Re: FindFirstFile and underscore

From: Ulrich Korndoerfer (ulrich_wants_nospam_at_prosource.de)
Date: 08/10/04 

Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2004 18:57:25 +0200

Hi,

Randy Birch schrieb:
>
> Just because you can force a file to start with a . doesn't mean it's a
> normal or supported practice.

In the Unix world a leading dot for files and/or directories is quite
common. I personally use some unix tools like apache, analog (an apache
log analyzer) or unison (a file synchronization/backup tool), which all
may use leading dots for files and/or directories. QT from Trolltech
(GUI toolkit and framework for OS independent application development)
uses dotprefixed folders.

There are many more tools which come from the unix world and are
available for WIN oses too. But "native" WIN apps sometimes use
dotprefixed names too.

Sharp develop (an open source C# development environment) uses them.
Borlands JBuilder (Java programming IDE) uses a directory called
".jbuilder".
MS .NET products sometimes have files/folders/links with a dot in front
(like the ".NET Framework Config" folder):-)

I don't think that it is that unusual using leading dots for file system
item names and therefore should be taken into account when doing file
system item searches. And it is supported by the OS and perfectly legal.

In the after DOS days a file system item name is just a series of
characters from a given character set, whith each character in the set
having lost any special meaning and may be freely used. OK, this last
dot in a file system item name still has a, but vague, meaning of being
the separator of the formerly so called file extension from the rest of
the name, but you cannot really count on it being that, nowadays.

> rather than test for the ASC code for the dot.

BTW, this is slower (if used with VB strings) than doing a simple
comparison using the equal operator ;-). 

-- 
Ulrich Korndoerfer
VB tips, helpers, solutions -> http://www.proSource.de/Downloads/

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