to be able to get commands fromthe
} keyboard, even though stdin may be redirected.
} 
An excellent idea! Don't suppose you have a MS-DOS version of cat laying
about... (;-)
} Fred


-- 
_R_o_y _M_. _S_i_l_v_e_r_n_a_i_l  | UUCP: uunet!comcon!roy  |  "No, I don't live in an igloo!"
[ah, but it's my account... of course I opine!]           -Sourdough's riposte
SnailMail: P.O. Box 210856, Anchorage, Alaska, 99521-0856, U.S.A., Earth, etc.