At 11:29 AM 5/6/98 -0600, you wrote:
>Since the topic of Enhancements is "on top",
>
>Please consider wildcards in File equates.
>
>FILE @.GROUP.ACCT = @.NEWGRP.ACT2
>FILE @.HPENV.SYS   = @.HPENV.TYM
>

This is something that has been coming up for a long time. I always get
excited about it, and then after wandering down the pth a bit, get
discouraged. SOme thoughts....

I frequently feel the "need" for this when I have to wholesale change the
way an app behaves, by pointing it to a different group. At times like that,
the ability to say - just force all the files to be referenced out of that
other group (FILE @[log in to unmask])

Of course, this could have some unintended effects on anything else that
tries to open a file(!)

OK, so lets try the expedient of prefixing all the files with a different
combination (eg  FILE DR@[log in to unmask]). Here we have limited the unwanted
side effects of the first one, by limiting the domain to which the file
equation applies. However we have also effectively limited the domain of
available file names (no DB file-name can be loinger than 7 characters, or
the FOPEN will abort). Also, it ispossible to construct wild-card
expressions that map onto more than one file, or where more than one file
map onto a single file:

FILE FILE#=GSY#
FILE FIELD#=QXR#A
FILE F@#=HUH@#DUH

You get the drift. Since the present file equation is pretty unambiguous,
I'd prefer to retain that very important and necessary quality rather than
creating the problems tha wild-carded file equations might create.

FWIW the use of scripts to run programs can make the entire discussion moot!
Tony "Returning to being wistful!" Furnivall