Mail Archives: djgpp/1997/10/26/10:16:47
On Thu, 23 Oct 1997, Paul Moore wrote:
> I've read the FAQ, which was (partly) encouraging. However, the bit
> about long filenames was a shock. Is it only NT 3.51 and earlier which
> doesn't support the LFN calls, or is it still a problem in 4 (with the
> various service packs)? The FAQ doesn't mention versions.
No version of NT I know of supports the LFN API for DOS programs,
which is what DJGPP uses to get the long names. So every version of
NT disables LFN in DJGPP.
> I guess it's
> a Microsoft problem, rather than a DJGPP problem, but is there any
> sign of LFN support for DJGPP programs on NT4? Is there a distinction
> to be made between NTFS drives vs (V)FAT drives?
NT 4 definitely does NOT support the DOS LFN API, no matter what kind
of filesystem you have on your drive. I don't know how the upcoming
version 5 will behave, but I doubt if Microsoft will add that. All
signs indicate that they want to retire DOS by making less and less of
it available in newer versions of their OSes, thereby forcing people
to abandon DOS-based products.
> If MS aren't likely to solve this, can it be supported in DJGPP?
> (That's in the sense of "is it possible", not "will someone do it" -
> if it's possible, I'd be willing to look at helping to implement it
> myself).
You might start by writing to Microsoft and telling them that you
won't upgrade to NT if the LFN API (or something similar) isn't
supported there. Maybe it will make a difference (especially if there
are more people that share this view and they will also write).
In order to have an NT-specific LFN support in DJGPP, somebody should
find a way of getting at the long names from a DOS program running on
NT. Then the DJGPP libc could be augmented with this support.
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