Re: Alternate file types for RUN ?


<davidc@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1161612848.987559.44000@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
JF Mezei wrote:
Is it possible to setup VMS so that the RUN command looks for file .EXE
first, and if not found, would look for .EXE_VAX on VAX systems and
EXE_AXP for Alphas ? (or whatever) ?

This way, one could easily have two utilities with common code base
reside in the same directory and a user could invoke the utility the
same way whether is is typing the command in a DCL window connected to a
VAX or to an Alpha . (and thus also have the same LOGIN.COM for both
platforms).

I understand the issue. I do wish that when the Alpha came out, the
default image type was something a little different, like .AXE, to
avoid this problem.

Of course, maybe you could hack the image activator to look for another
file type..


Changing the extension would have itself caused pain - as many command files
and other things look for .EXE as the extension for an image. We had a lot
of discussion about it. We also had a lot of discussion about having the
image activator look for architecture-specific images - and decided against
it because there was a lot of pushback against the additional overhead in
activation time for doing fallback lookups. We also talked about "fat
binaries" which was another huge kettle of fish with some ugly problems.

In the end, the *simplest* method was to recommend exactly what others have
suggested here... create a search list and have architecture-specific
directories. A startup procedure, or login command file can look at the
architecture and order the search list in the appropriate manner.

Today, you might also consider having hard/soft links from something called
a .EXE file that actually points to an architecture-specific image.



.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Alternate file types for RUN ?
    ... JF Mezei wrote: ... first, and if not found, would look for .EXE_VAX on VAX systems and ... VAX or to an Alpha. ... default image type was something a little different, like .AXE, to ...
    (comp.os.vms)
  • Re: Alternate file types for RUN ?
    ... first, and if not found, would look for .EXE_VAX on VAX systems and ... same way whether is is typing the command in a DCL window connected to a ... VAX or to an Alpha. ... default image type was something a little different, like .AXE, to ...
    (comp.os.vms)
  • Re: Basic virtual memory question
    ... >> Since your MVII is very much not an Alpha, ... >On VAX systems prior to Verison 7.0, VIRTUALPAGECNT sets the ... >Nothing explains what VIRTUALPAGECNT does on VAX systems post 7.0 ...
    (comp.os.vms)