Subj : v3 Baja compatibility
To : All
From : Digital Man
Date : Wed Nov 08 2000 07:47 am
While on the subject of loadable module/shell compatibility, I thought I would
bring to your attention a couple of other points about insuring compatibility
with Synchronet v3:
In a multi-threaded process (as Synchronet v3 is), there is no such idea of
"current working directory" for each thread. So, relative file paths (paths
starting with '.') should not be used in loadable modules or command shells and
the Baja function: CHANGE_DIR should never be used.
* Side note * Start-up directories are supported for external programs because
they are run in their own process and therefor can maintain their own "current
working directory".
In general, absolute paths (e.g. "c:\mymod" or "/mymod") should NOT be
hard-coded in loadable modules or shells either. Instead, you should use one of
the sysop-configurable directory variables (ctrl_dir, data_dir, text_dir,
node_dir or exec_dir) as a base path. These directory variables can be used in
command strings with the following command-line specifiers (from Appendix A in
the sysop manual):
%! exec directory
%z text directory
%k ctrl directory
%j data directory
%n node directory
* Note * the trailing slash is included in the variable text.
So if your module's config files where stored in ctrl/mymod, you could access
those files with a path string "%kmymod/filename".
Or if you wanted to access data files in the main Synchronet directory, you
could with a path string "%j../myfile".
Most 3rd party modules and shells already do this kind of thing with the path
specifiers, but I thought I would just remind programmers of what was required
to be compatible with Synchronet v3. :-)
Rob
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