Eagle Eye CD-ROM BBS Network/eagle-eye-cdrom-bbs-network.iso/xplore/pathinfo.txt

Text File | 1993-04-13 | 6KB | 102 lines

             INFORMATION ON THE DOS ENVIRONMENT PATH STRING
             ----------------------------------------------

        If you elect to store all your archive system programs and DOC
   files in one directory and you specify that directory in the AM
   configuration dialog input field named "CompDir:", you need not
   worry about the DOS path.  Similarly, if you configur AM with the
   full path name of the other support files such as the external file
   editor, browser, etc., you need not worry about those programs being
   on the DOS path.

        All versions of PC and MS DOS above 1.x maintain an area in
   memory called the environment.  The environment contains a series of
   text strings that are used by DOS and applications programs for
   various purposes.  You can see what strings are currently in the
   enviroment by typing SET and pressing <RETURN> from the DOS level.  As
   a minimum, the environment will contain the string COMSPEC= followed
   by a DOS directory path and (usually) COMMAND.COM.  Most hard disk
   equipped machines will show the following COMSPEC string:

                       COMSPEC=C:\COMMAND.COM

        Other strings that frequently appear in the environment are the
   PROMPT= and PATH= strings.  Control of the environment is effected
   through the DOS SET command, which may be entered at the DOS level or
   from a batch (like AUTOEXEC.BAT) file.  For example, if a user desired
   that DOS used a copy of COMMAND.COM that was in a directory named
   C:\DOS, he/she might place the command SET COMSPEC=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM
   in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file.  After booting, DOS would load COMMAND.COM
   from C:\DOS each time it needed to reload the command interpreter.
   All other copies of COMMAND.COM in the system would be superfluous and
   ignored by DOS.

        One very useful string that can be placed in the DOS environment
   by the user is the PATH= string.  When the name of an executable file
   is issued from the DOS level, DOS will first look in the current
   subdirectory for the file.  If it finds it, it loads and executes it
   and all is fine.  If it cannot find the file in the current directory,
   DOS will search the environment for the PATH= designator.  If one
   exists, DOS will search the directories in the PATH= string for the
   executable file.  For example, suppose that the AUTOEXEC.BAT contains
   the command SET PATH=C:\DOS;D:\UTIL;E:\JUNK. Note that directory path
   names are separated by semicolons and can (and should) include the
   drive designator.  Now further suppose that the user is in a directory
   named D:\SOMENAME and desires to run the program MYPROG.EXE but
   MYPROG.EXE is not resident in D:\SOMENAME. When the user enters MYPROG,
   DOS, unable find it in the current directory, starts searching the
   directories in the PATH= string starting with C:\DOS.  If MYPROG.EXE
   was in D:\UTIL, DOS would load and execute the program and D:\UTIL
   would be the active directory when the program received control from
   DOS.  Obviously, if DOS cannot find MYPROG.EXE in any of directories in
   the PATH= string, the message BAD COMMAND OR FILENAME will be
   displayed.  The exact same sequence is followed if a running program
   calls DOS to execute a program.

        Each Identifier in the DOS path string MUST be unique.  For
   example, consider the path identifier C:\UTIL\DOS\MYDIR.  Placing
   this string in the DOS path string will NOT automatically place the
   the dirctories C:\UTIL and C:\UTIL\DOS in the DOS path.  Each must
   be uniquely identified by the correct path name.  For each of these
   directories to be identified in the DOS path, the following would
   be entered:

                    C:\UTIL;C:\UTIL\DOS;C:\UTIL\DOS\MYDIR

        You may have multiple path strings in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file but
   only the last PATH= string is valid.  To ensure that you have the path
   string the way you want it, type PATH and press "Enter" at the DOS
   level.  Also, it is important to include the DOS logical drive
   specification ("C:" or "D:") with each directory.

        ArcMaster depends upon the presence of an archive system's
   executable files (PAK.EXE, ARJ.EXE, PKZIP.EXE, etc.). It calls these
   programs by using the command sequence just described and therefore
   will not function properly unless these programs are in a directory
   specified in the PATH= string.  The simplest thing to do is to place
   your archive system files and LIST.COM in one subdirectory and place
   its DOS path name in the environment.  For example, suppose you are
   using PKWare and you place PKZIP, PKUNXIP, and LIST in a directory
   named C:\ARCUTILS.  Placing the following line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT
   file and rebooting will ensure that ArcMaster will function properly:

                           PATH=C:\ARCUTILS

   Obviously, the PATH= string can contain other directory path names and
   you may already have a PATH= command in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.  If
   so, just add the directory containing the archive system files to the
   string.  For maximum speed, make it the first directory name in the
   string.

        If you are having difficulty determining which archive system
   program and support files are in the current DOS PATH, run
   ArcMaster and press Ctrl+F2.  A window containing a list of the
   various executable files that might be used by ArcMaster is
   displayed with an indication of where in the DOS path it was
   found.

        Remember, any time you see the message "Bad command or file name"
   it is DOS telling you that you do not have the called program in the
   path.