Date: Thu, 13 Feb 1997 15:40:00 +1000 (AEST)
From: Jason White <whiteja AT rvib2 DOT rvib DOT org DOT au>
To: opendos AT mail DOT tacoma DOT net
Subject: [opendos] Specifying environmental variables in batch files and at the command prompt
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In an earlier message on this list, it was stated that the copy of
command.com included in OpenDOS did not properly handle commands such as:
path c:\dir;%path%
in which the value of the relevant environmental variable (path in this
instance) is to be substituted during the processing of the command. In
fact, commands of this form do work under OpenDOS, but only if they are
executed from within batch files. They fail when they are entered at the
command prompt. Should this be considered as a bug in OpenDOS, or merely a
limitation? It should be noted that in DOSbook, this feature is discussed
in the context of batch file parameters, which suggests that its
confinement to batch processing might be intentional. Personally, I can
think of no persuasive reason for imposing such a restriction, which
certainly does not apply in the command processor that comes with MS-DOS.

Jason White.