[comp.archives] [sgi] Re: csh and nfs

slevy@poincare.geom.umn.edu (Stuart Levy) (03/23/91)

Archive-name: unix/shell/iris-tcsh/1991-03-22
Archive: tesla.ee.cornell.edu:/pub/tcsh-5.20/bins-5.20.02/tcsh.iris4d-irix3.3.1.Z [128.84.253.11]
Original-posting-by: slevy@poincare.geom.umn.edu (Stuart Levy)
Original-subject: Re: csh and nfs
Reposted-by: emv@msen.com (Edward Vielmetti, MSEN)

In article <9103211941.AA28942@masig2.ocean.fsu.edu> davis@MASIG2.OCEAN.FSU.EDU (Alan Davis) writes:
>We have a NeXT machine, v2.0, nfs mounted to our 320 VGX, 3.3.1, that I have
>been having an ongoing problem that I origionally attributed to an nfs
>incompatability, but have just discovered that it is a problem with csh.  When
>I try to access a file on the NeXT machine and use the * or ? characters, csh
>returns an error message "No match". ... 

We see the same problem w/NeXT 1.0.  The fault's in the BSDreaddir() code which
csh uses -- it does directory reads into a 512-byte buffer, which the NeXT NFS
server could probably handle but doesn't.  It's disappointing NeXT didn't fix
this in 2.0.  SGI's normal readdir(), used by sh, ls, etc. has a larger buffer
(4K?) and succeeds.  I'm told by a helpful SGI person that the next major
release will have a BSDreaddir() with larger buffer, but meanwhile we're stuck.

One thing you might try in the mean time: use tcsh instead of csh.
I think there are a handful of tcsh binaries up for anonymous FTP on
tesla.ee.cornell.edu and/or ftp.brl.mil.  We have "tcsh.iris4d-irix3.3.1";
it *does* successfully glob with the NeXT.

	Stuart Levy, Geometry Group, University of Minnesota
	slevy@geom.umn.edu

brendan@illyria.wpd.sgi.com (Brendan Eich) (03/26/91)

Archive-name: unix/shell/sgi-csh/1991-03-23
Archive: sgi.sgi.com:/sgi/csh [192.48.153.1]
Original-posting-by: brendan@illyria.wpd.sgi.com (Brendan Eich)
Original-subject: Re: csh and nfs
Reposted-by: emv@msen.com (Edward Vielmetti, MSEN)

In article <1991Mar22.190717.27233@cs.umn.edu>, slevy@poincare.geom.umn.edu (Stuart Levy) writes:
> We see the same problem w/NeXT 1.0. The fault's in the BSDreaddir() code which
> csh uses -- it does directory reads into a 512-byte buffer, which the NeXT NFS
> server could probably handle but doesn't.  It's disappointing NeXT didn't fix
> this in 2.0.  SGI's normal readdir(), used by sh, ls, etc. has a larger buffer
> (4K?) and succeeds.  I'm told by a helpful SGI person that the next major
> release will have a BSDreaddir() with larger buffer, but meanwhile we're stuck
> 
> One thing you might try in the mean time: use tcsh instead of csh.
> I think there are a handful of tcsh binaries up for anonymous FTP on
> tesla.ee.cornell.edu and/or ftp.brl.mil.  We have "tcsh.iris4d-irix3.3.1";
> it *does* successfully glob with the NeXT.

Thanks for summarizing this lingering SGI/NeXT bug.  Those who aren't ready
for tcsh can ftp a fixed csh from sgi.sgi.com:~ftp/sgi/csh.  There's a README
file; you must be running 4D1-3.3 or later.

/be