----- Forwarded message from David A. Heiser -----
The basic operating system still remains MS-DOS, in spite of the
recent Windows versions. Every file under MS-DOS has an 8 character
file name and a 3 character extension separated by a period. The fact
that longer file names appear and can be used is a trick involving
bytes associated with directory space. The MS-DOS directory still uses
the 12 bytes, with the system inventing appropriate file names. The
(~1) characters is an example. Note that the long name may include
periods and words to indicate that it is not a virus.
The last 3 characters tell the system how to react to "opening" the
file. If the last 3 characters are "doc", Microsoft Word starts and
the file is handled under Word. If it is XLS, EXCEL appears, if ppt,
PowerPoint appears, etc.
----- End of forwarded message from David A. Heiser -----
The juxtaposition of these two paragraphs might be misleading. DOS
only reserves a very short list of extensions, BAT, COM, and EXE among
them. Other extensions are by voluntary convention in DOS. It is
Windows that associates files with applications according to
extensions.
A good anti-virus program is Unix.
_
| | Robert W. Hayden
| | Department of Mathematics
/ | Plymouth State College MSC#29
| | Plymouth, New Hampshire 03264 USA
| * | Rural Route 1, Box 10
/ | Ashland, NH 03217-9702
| ) (603) 968-9914 (home)
L_____/ [EMAIL PROTECTED]
fax (603) 535-2943 (work)
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