[tex-live] shell_escape extension patch

[Reinhard Kotucha]

>>>>> "Zdenek" == Zdenek Wagner <wagner at cesnet.cz> writes:

  > On Mon, 12 Jun 2006, ivo welch wrote:
  >> thanks, robin.  IMHO, this may have been a simple change for
  >> Taco, but I predict it will mean a quantum leap for users in the
  >> long run.  it means nothing less than that end users can now
  >> write more complex macros in a different way.
  >> 
  > It makes things platform dependent. You my try to get the list of
  > JPG files by \exec18{ls *jpg} which will run on unix systems but
  > not on Windows and OS/2 because ls does not exist (unless TeX is
  > run from some port of unix shell for such a platform). I see
  > better future for incorporating LUA because it will be the same
  > everywhere.

Lua will not solve this problem either.  You still have to write:

    os.execute("ls *jpg")

In Perl you can at least use the builtin function readdir instead of
passing the command to a shell.  There are only a few functions in Lua
which interact with the operating system.

Regards,
  Reinhard 

-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reinhard Kotucha			              Phone: +49-511-4592165
Marschnerstr. 25
D-30167 Hannover	                      mailto:reinhard.kotucha at web.de
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft isn't the answer. Microsoft is the question, and the answer is NO.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------