> I'm not sure I understand your point, Richard. Every version of DOS I have
> ever used has returned Bad Command or File Name. It is one of the
> folklore-level messages of DOS! That's why I can't understand IBM failing to
> bother to emulate it :-)

  How many versions of DOS have you tried running?

  All I'm saying, is that with so many versions of DOS out there, and with
Windows 95 coming out, as well as Windows NT, and OS/2 being out there, as
well as various command interpreter replacements, such as 4DOS, it is
impossible to rely on the messages returned by the operating system.

  Ideally Neil, your program should almost NEVER use a SHELL command for
anything.  With the exception of calling VFITO/VFICO,etc from your program,
or calling the archivers and protocols, everything else should be internal to
the program.  If you ask most programmers, they will all agree that your
program should do as much as possible internally, and not rely on the
operating system for anything.

  In any case, a function to search the path for a file is not difficult to
code.  Would you like one?
                            /\/ Richard Glidden \/\

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