Case sensitive file names

[Moderator, John Quarterman]

From: seismo!philabs!phri!cooper!cooper!chris (Chris Lent)
Date: Tue, 7 Oct 86 19:26:42 edt

Just wondering,
	Why not set up a few functions to determine how the heck
each operating system handles filenames?

	For case sensitivity how about something like:
		isfsense() 
	which could be a macro to a constant or a function.

	Or better how about:
		isflegal(fname)
		char *fname;
	which would tell you if the operating system approves of your file
	name? Of course this could be done through existing functions
by opening the file, but this way COULD be implemented to reduce
file access overhead.

	But I think a good solution would be to follow FORTRAN-77's
example with the inquire statement which can get back the fully expanded
filename of an already open unit-number (file descriptor) or a
closed file.  I've found all F-77's I've tried to give back the
full pathnames on files.

	But I think that a minimum allowable character set for
filenames might be sufficient.  That is 'A-Z0-9.' would be fine
for most users I've run into.

Well that's about it
Chris Lent
ihnp4!philabs!phri!cooper!chris

Volume-Number: Volume 7, Number 44