From: Outsider <nonvalid_email AT yahoo DOT com>
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.djgpp,comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: Re: Detecting Windows and Windows directory from DOS
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000 19:19:24 +0100
Organization: 'From' address is nonvalid, use 'Reply-To' address for email
Lines: 34
Message-ID: <38CFD42C.B874C575@yahoo.com>
References: <8am5ub$o0v$1 AT news6 DOT svr DOT pol DOT co DOT uk> <38CF1D17 DOT 688A9870 AT yahoo DOT com> <Pine DOT SUN DOT 3 DOT 91 DOT 1000315105008 DOT 17230N-100000 AT is> <38CF586F DOT F81DF765 AT yahoo DOT com> <Pine DOT SUN DOT 3 DOT 91 DOT 1000315140256 DOT 18645A AT is>
NNTP-Posting-Host: kob-bor-1-6.dsl.cybercity.dk
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Trace: news.cybercity.dk 953144276 56386 212.242.6.73 (15 Mar 2000 18:17:56 GMT)
X-Complaints-To: abuse AT cybercity DOT dk
NNTP-Posting-Date: 15 Mar 2000 18:17:56 GMT
X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.08 [en] (Win16; I)
To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com
DJ-Gateway: from newsgroup comp.os.msdos.djgpp
Reply-To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com

Eli Zaretskii wrote:
> 
> On Wed, 15 Mar 2000, Outsider wrote:
> 
> > Eli Zaretskii wrote:
> > >
> > > On Wed, 15 Mar 2000, Outsider wrote:
> > >
> > > > If win.com is in the path...
> > >
> > > Won't this fail if there are more than a single Windows installation on
> > > the machine in question?
> >
> > No, it won't fail, it will stop after finding the first one in
> > the path.
> 
> That's what I meant by ``fail'': the first file it finds does not
> necessarily live in the directory we are looking for, because it
> might belong to the version of Windows other than what we booted.

Presumably, one of the reasons programmers tend to not be so fond
of batch files is because many batches have a tendency to be iffy.
With each individual application, special circumstances must be taken
into consideration. If there are two win.com's in the search path then
you must provide some criteria for the batch to determine the correct
file. Then appropriate switches can be incorporated into the batch
so the desired result is obtained. Similar criteria would have to
be provided for an executable.

-- 
Outsider
MS-DOS 6.22, Windows for Workgroups 3.11, Netscape Navigator 4.08
"If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish
thing." -- Bertrand Russell