Brian Dessent wrote, quoting Bob Rossi: >> For the simple minded like myself, does this boil down to the fact that >> the PATH_SEPARATOR is different if an application is run from a cmd or >> msys shell? > > The way I would have worded it would have been much simpler. > > If your app links against a POSIX emulation layer (cygwin1.dll or > msys-1.0.dll) then use colon, otherwise use semicolon. This is a static > condition that does not change at all once the app is built, i.e. it > does not depend on how it's executed. Thanks for this clarification; as always, a different perspective helps to focus the mind, and eliminate ambiguities. > Assuming your app is a native app (i.e. the answer to the above is 'no') > then even if your app is run from a MSYS sh.exe it should still get a > copy of PATH that uses colons, ... If you really meant what this says, then it's incorrect; any native app run from an MSYS sh.exe will *see* a copy of PATH that uses *semicolons*, but ... > since MSYS sh.exe should be able to tell that this is not a MSYS binary. ... the MSYS sh.exe should *show* the PATH using colons, (and the user would set it so within the shell); sh.exe will transform those colons to semicolons, in the *copy* of PATH it gives to any app identified as native. The bottom line is: any native app will *see* PATH_SEPARATOR == semicolon, *regardless* of whether it is invoked from MSYS sh.exe, or from cmd.exe; in MSYS sh.exe, you *set* PATH using *colon* as PATH_SEPARATOR; in cmd.exe, you set PATH using *semicolon* as PATH_SEPARATOR. > The "how it tells" is either by looking > at whether it's linked against msys-1.0.dll or whether it's installed in > the MSYS bin directory -- I forget which method is used and I think it > changed recently anyway. Installation in the MSYS /bin directory was a determinant, for versions up to MSYS-1.0.10; MSYS-1.0.11 and later will not check this, requiring only that the app be linked to msys-1.0.dll Regards, Keith. _______________________________________________ Autoconf mailing list Autoconf@xxxxxxx http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/autoconf
