Subj : REPOST: Re: 4BATFAQ Update To : Dr John Stockton From : Steve Date : Thu Jan 24 2002 01:18 pm From: "E. S. (Steve) Fabian" Dr John Stockton wrote: > > JRS: In article <3C4F0A41.CD3EF42F@BellAtlantic.net>, seen in > news:alt.msdos.batch, E. S. (Steve) Fabian > wrote at Wed, 23 Jan 2002 19:10:42 :- > > > >alt.msdos.batch is for any version of MSDOS, using any command processor. Thus > >discussions about 4DOS, CED/PCED, Rexx, Perl, Winbatch, and the various Unix > >"shells" adopted to MS-DOS are appropriate. If the group name were > >alt.ms.command, Outsider's complaint would be accepatable. He mixes up the > >operating system (MS-DOS) with the command processor (COMMAND.COM). Presuably he > >would also object to discussing methods usable only with Microsoft's CMD.EXE. > > The vast majority of those using MSDOS and/or Microsoft systems > purporting in part to emulate it (aka Windows) will not have replaced > any substantial part of the MS software package and will not be willing > to do so. *This* news group, news:alt.msdos.batch, should cater for > these non-experts. It should not be filled with material which will not > help them. > > On the whole, these will best be helped by solutions either dependent > solely on what Microsoft supplies, or by add-ons (as opposed to > replacements) designed to build on that. > > News:comp.os.msdos.4dos exists, presumably for 4-DOS, and should suffice > for that. > > News:alt.msdos.batch.nt exists, for NT, which AIUI uses CMD.EXE as its > default CP; and thus is the place for methods needing CMD.EXE. > Were you correct about the readership of this forum, the group name is patently misleading - COMMAND.COM is not alternate, nor MSDOS BATCH, even if Microsoft's sales department, which controls the icons provided in Windows and the terminology in MS information, cannot distinguish between the separate software elements below, all bundled into a single package, and not purchasable separately: * operating system (called KERNEL in Unix) * graphical user interface (GUI) * command processor (called SHELL in both MS and Unix terminology), which serves in the dual role of textual user interface and command procedure (batch program) interpreter * add-on utility programs (e.g., ATTRIB, CHOICE, DELTREE, DOSKEY, FIND, MORE, MOVE, XCOPY, XCOPY32) All operating systems for all computer systems designed in the mmid-1960s or later always came with a command processor bundled in. MS named theirs COMMAND.COM; some MS operating systems also include one named CMD.EXE. Other vendors who provided MSDOS compatible operating systems also bundled in a command processor, which they named COMMAND.COM. Other commercial vendors, e.g., JPsoft, Norton Systems, MKS, etc., provided add-on (aftermarket) command processors for MS operating systems. There are also freeware add-on command processors, e.g., PERL, available in the MS environment. If this forum is exclusively for those who want to remain in the pure MS COMMAND.COM world, its name should reflect the ACTUAL topic: alt.ms.command - thus avoiding confusion. Likewise, all contributions should explicitly specify the OS and command processor versions to which they apply. Either all solutions requiring the use of non-bundled add-ons (including those available free from MS) should be rejected, or all add-ons, commercial or free, should be accepted. Those who do not want to deal with add-ons can simply ignore Herr Meinhard's link to his 4BATFAQ - he did not "pollute" this forum with the actual information. Those who are willing to consider the use of add-ons to solve their problems can see how much more advanced other alternatives are. Until I switched to using 4DOS, I used to write a lot of small add-on programs (typically in the "C" language) to accomplish my objectives. It's now been years since I wrote such programs, there's practically nothing I want to do repetitively I cannot do using 4DOS. By the way, ALL of the add-on utility programs I listed above are either INTERNAL commandz in 4DOS, or have internal equivalents, thus requiring no load time when used in a batch program. -- E. S. "Steve" Fabian ESFabian@BellAtlantic.net POB 1540, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 Telephone: 856-354-1752 EMPIRE Consultants, Inc. Director, Software Development ------------------------------------------------------------------- ========= WAS CANCELLED BY =======: From: "E. S. (Steve) Fabian" Control: cancel <3C5079C9.3EDB62FB@BellAtlantic.net> Subject: cmsg cancel <3C5079C9.3EDB62FB@BellAtlantic.net> Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 03:00:38 GMT Message-ID: X-No-Archive: yes Newsgroups: microsoft.test,alt.flame.niggers,alt.msdos.batch NNTP-Posting-Host: w088.z064003087.lax-ca.dsl.cnc.net 64.3.87.88 Lines: 1 Path: news.uni-stuttgart.de!uni-erlangen.de!fu-berlin.de!news.maxwell.syr.edu!n ewsfeed.frii.com!out.nntp.be!propagator-SanJose!in.nntp.be!news-in-sanjose!sjc- feed.news.verio.net!sea-feed.news.verio.net!news.verio.net!msrnewsc1!cppssbbsa0 1.microsoft.com!tkmsftngp01!tkmsftngp07!u&n&a&c&anceller Xref: news.uni-stuttgart.de control:40721629 This message was cancelled from within The Unacanceller's glorious new software, Lotus 1-2-3 For Rogue Cancellers. --- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-2 * Origin: Mach2 Systems (1:342/3) .