[Info-vax] DIR/DATE_FORMAT=DELTA ?

[AEF]

On Jan 11, 9:07 am, Simon Clubley <clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-
Earth.UFP> wrote:
> On 2012-01-09, Marc Van Dyck <marc.gr.vand... at invalid.skynet.be> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > JF Mezei brought next idea :
>
> >> If <delta time> greater than X, then take some action.
>
> >> File not modified for X time, then archive it.
> >> File not backed up for X time, then do a backup.
>
> >> However, since such activities are more likely done in a command
> >> procedure, and command procedures can use f$file_attributes and then
> >> F$CVTIME, that functionality is already there.
>
> > I was about to say that.
>
> > The output of the DIRECTORY command is basically the result of a
> > F$SEARCH loop.
>
> > Asking for times in delta format probably means that this output
> > would get parsed afterwards for some kind of processing.
>
> > This is a bad habit and should not be done unless unavoidable. Over
> > the years, many lexical functions have been added to DCL in order
> > to avoid output parsing in most situations. Parsing output files in
> > DCL brings man back to Unix programming levels, a thing of the past ;-)
>
> Of course, in Unix-land, you could just use find to get a list of matching
> files. :-)
>
> DCL has some nice capabilities, but so do Unix style shells. It would be
> nice to see a CLI which mixed the best of both worlds.
>
> (And as a bonus, in a Unix shell, you can also edit your long wrapped
> command line while you are working on your one-line masterpiece. :-))
>
> Simon.
>
> --
> Simon Clubley, clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
> Microsoft: Bringing you 1980s technology to a 21st century world

Well, there is some movement in this area. VMS adopted PIPE. And I now
see Unix commands using --<english word>, such as --help, --block-
size=SIZE, and so on.

Cross-breeding!

AEF