03-14-2005
Unix History Question: Why are filenames/dirnames case sentsitive in Unix?
I tried looking for the answer online and came up with only a few semi-answers as to why file and directory names are case sensitive in Unix. Right off the bat, I'll say this doesn't bother me. But I run into tons of Windows and OpenVMS admins in my day job who go batty when they have to deal with case sensitivity and I hate not really having a good answer for them. The best answer I can give them is that it allows for more filenames in the namespace, but they usually just grunt and reply, "yeah, but who cares". Knowing that Unix seems to have been refined into a really well thought out OS over the decades, I'm sure there must be a reason why case sensitivity was kept (other than legacy compatibility) instead of moving to a case insensitive naming convention. Any gurus out there have any good answers I can give them besides, "You'll get nothing and like it too!!" ;P
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LEARN ABOUT OSF1
dxmsvnsetentrysensitivity
DXmSvnSetEntrySensitivity(3X) DXmSvnSetEntrySensitivity(3X)
NAME
DXmSvnSetEntrySensitivity - Controls whether the user can select a particular entry.
SYNOPSIS
void DXmSvnSetEntrySensitivity(
Widget widget,
int entry,
Boolean sens );
PARAMETERS
The identifier (widget ID) of the SVN widget. An integer that represents the number of the entry whose sensitivity will be set or changed.
A Boolean value that, when True, means the entry is sensitive (the user can select it). If the value is False, the SVN widget will dim the
display of the entry to indicate that the entry is not sensitive (the user cannot select it).
DESCRIPTION
The DXmSvnSetEntrySensitivity routine changes the sensitivity of an entry ("sensitivity" means whether the SVN widget will allow the user
to select a particular entry). When using this routine, note the following: Make the call in your application between calls to DXmSvnDis-
ableDisplay and DXmSvnEnableDisplay. If the newly specified sensitivity is the same as the current sensitivity, the call is ignored. If
the newly specified sensitivity for the entry is different from the current sensitivity, that entry is redisplayed if necessary. If an
entry is being changed to no longer be sensitive (the user cannot select the entry) and that entry is currently selected, the entry will be
cleared (canceled) and then redisplayed.
DXmSvnSetEntrySensitivity(3X)