[EXT] Location exe installer (Was: Phil Taylor Re: pretest 2021 begin)

[Philip Taylor]

Philip Taylor wrote:

With the greatest respect, Siep, "sense" would indicate exactly the opposite — one would expect an executable image to honour parameters , while equally expecting a batch file to ignore them.

But it turns out that things are even more complex.  Let there be, in a given directory, "install-tl-windows.exe", "install-tl-windows.bat", & "install-tl-windows.cmd".  Then what should a user expect if he or she types :

  *   install-tl-windows -select-repository

The answer, it transpires, depends on the current value of his/her "PATHEXT" environment variable.  Mine is set to :

  *   PATHEXT=.COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH;.MSC

so in my case, "install-tl-windows -select-repository" selects the executable image and the "-select-repository" qualifier is ignored.  Another user might have (for example) :

  *   PATHEXT=.BAT;.CMD;.COM;.EXE;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH;.MSC

and so if he/she were to type :

  *   install-tl-windows -select-repository

his/her "-select-repository" qualifier would be honoured and he/she would be offered the choice of installing from a local repository.  Given the enormous uncertainty as to the actual effect of

  *   install-tl-windows -select-repository

in any given situation, I now believe more strongly than ever that having "install-tl-windows.exe" & "install-tl-windows.bat" in the same directory is sheer folly.

** Phil.
--
Philip Taylor



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