Mailing-List: contact cygwin-help AT sourceware DOT cygnus DOT com; run by ezmlm List-Subscribe: List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: , Sender: cygwin-owner AT sources DOT redhat DOT com Delivered-To: mailing list cygwin AT sources DOT redhat DOT com Message-ID: <398FD5CC.38E3715C@ision.net> Date: Tue, 08 Aug 2000 11:41:32 +0200 From: Benjamin Riefenstahl Organization: ISION Internet AG X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.05 [en] (Win16; I) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: cygwin AT sourceware DOT cygnus DOT com Subject: Re: System call References: <200008071421 DOT KAA02793 AT envy DOT delorie DOT com> <20000807161543 DOT G12330 AT cygnus DOT com> <398F32A3 DOT 12530BE4 AT veritas DOT com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Bob, Bob McGowan wrote: > /* `dir', `vdir' and `ls' directory listing programs for GNU. > Copyright (C) 85, 88, 90, 91, 95, 1996 Free Software Foundation, Inc. > [...] > Perhaps this is the source of some of the confusion? Part of it probably. Another is the definition of the system() function most likely. It's supposed to call the system shell for processing of it's argument. Now for Cygwin this would be "/bin/sh -c", naturally. For VC++, Borland, Metrowerks or any other straight Windows compiler the system shell should be "%COMSPEC% /c". So for any newby coming from a Windows background and trying Cygwin, it's kind of mysterious at first, why system("dir") works in VC++, and not in Cygwin. Basically, the system() functions is highly specific to the compiler and environment. This goes so far that some Macintosh compilers implement it with a simple "return NULL;", with the reasoning that there *is* no shell on MacOS to call. so long, benny -- ISION Internet AG Benjamin Riefenstahl mailto:benjamin DOT riefenstahl AT ision DOT net Ruhrstrasse 61 D-22761 Hamburg http://www.ision.net -- Want to unsubscribe from this list? Send a message to cygwin-unsubscribe AT sourceware DOT cygnus DOT com