CompuServe Messages

#Macaroni (shells)

    22-May-89 08:23:08
Fm: M2S/Phil Camp 76004,2054
To: Don Curtis/SYSOP 76703,4321
Yeah, but the shell has to get ALL the names from the directory prior to the programs starting to do their stuff, that's the part I don't like. For example, with ARP using the CMP (compare) program, I can do CMP #? df1:#? Which checks all the files and reports different files. If I'm only interested in the first file that's different, I hit CTRL-C as soon as CMP indicates that there's a difference. Now with shell expansion, I would have to wait for the shell to get ALL the filenames from the disk, and then CMP starts to work, and then I can hit CTRL-C. This can take a loong time, especially if you use the ALL switch.