Hi Andrew,

You wrote to Jonathan de Boyne Pollard:

AG> > 2) I much prefer to use text mode .INI files for easier editing.

AG> JdBP> Oh yes ?  What about storing binary data ?  What about parsing
AG> JdBP> errors ?

AG>small amounts of binary convert to hex. Biger bits go in their own files, wi
AG>name in the .INI file. Parsing errors? At least you know
AG>what is wrong, and get some
AG>clue as to hoa to fix it. With a binary file, the whole thing just barfs.

At least we have the choice with our own .ini files.

AG> JdBP> The reality is that binary INI files are generally considered to be
AG> JdBP> more robust that text format INI files.

AG>By who? Not by me.

AG> JdBP> This is one of the rare instances where I find myself in the
AG> JdBP> unfortunate position of agreeing with Microsoft.  Microsoft's
AG> JdBP> decision to make their "registry" use a private
binary format rather
AG> JdBP> than a text format was motivated by the desire to prevent users
AG> JdBP> screwing up INI files by using text editors on them.

AG>But MS are dealing with Windows users. We are talking OS/2 users here :-)
AG>It stops us from fixing our .INI files.

Now there I agree, thank goodness some of the OS/2 users have taken the
time to decipher the OS/2 .ini file format so we can (to a degree) fix
our .ini files. They have my sincere thanks.

AG> JdBP> OS/2's binary INI files also have this advantage.  Windows echoes
AG> JdBP> are full of people who have hand-mangled their INI files, and
AG> JdBP> suddenly find themselves without fonts, without printers, or with a
AG> JdBP> completely non-functional Windows system because they've removed the
AG> JdBP> wrong VxD line.  You don't see any equivalent messages in OS/2
AG> JdBP> echoes.

I see ones where they've done it by editing config.sys instead :-(

AG>No they just have to completely re-install, using an install program that
AG>is so dumb it spends ages copying new copies of files over identical old one
AG>instead of asking before skipping the files which have same date and length.

Or, what I consider even worse, back-levelling a file without asking :-(

AG> JdBP> For the benefit of developers, there do exist several small OS/2 INI
AG> JdBP> editing utilities.

AG>And you really expect to find these on other peple's machines when they
AG>ask for help when the system won't boot.

That's a thought, I'd better make sure I've got them on floppy so I can
access them if needed.

AG>I would say binary .INI files are the root cause of  people rejecting
AG>OS/2 after of repeated reinstall problems. Sniffers which don't ask before
AG>sniffing come a close second though. People writing that kind of thing
AG>need to be put on a chage of 'crimes against humanity'.

Seconded.

I'll add install programs which load to a reboot, and can't continue
afterwards because they ask the user to confirm the detected
configuration _after_ the re-boot and not before it and the drivers
loaded won't drive the hardware (if you've installed off a CDROM
connected via an FD850 you'll understand). I sent electronic comments
to Boca on that (before they moved the DAP to the Internet).

George

 * SLMR 2.1a * What do you mean? You actually read this tagline!!!

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