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From: Margulies.Multics@CISL-SERVICE-MULTICS.ARPA@rochester.UUCP (Margulies.Multics@CISL-SERVICE-MULTICS.ARPA)
Newsgroups: net.cog-eng
Subject: - + and options in general
Message-ID: <5739@rochester.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 20-Mar-84 08:12:32 EST
Article-I.D.: rocheste.5739
Posted: Tue Mar 20 08:12:32 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 21-Mar-84 02:08:36 EST
Sender: daemon@rocheste.UUCP
Organization: U. of Rochester, CS Dept.
Lines: 30

From: "Benson I. Margulies" 
The use of - on Multics is an attempt to satisfy a couple of design
goals:

    1) non-positionality

The options (we call them control arguments) should be easily
distinguished from the ordinary operands.  Consider:

    delete foo bar >udd>m>bim>gruz c=d.q -force -query_each

if we used =, it would be force=yes, and query=each, and then there
would be two more file names that could not be easily manipulated.

Also, consider:

    ....   -user -me

for a comamnd which usually gets -user Margulies.Multics

What would that look like in = land?  user=-me?  how do you reserve
values on the right side of the equal sign?

2) a burning desire not to resemble IBM JCL in any way, means, or
fashion.

By the way, Multics usually defines -no_foo as the opposite of -foo, but
the Multics Consistent System has used -^foo with some success.

  --benson