Item Subject: MPEJXQ1 and COPY
Jeff Vance ([log in to unmask]) wrote:

[snip]
> 3  COPY a,./b     <-- you know that ./b is a file
> 4  COPY a,./dir/  <-- you know the resulting file is ./dir/A
>
> Case 4 is the new scenerio I am discussing.

Actually, case 3 is implicitly being discussed as well, since omitting
the trailing slash from (4) means we no longer know if "./b" is a file
or a directory. This, together with the cross-platform syntax
considerations, is the crux of the matter.

> My purpose is to make it clearer when reading scripts or JCL what the
> copy command is doing.  This comes at the cost of being inconsistent with
> two extremely popular operating systems.
>
> My question to you is do you prefer consistency with DOS and UNIX,
> or do you prefer the CI to force upon you a rule that makes the COPY
> command more evident?

Thanks for asking, Jeff!

As I struggle even to remember which keyboard layout I'm using,
I vote for NOT being forced to use the trailing slash. If you
want to make it optional to allow the programmer to use this
more explicit style, feel free! But please, do not *force* me
to do so.

Thanks again!

--Glenn Cole
  Software al dente, Inc.
  [log in to unmask]

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