vDos setup and Windows C: drive access

[whathim]

Jos



As I posted previously (link1, link2), I have my 16-bit editor Open.exe program running very nicely under vDos. I recently tried printing from the editor and this worked brilliantly – I’m liking vDos a lot. I’ve also been running the PowerBasic Dos compiler, which is also 16-bit.



Can I just confirm something with you? Until recently my setup has been as follows:



vDos.exe installed in C:\vDos\ directory along with config.txt and autoexec.txt

Open.exe in C:\vDos\OpenV3_2\ along with launch file OpenV.bat



In the autoexec.txt I have:




USE D: C:\

CALL OpenV3_2\OpenV.bat




From OpenV.bat I launch Open.exe with the command (simplified):




CALL C:\OPENV3_2\OPEN.EXE /50 D:\ %1 %2 %3 %4




This works fine and I can access my Windows C: drive from within Open via the alias D:



I’ve recently tried an alternative arrangement. The vDos installation remains the same but I now have Open.exe in the Windows subdirectory C:\OpenV3_2\ along with launch file OpenV.bat. In the autoexec.txt I have:




USE C: C:\

CALL OpenV3_2\OpenV.bat




This, of course, picks up the OpenV.bat file in the Windows C:\OpenV3_2\ directory. From that file I launch Open with:




CALL C:\OPENV3_2\OPEN.EXE /50 %1 %2 %3 %4




That is, the same as before but without the “D:\” argument. This also works fine and I can access my Windows C: drive from within Open but without having to use an alias.



I seem to remember you saying “USE C: C:\” is not recommended. However, it seems to be working perfectly for me. I’ll add, I’m very familiar with the contents of my Windows C: drive and not likely to try to access non-ascii text content.

[Jos]

Well, USE D: C:\ was as ‘bad’ as USE C: C:.

You get access to the Windows root directory (Windows doesn’t like), directories and thousands of files that have no meaning whatsoever to your DOS programs. But it’s of course your own responsibility.

I myself would create directories in C:\OPENV3_2 that contain the files you want to edit/manage. Furthermore add the lines of OpenV.bat to autoexec.txt.

Jos

[whathim]

That’s fine – confirms it’s a responsibility/discipline thing. I’m happy with that, and it’s exactly the same setup I’ve had for years under NTVDM with no problems.

Thanks for the tip on adding the commands from OpenV.bat into autoexec.txt.