From:	CSBVAX::MRGATE!RELAY-INFO-VAX@CRVAX.SRI.COM@SMTP  5-AUG-1988 06:56
To:	ARISIA::EVERHART
Subj:	Numeric [x,y] directories


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Date:    Wed, 3 Aug 88 09:29:41 MDT
From:     ewilts%Janus.MRC.AdhocNet.CA%Stasis.MRC.AdhocNet.CA%UNCAEDU.@CORNELLC.CCS.CORNELL.EDU
         BITnet (Ed Wilts)
Message-Id: <880803092943.01i@Janus.MRC.AdhocNet.CA>
Subject: Numeric [x,y] directories
To:       info-vax@kl.sri.com
X-ST-Vmsmail-To: INFOVAX

Glenn Everhart writes:
>  Vendors who use this format in new code should indeed be discouraged,
>but I suggest that refusing to buy their stuff, and PUBLISHING WHO THEY
>ARE, would be far more effective, and would not damage those with legitimate
>uses for the old stuff.

One of the guilty parties is INTERGRAPH CORPORATION.
They ported thier IGDS software (and all their products layered on it) to the
VAX in 1982.  Since then, they have been claiming that they will support the
normal hierarchical directory structures "real soon now".  Six years have
passed, and they are still saying that.  Admittedly, some of the layered
products have eliminated the restriction, but MOST still will NOT run unless
your current directory is in UIC-style format.
One of their concerns is compatibility, but I firmly believe that a properly-
written translator (not like their Igds 7-8 translator) should eliminate
their concerns.

        .../Ed          (ewilts%ins.mrc.adhocnet.ca@uncaedu.bitnet)

Ed Wilts
Sr. Systems Analyst
Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd.
Calgary, Alberta, Canada