From: phil@miracle.com (Phil Hill)
Newsgroups: comp.bbs.waffle
Subject: Re: The woes of ^Z
Date: Mon, 28 Dec 92 23:42:55 EDT
Organization: Miracle Computer Consultants

jgostin@eternal.chi.il.us (Jeff Gostin) writes:
>phil@miracle.com (Phil Hill) writes:
>> The use of text mode was a *LAZY* decision (or an ommission, cause Tom forgot
>> about ^Z processing).  It doesn't change the fact that it is a BUG.
>
>     I've stayed out of this issue for a few reasons, but I work for a
>software company, so I find the need to defend the programmer (in this
>case Tom) from such remarks, as it indicates a growing trend among
>software users that I'd much rather stop.

You missed the mark here a little.  I am not a programmer, not a user.  This
is what enables me to see what is going on here.  I'm not attacking Tom, I'm
mearly commenting on the ^Z problem (?).  I've had to address hundreds of bugs
like this one.  Often I have taken the *LAZY* approach, and not bothered to
fix such a problem.  If I were placed in charge of Waffle, I'd probably make
the decision not to fix the ^Z problem.  I consider this a *LAZY* decision,
because the *PROPER* thing to do is fix the problem.
>
>     I would tend to disagree with this statement, Phil. What we are
>arguing about here is a matter of programming preference. Firstly, just
>because it doesn't work the way you WANT it to does NOT make it a bug. It
>just makes a gripe, which is a seperate, but equal issue. To call it a bug
>is inappropriate. If your gripe is with the "^Z", talk to Microsoft. If
>your gripe is with the way Waffle handles it, I would suggest talking to
>Tom directly about it, as he is the ONLY person who could handle it.

No.  You are wrong here.  First, anything that causes any customer complaints
must be considered a bug.  Second, anything that makes Waffle different on
DOS and UNIX must be concidered a bug.  And Third, anything that doesn't work
the way it *SHOULD* is a bug.  The ^Z problem meets at least two of these
conditions.

My main gripe with this thread is the number of people (like you) who like
to sit back and say "talk to Microsoft," it's their problem.  IT IS NOT DOS'S
FAULT.  The blame is totally on Tom and the Waffle implementation.  If you
had complained that Waffle limits filenames to 8 characters, and doesn't
allow "+" in directory names, then you can blame Microsoft.  But when there
is a simple solution to the problem, you can only blame the products author.
>
>     Secondly, we are working with TEXT here, so it would seem that TEXT
>mode is the most appropriate. What we are talking about is the ability to
>have the compiler automatically check for NEWLINEs and such as it is
>ripping the info from the disk (TEXT mode, for those who don't know), or
>to have the entire chunk brought into memory, and MANUALLY check for
>newlines (BINARY mode, for the uninitiated). Again, since we are working
>with TEXT, it would be appropriate to work in TEXT mode.

TEXT mode does TWO things, it treats CRLF as a line delimiter, and it
treats ^Z as a EOF character.  If you don't want to use *BOTH* modes, then
you have to use RAW I/O mode.  In text mode, you have to read data looking
for a LF.  In raw mode, you have to read data looking for a LF, and strip
off the CR.  One whole line of code.
	
>     We are arguing the specific (Waffle handling ^Z's), stating the
>general (the equivalent of "all my other programs do such and such") as
>the cause. This is not a valid argument, and is not warranted.

The most important argument is that **WAFFLE** doesn't treat ^Z's the same
when run on a UNIX system.  It is important that Waffle remain compatible with
itself.  Or to at least document the difference.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Phil Hill                     | "All you people in TV land,           |
| Miracle Computer Consultants  |   I will wake up your empty shells.   |
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