Hi all,

This is the latest status on the MPE patch that supports extended filename
characters, like ~!@#$%^&*()+{}|[]:"'<>? in POSIX named files.

When we support Java and Samba in FOS we will need the MPEJXQ1 patch
in FOS as well, but currently this patch is being released as a site
specific patch.

What does MPEJXQ1 do?
--------------------
1) it allows POSIX and MPE_Escaped filenames to contain all printable
characters except for:
      "/" as a legitimate char rather than a component delimiter,
      "\" being reserved for an escape character and
      space,comma,semicolon and equalsign.

I have included space, comma, semicolon and equalsign in the list of illegal
POSIX characters so that MPE applications and the CI have a much lower
chance of not working correctly.  Since comma, semicolon and equalsign
are common delimiters for CI commands parsed by the MYCOMMAND intrinsic,
we run into some big problems if these characters are allowed.  Eg.
-  create 2 files: ./abc and ./abc,def
-  listfile ./abc@  will show the 2 files correctly
-  purge "./abc,def" will silently purge the file named ./abc -- not the
   desired file!  This is due to the fact that fopen_nm needs to find the
   end of the passed-in filename and considers comma a valid terminator.

At this time we feel it is important for the system manager to be able to
reach all on her/his files via the CI.  This could change later, but for
now this is our philosphy.  If you need a better explanation please ask me
or call me at (408)447-5666.

The rules for MPE-only filenames have not changed.


2) it allows the TO= paramater of the COPY command to accept a directory
name in addition to general filenames and ".group[.acct]" names.
The directory name must be in MPE_escaped syntax and contain a trailing
slash, e.g., :copy foo, ./dirname/


3) it supports the new FSYNTAX() CI evaluator function which performs syntax
checking on any type of filename. I have kept FSYNTAX as originally proposed.

We are well aware that certain unix tools use a comma in their filenames,
but the compatibility risks are too great at this time for us to support
this character.

regards,
Jeff Vance, CSY

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