Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!rutgers!ucsd!ames!amdahl!kim
From: kim@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com (Kim DeVaughn)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Hidden bit
Summary: what do the CATS'n'DOGS have to say ...?
Keywords: protect hidden ls
Message-ID: 
Date: 4 Dec 88 00:41:34 GMT
References: <999@hub.ucsb.edu>  <1527@nmtsun.nmt.edu>
Organization: Amdahl Corporation,  Sunnyvale, CA 94086
Lines: 60

In article <1527@nmtsun.nmt.edu>, wbnsnsr@nmtsun.nmt.edu (William Norris) writes:
> In article  kim@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com (Kim DeVaughn) writes:
>
> >I read about the "hidden" attribute someplace too (AmigaWorld's series
> >on 1.3 maybe ?), but the 1.3 Protect command doesn't support it.
>
> Using the Omega 7 version of Workbench, list shows eight bit positions.
> The highest is supposed to be for the hidden attribute.  When I issue:
> PROTECT  ADD H, protect does in fact set the hidden bit.

I *swear* I tried this out with "Protect" ... I *know* I did, because I got
the "Invalid flag - must be one of SPARWED" message.  And I tried it under
"shell", "Shell", and the "CLI".  They *all* gave me the error msg.

But it certainly does work now.  I can only guess that I must have been
typing "n" instead of "h".  Several times.  Ah well ... I should know better
at 3:30 AM ...


> >I also checked in my newly received 1.3 includes (thanks, Lauren!), and
> >it's not defined in them either ... only the other seven: sparwed (gee,
> >that's even pronouncable ... sparwed).
>
> They're not in mine, either.  So I went into libraries/dos.h and added:
> 
> #define FIBB_HIDDEN 7
> #define FIBF_HIDDEN (1 << FIBB_HIDDEN)

I'd really like for CBM to "bless" this.  True, the current "Protect" does
do this, but it isn't documented anywhere I could find.  So the question
for the CATS and/or DOGS is: "is the 'h' bit 'official', or is this a 'keep
your hands off of this bit' situation"?


> As far as the original intent of the question (making .info files hiddent),
> I'm almost finished my ls UNIX equivalent (defaults to NOT listing .info
> files and doesn't ignore the hidden bit).

Funny ... that's exactly what I'm working on, too.  My implementation will
allow the user to specify what is "hidden" via an env variable (default is
to hide .files, info files, and anything with the "h" bit set).


BTW, the "ls" command that comes with Manx (v3.6a) shows a file with the "h"
bit set as a directory (i.e., it uses the dir color).  

Another interesting tidbit ... take a look at the protection bits for vd0:
sometime (that's the FileInfoBlock entry for ASDG-RAM:).  It seems to use
bits 0-15 of the fib_Protection longword for something quite different than
the intended use ... the bit settings change significantly by just adding or
deleting an entry in vd0:.  Anyone know what they're using them for (Eric ?)

/kim

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