To: Victor Essers <essersvr AT perth DOT dialix DOT oz DOT au>
Cc: djgpp AT sun DOT soe DOT clarkson DOT edu
Subject: Re: help 
Date: Thu, 25 Aug 94 17:43:08 +0300
From: eliz AT is DOT elta DOT co DOT il

> Could someone please tell me if it is possible to access the value of the FILES
> setting in CONFIG.SYS from within a C program, and if so, how?

Are you trying to see what's written in CONFIG.SYS, or do you want to
know what maximum number of files can you open?  The first is relatively
easy (just read the file...), while the second is non-trivial.  This
is because (a) there is a way to increase the FILES setting *after*
CONFIG.SYS was processed (e.g., QEMM's FILES.COM does just that), so
reading CONFIG isn't enough; and (b) C libraries often have their
own (read: arbitrary) limitations on the max number of available file
handles (e.g., Borland C gives you 20, including the 5 standard handles
which it opens for you).  For the latter case it might suffice to just
use the constant FOPEN_MAX (on stdio.h).  If you want to know how many
files can be opened by *any* program (not necessarily the one from which
you are trying to determine that number), that's still more complicated.
If that's what you need, drop me a note, and I will elaborate.

	Eli Zaretskii