[Magic-dev] Custom dstyle and cmap files

[R. Timothy Edwards]

Dear Graham,

>    I bit the bullet and am using my own .magicrc file. Really what I didn't
> like was the fact that it is a hidden file. Users coming from Windows can
> easily miss the fact that important setup info is being set by a file that
> isn't visible with a normal ls command.

Adding another filename to the search is not out of the question.  It already
looks for ".magicrc" and then ".magic", and there's no reason why it can't
also look for some equivalent non-hidden file with some obvious name like
"magicrc" or "magic_setup".  I tend to like the so-called "hidden" files
because I always type "ls -al", which is so ingrained into my behavior that
it just feels wrong to type "ls" by itself.  Filenames beginning with "."
float to the beginning of the list.  But I certainly understand your concern.

>    Your suggestion below is good. The current problem with a custom styletype
> is that if the support files aren't found Magic errors out and the reason why
> isn't clear to the user. Having a minimum search path using the mos styletype
> as a fallback obviates that problem.

I'm still deeply stuck in two debugging problems on magic that involve
database corruption, and while they appear to be pathological situations,
they are rather fundamental problems and need to be fixed.  Meanwhile, I
keep getting more bug reports and requests and suggestions, and I am beginning
to lose track of them.  Perhaps you could do me a favor and write these items
down on the to-do list on the wiki at

	http://opencircuitdesign.com/cgi_bin/wiki.pl?Magic

This wiki has been under-used, but it's a better place to keep track of
suggestions, bug reports, and development progress than the email list.

					Regards,
					Tim

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| Dr. R. Timothy Edwards (Tim)   | email: tim at opencircuitdesign.com    |
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