Re: Installing XXCopy [XARC 3215]



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Number   :  3215
Date     :  2002-12-09
Author   :  Kan Yabumoto
Subject  :  Re: Installing XXCopy
Size(KB) :  6



Dennis:

The key to making a program like XXCOPY.EXE readily available
for execution in a DOS Box is to master the rules that governs
the selection of the intended program in the environment.
The key is in the environment variable, PATH. First, open up
a DOS Box and run the SET command (without arguments).

You will see 20-40 lines of text which starts like

COMPUTERNAME=MJORDAN
ComSpec=C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe
HIMEDRIVE=C:
...
PATH=C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem;...
...
SystemDriveC:
...

If you run the PATH command, it will show just the line
related to PATH. The right hand side of the PATH= is a
list of directories that are separated by a semicolon
which is the so-called "path" for execution order.

A DOS Box is controlled by the command processor (the program
which is running the show for the DOS Box --- in the case of
WinXP, it is the CMD.EXE program ---- it is COMMAND.COM in
case of Win95/98/ME). That is, the command line you type
in and also lines in a batch file are controlled by the command
processor program. The line you type in (-- you may edit
using the backspace or del character, etc.) will eventually
be interpreted by the command processor program as soon as
you type the Enter (Carriage return) key. The command line
will first be broken down into parts which are separated by
the space (and tab) character. The first word is the
most important one. If you type ABC as the first word
(without a full path like the one in your example),
the command processor will search various directories on
your system by the following order to find a match.

1. the current directory of the current drive
2. the directories that are declared in the PATH
environment variable (as in the example above,
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ is the fist one followed by
C:\WINDOWS\ directory and so on.

Each of the directories is checked for the following
filename:

ABC.COM
ABC.EXE
ABC.BAT

in this order. The first file that matches the name will
be selected for execution.

----------------------

Now, with respect to the way XXCOPY installs, the traditional
way for a program to make a bullet-proof installation was
to set aside its own "home" directory and modify the
PATH environment variable which will include the application's
home directory path. That is, we could have followed this
traditional installation method.

1. create a hard-coded directory such as C:\XXCOPY\
2. and put all XXCOPY-related files into this directory.
3. programatically edit the AUTOEXEC.BAT file where the
PATH= is defined so that when the computer is booted
the next time, the system will always put the C:\XXCOPY\
name into the environment variable, PATH.

This technique was acceptable when you had only a few
such applications. But, it is now not practical to have
each application to append its home directory path into the
environment variable PATH since it will become too long.
Since the environment variable consumes the limited memory
space (out of the 640KB memory block and the upper limit
for the total environment variable space is fixed --- usually
much less than 8KB -- often something like 2KB), if XXCOPY
ads its home directory to the environment variable, PATH,
it will be viewed by most users a pollution of the system.
Besides, XXCOPY consists of only a handful of files that
it is probably quite permissible to have XXCOPY files placed
into the \windows\system32 directory (or \windows\command\
in case of Win9X) although some purists may be offended.

So, what we chose to do was not to add any new directory
into the existing set of directories in the PATH. XXCOPY
makes a wild guess (but quite a reasonable one) that in
nearly *ALL* Windows environments, the X:\Windows\ and
X:\Windows\system32\ directories (the name "Windows"
could be anything that you choose to name at the time
of your Windows installation) are listed in the PATH
environment variable. At the time of XXCOPY /INSTALL
execution, XXCOPY will ask the system for the current
setting of the windows system directory and make it the
default place to transfer all the XXCOPY files.

The reason why you need to type I:\WINDOWS\system32\XXCOPY
to run is because at the time you installed XXCOPY,
XXCOPY learned that the I:\WINDOWS\ directory was the
windows system directory and chose to make the
I:\Windows\system32\ directory as its home (remember
XXCOPY asked your permission to do so and also gave
you an alternative place to call its home).

So, what to do now?

1. Boot your Win XP Pro as you normally start up your
computer.

2. Copy all XXCOPY related files into a temporary
directory (C:\XXTEMP\ if you don't have it).
and unzip the downloaded files into the directory.
XXCOPY.EXE
XXCOPY16.EXE
XXPBAR.EXE
XXCOPY.LIC ---- delivered by Email separately

3. Open a DOS BOX and make it the current directory
of the current drive.

C:
cd c:\XXTEMP

4. Run the following command

xxcopy /install

XXCOPY will copy all the files into the proper
place (if your current WinXP's system directory is
at C:\WINDOWS, it will choose C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\
as XXCOPY's new home).

Make sure you delete the temporary directory (C:\XXTEMP)
after all that. It is also a good idea to purge all
"XXCOPY.EXE" files from your system (rename if you
have older versions).

Now, if your system does not have C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32
listed in the environment variable, PATH --- assuming
C: drive is the WinXP's home), your system is weird.
You could reconfigure your environment whatever you want.
But, you should know what you are doing before making
your system different from the "common" settings.
I would not waste my time removing C:\windows\syste32
from the PATH settings because I know there are hundreds
of programs that operate under the reasonable assumption
that the directory is listed in the PATH.

Alternatively, you may skip all the above re-installation
and add the I:\WINDOWS\system32 directory into the PATH
setting of your DOS Box; do the following:

Control_Panel > System > Advanced > Environment Variables

In the second list box (System variables), highlight
the line that stars with "Path" and click [Edit].
Then, type right-arrow (to unselect all and place the
cursor at the rightmost position) and type the following
line (without Enter key)

I:\WINDOWS\system32;

And, click [ OK ]. and [ OK ] once more.
And [ OK ] to exit from the System Property.

Now, you are all set. Open up a new DOS Box and
type PATH, and you should find the I:\WINDOWS\system32
in the PATH settings. Now, you can type

XXCOPY /HELP

and you should find XXCOPY running without any
qualifying path in front of it.


Kan Yabumoto
=======================================================
At 2002-12-08 13:39, you wrote:
>When running a batch file using XXcopy I cannot use just,
>
>xxcopy (whatever)
>
>I have to use the full path I:\WINDOWS\system32\XXCOPY (whatever)
>
>This is XP PRO and I did use the install.bat.
>
>
>--
>Dennis



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