Mail Archives: djgpp/1996/12/28/20:45:09
Eli Zaretskii wrote:
> Anyway, the /dev directory is special in both Unix and DOS as the place
> where the devices reside. However, DOS handles it rather half-heartedly:
> it reserves it for the above function (since most DOS machines won't
> actually have it), but also lets you create a directory by that name. For
> instance, assuming there is no \DEV directory on your disk C:, try these
> commands from the DOS prompt (DOS response is to the right of the arrow):
>
> truename c:\dev\con ==> C:/CON
> truename c:\dos\con ==> C:\DOS\CON
> dir c:\dev\con ==> File not found
> truename c:\dev\xyzzy ==> C:\DEV\XYZZY
>
> See? First, DOS knows that \dev\con is different from \dos\con. Second,
> some (most) DOS commands and functions will fail for "\dev\con" (or
> "\dev\nul", or any other device name). Third, DOS knows that "con" is a
> device name, but "xyzzy" is not.
Interesting... What exactly is "truename"? "truename /?" returned "Reserved command name"
I assume its really for subst's & such, though it does not appear in any DOS manual I own.
Are there other undocumented commands?
Also, DOS knows about devices regardless of what directory you put them in:
truename c:\heeba\jeeba\con ==> C:/CON
Jim
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