Dumb AmigaDOS Question

Parsec · 06 June 2003, 00:56

OK this must be obvious, but how do I specify the current directory as a target when copying files? I want the AmigaDOS equivalent of "." in MS-DOS.

AmigaDOS copy demands a source and destination path (unlike MS-DOS where destination can be omitted) but I can't remember how to specify "here" as the destination path

Alternatively, lets be lazy and do it in the GUI. I used to use CLIMate on my A500. On a 1200 what is the best modern equivalent, is it Directory Opus? Is it free on the Amiga?

RetroMan · 06 June 2003, 01:43

You can use wildcards in CLI as well, but it´s not "*.*" but "#?" .... so if you want to copy all files from df0: to ram: it would be : COPY DF0:#? to RAM: or better COPY DF0: to RAM: ALL

Twistin'Ghost · 06 June 2003, 02:17

There are countless little shell apps on Aminet that will allow you to use the * wildcard, among tons of other cool shell extensions.

gary · 06 June 2003, 02:21

To indicate the current directory you have to specify an empty string: ""
eg:

cd ram:
copy df0:myfile ""

The file "myfile" will be copied from device "DF0" to the current directory (RAM

It always annoyed me that they didn't use "*" as a standard wildcard in AmigaDos. There are some PD shells (zshell) that allow '*' and possibly other command formats that are more user-friendly.

Twistin'Ghost · 06 June 2003, 02:52

Or you could always use the alias command in your shell-startup. I haven't actually tried aliasing wildcards, but theoretically it should work.

Oh if the PC only had an alias command or better yet, the assign command. Or a shell. (sigh)

gary · 06 June 2003, 06:55

Quote:

Oh if the PC only had an alias command or better yet, the assign command. Or a shell. (sigh)

Yes. When you plug in an extra drive (in Win 95/98 at least) it re-assigns the letters D: E: F: ... etc.. of other devices which means that many programs can't run properly because they can no longer find their data files

IFW · 06 June 2003, 08:50

That only happens if you allow automatic drive letter assignment for the host device.
Also you may want to use UNC instead of dos path, that is the only way to go e.g. for a service - though this is not really Win9X/dos stuff...

Parsec · 06 June 2003, 10:05

Quote:

Originally posted by gary
To indicate the current directory you have to specify an empty string: ""
eg:

cd ram:
copy df0:myfile ""

The file "myfile" will be copied from device "DF0" to the current directory (RAM

It always annoyed me that they didn't use "*" as a standard wildcard in AmigaDos. There are some PD shells (zshell) that allow '*' and possibly other command formats that are more user-friendly.

That's the one! Thanks

A bit strange though - ""

Interesting to see that #? is the wildcard. Being a bit rusty I've tried * and found it didn't work, so either copied the directory or used ALL.

Twistin'Ghost · 06 June 2003, 12:23

Quote:

Originally posted by Parsec
Interesting to see that #? is the wildcard. Being a bit rusty I've tried * and found it didn't work, so either copied the directory or used ALL.

There are different uses for various pattern matching in AmigaDOS' wildcards.

? matches any single character.
# matches whatever follows it.
#? matches anything/everything.

Parsec · 06 June 2003, 13:41

Quote:

Originally posted by Twistin'Ghost
There are different uses for various pattern matching in AmigaDOS' wildcards.

? matches any single character.
# matches whatever follows it.
#? matches anything/everything.

OK, sounds a bit like regular expressions in JavaScript!

Wasn't sure at first why you would use # without ? but it's for things like "copy #.info" and stuff isn't it

thomas · 11 June 2003, 11:50

No. "Matches whatever follows it" is not exact enough. # means "any number of the following character".

So e#gon matches eon, egon, eggon, egggggon and so on.

#? is just a special case of the above.

There are more fantastic features of the Amiga pattern matching:

you can say (a|b) to hit everything with "a" or "b" at the specified place. So to copy a file with its icon and only these, you can say copy filename(|.info).

And this one:

~(this) matches all files that don't have "this" in the specified location.

delete ~(#?.(jpg|gif|png)) deletes all files that do not end in ".jpg" or ".gif" or ".png".

06 June 2003, 00:56	#1
Parsec Registered User Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Lancashire Age: 49 Posts: 434	Dumb AmigaDOS Question OK this must be obvious, but how do I specify the current directory as a target when copying files? I want the AmigaDOS equivalent of "." in MS-DOS. AmigaDOS copy demands a source and destination path (unlike MS-DOS where destination can be omitted) but I can't remember how to specify "here" as the destination path Alternatively, lets be lazy and do it in the GUI. I used to use CLIMate on my A500. On a 1200 what is the best modern equivalent, is it Directory Opus? Is it free on the Amiga?

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Probably a dumb question..	xlar54	support.Other	6	03 January 2010 21:20
Question from a dumb American.	illy5603	support.Hardware	43	19 September 2009 00:27
Dumb SCSI question...	Charlie	support.Hardware	26	29 March 2009 08:34
Drakkhen - dumb question	dAb	support.Games	9	15 December 2005 23:30
Probably a really dumb question...	BumpyCarrot	New to Emulation or Amiga scene	3	28 February 2003 02:04

06 June 2003, 01:43	#2
RetroMan Registered User Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Germany Age: 51 Posts: 3,704	You can use wildcards in CLI as well, but it´s not "." but "#?" .... so if you want to copy all files from df0: to ram: it would be : COPY DF0:#? to RAM: or better COPY DF0: to RAM: ALL

06 June 2003, 02:17	#3
Twistin'Ghost Give up the ghost Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: U$A Age: 33 Posts: 4,662	There are countless little shell apps on Aminet that will allow you to use the * wildcard, among tons of other cool shell extensions.

06 June 2003, 02:21	#4
gary Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Perth, Western Australia Age: 50 Posts: 283	To indicate the current directory you have to specify an empty string: "" eg: cd ram: copy df0:myfile "" The file "myfile" will be copied from device "DF0" to the current directory (RAM It always annoyed me that they didn't use "" as a standard wildcard in AmigaDos. There are some PD shells (zshell) that allow '' and possibly other command formats that are more user-friendly.

06 June 2003, 02:52	#5
Twistin'Ghost Give up the ghost Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: U$A Age: 33 Posts: 4,662	Or you could always use the alias command in your shell-startup. I haven't actually tried aliasing wildcards, but theoretically it should work. Oh if the PC only had an alias command or better yet, the assign command. Or a shell. (sigh)

06 June 2003, 08:50	#7
IFW Moderator Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: ... Age: 52 Posts: 1,838	That only happens if you allow automatic drive letter assignment for the host device. Also you may want to use UNC instead of dos path, that is the only way to go e.g. for a service - though this is not really Win9X/dos stuff...

11 June 2003, 11:50	#11
thomas Registered User Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Germany Posts: 6,985	No. "Matches whatever follows it" is not exact enough. # means "any number of the following character". So e#gon matches eon, egon, eggon, egggggon and so on. #? is just a special case of the above. There are more fantastic features of the Amiga pattern matching: you can say (a\|b) to hit everything with "a" or "b" at the specified place. So to copy a file with its icon and only these, you can say copy filename(\|.info). And this one: ~(this) matches all files that don't have "this" in the specified location. delete ~(#?.(jpg\|gif\|png)) deletes all files that do not end in ".jpg" or ".gif" or ".png".

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)