nather@utastro.UUCP (Ed Nather) (11/09/85)
In preparing for the Great Leap Forward from DOS 2.x to DOS 3.x I have
been exploring differences, and noticed that the DOS 3.x ECHO command
has obviously been changed. Under DOS 2.x you were able to include
the parameter "off" or "on" on the ECHO command line in a batch file,
and follow it with a message. It was therefore possible, on a single
line, to turn echo "off" and follow with a message consisting of back-
spaces and spaces, so the idiotic "echo off" message would be erased
from the screen.
In DOS 3.x, the ECHO command has been "improved" so any message following
the "off" parameter -- even a single space code -- turns echoing back on
again. A second "echo" command on the next line, if it includes a reverse
line feed, can be made to erase the message, but this whole problem is a
mess.
Some time ago a patch to command.com was posted to this newsgroup that
left echoing off by default, which worked fine for DOS 2.x. It doesn't
work for DOS 3.x, unsurprisingly. Has anyone managed to feel around
inside the new command.com and devise a similar patch for DOS 3.x?
If so, will you mail it to me, or post it?
Incidental irritations: the DOS 37h function call allows you to change
the "switch" character in both DOS 2.x and 3.x, so the "/" character
can be used to separate pathnames, as G*d and ken intended. However,
the comp.com program will demand "\" anyway, since it doesn't check.
No great loss -- "comp.com" is pretty useless anyway. Print.com, which
is more useful, will work with "/" separated pathnames so long as they
are on the curent drive, but it looks for "x:\string" if you designate
another drive. So if "string" begins with a "/" to start at the root
directory of the other drive, it fails to find the file. So far as I
can tell, all the other utilities work as well with "/" as with "\".
"...it uses a proprietary syntax which is fully industry-compatible ..."
--
Ed Nather
Astronomy Dept, U of Texas @ Austin
{allegra,ihnp4}!{noao,ut-sally}!utastro!nather
nather@astro.UTEXAS.EDU