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From: wesommer@athena.mit.edu.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: globbing in the shell (Was Re: more rm insanity)
Message-ID: <1975@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU>
Date: Mon, 7-Dec-87 06:09:50 EST
Article-I.D.: bloom-be.1975
Posted: Mon Dec  7 06:09:50 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 12-Dec-87 10:20:39 EST
References: <1257@boulder.Colorado.EDU> <6840002@hpcllmv.HP.COM>
Sender: daemon@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU
Reply-To: wesommer@athena.mit.edu (William Sommerfeld)
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lines: 19

In article <6356@ncoast.UUCP> allbery@ncoast.UUCP (Brandon Allbery) writes:
>In article <12441@think.UUCP> by barmar@think.COM (Barry Margolin) writes:
>> Finally, even when an argument is a pathname, it is sometimes not
>> allowed to be multiple files.  For example, diff takes pathnames, but
>> it requires exactly two of them, and ar allows only one archive
>> pathname to be specified.  On Multics, a command with a syntax like
>> this can check whether the argument contains wildcards and complain.
>So, how many times have you abbreviated a filename which you know is unique
>with a well-placed "*"?

Rarely; it all depends on what you are used to.  On unix, using tcsh,
I hit 'TAB', and have the shell or emacs complete the filename for me.

On Multics, segments generally have short add_names which are easy to
type -- for example, ">user_dir_dir>Multics>Margolin" is otherwise
known as ">udd>m>barmar".

					Bill Sommerfeld
					wesommer@athena.mit.edu