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From: apratt@atari.UUcp (Allan Pratt)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Re: Hard disk questions
Message-ID: <513@atari.UUcp>
Date: Mon, 12-Jan-87 17:02:25 EST
Article-I.D.: atari.513
Posted: Mon Jan 12 17:02:25 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 13-Jan-87 07:24:56 EST
References: <983@husc6.UUCP>
Organization: Atari Corp., Sunnyvale CA
Lines: 32

I am grateful to Justin Grunau (grunau@husc4.harvard.edu) for saving
me from typing all that again.  However, he did suggest something
dangerous, and I would like to warn one and all about it:

BE CAREFUL ABOUT USING "SHOW INFO" TO SEE HOW MANY FOLDERS YOU HAVE.

Because "show info" goes all the way to the bottom of the tree, you
run a great risk of exceeding the 40-folder limit just by counting
your folders.  A safer way is to "show info" one logical device at a
time, then reset the machine before using "show info" on the next
device.

To answer one of the other questions, if you insert a floppy with five
folders on it, you should count those five.  If you then remove that
floppy and insert one with ten folders, you can SUBTRACT the five and
then ADD the ten from your mental count.  Specifically, MEDIA CHANGE
REMOVES THOSE FOLDERS FROM THE TALLY.  Part of the problem is that you
never get media change on a hard disk.

In answer to another question: folders whose names you see in a
Desktop window DO count -- you don't have to open them for them to
count.  Same goes for a folder which you see from a directory command
from your shell (like Micro C Shell or command.prg).  Moreover,
folders you don't even see count: opening a file in a directory where
there are five folders might add three to your tally, or two, or five,
or none.  The number is (informally) nondeterministic.  That's why
this is so dangerous.

/----------------------------------------------\
| Opinions expressed above do not necessarily  |  -- Allan Pratt, Atari Corp.
| reflect those of Atari Corp. or anyone else. |     ...lll-lcc!atari!apratt
\----------------------------------------------/