RE: "start" for Cygwin

RE: "start" for Cygwin

[Stephan Mueller]

Note though, that on Win9x, start is a standalone file (I forget if it's
start.exe or start.com) on the path.
Cygwin still supports 9x, so fears about consternation in some quarters
still apply (it's just that they're different quarters than Charles
originally had in mind :-)

stephan();


-----Original Message-----
From: Charles Wilson [mailto:cwilson@ece.gatech.edu] 
Sent: Saturday, March 02, 2002 10:16 PM
To: Robert Collins
Cc: Michael Schaap; cygwin@cygwin.com
Subject: Re: "start" for Cygwin


Ah -- and that explains why one previously had to do "cmd /c start foo" 
from a bash shell.  Okay, according to my tests (I put a 'start' shell 
script in my /usr/bin directory.)  From bash, 'start foo' causes my 
script to run.  From cmd, 'start foo' causes the builtin cmd command to 
run (even tho D:/cygwin/bin is in the front of my PATH).

This is good -- I withdraw my objection (such as it was).

Anybody else think this is a good cygutil?  I think it *probably* is...

--Chuck


Robert Collins wrote:

> Start is a cmd builtin - there is no start.exe
> 
> Rob
> 
> 
> 
> 
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Charles Wilson [mailto:cwilson@ece.gatech.edu]
>>
> Anyway, I personally have no objection to including start in cygutils 
> --
> 
> but the sudden appearance of a 'start.exe' command in /usr/bin (which
> could hide WINNT/start.exe) may cause consternation in some quarters.
> 
> FYI, I've just completed the following HOW-TO-CONTRIBUTE (to cygutils)
> document.  It will show up in /usr/doc/cygutils-X.Y.Z/ in the next 
> release of cygutils.
> 
> --Chuck
> 
> 
> 



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RE: "start" for Cygwin

[Dr. Carsten Bormann]

So just call it differently.

It would be nice if this could replace my little shell script "st":

#!/bin/bash
for i
do
	start "$(cygpath -w "$i")"
done

(start being /c/Windows/command/start.exe)

Gruesse, Carsten


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RE: "start" for Cygwin

[David Starks-Browning]

On Saturday 2 Mar 02, Stephan Mueller writes:
> Note though, that on Win9x, start is a standalone file (I forget if it's
> start.exe or start.com) on the path.
> Cygwin still supports 9x, so fears about consternation in some quarters
> still apply (it's just that they're different quarters than Charles
> originally had in mind :-)

I use Win9x, and I don't think it's a problem for the cygutils package
to introduce /usr/bin/start.  People who install the cygutils package
can probably figure out what's going on.

My opinion, anyway.

David


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RE: "start" for Cygwin

[Michael Schaap]

At 09:45 3-3-2002, Dr. Carsten Bormann wrote:
>So just call it differently.
>
>It would be nice if this could replace my little shell script "st":
>
>#!/bin/bash
>for i
>do
>         start "$(cygpath -w "$i")"
>done
>
>(start being /c/Windows/command/start.exe)

It would.  (Only, your "st" script treats multiple arguments as multiple 
documents/programs to open, "start" uses the second and following arguments 
as arguments to the program/document to open.)

I see that you are using Windos 9x/ME.  Have you tried my "start", and if 
so, is it working?  I believe it is _supposed_ to work under Win9x, but 
we'd better make sure before this is included in cygutils...

Thanks,

  - Michael

-- 
     I always wondered about the meaning of life.   So I looked it
     up in the dictionary under "L" and there it was - the meaning
     of life.  It was not what I expected.                  - Dogbert 


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RE: "start" for Cygwin

[Dr. Carsten Bormann]

> I see that you are using Windos 9x/ME.  Have you tried my "start", and if 
> so, is it working?  I believe it is _supposed_ to work under Win9x, but 
> we'd better make sure before this is included in cygutils...

Will do the next time I have time to kill (i.e., not too soon).

Gruesse, Carsten


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Re: "start" for Cygwin

[Charles Wilson]

Michael Schaap wrote:

> 
> Okay, here we go, according to your (excellent) instructions.
> 
> I took the liberty to create the patch (and tar.bz2) *before* running 
> ./bootstrap - this keeps the patch a lot smaller and simpler.  (I _did_ 
> test the bootstrap and build process, of course. :-) )


This was perfect. Thank you very much.


> By the way, I noticed that the file licenses/COPYING.GPL is not actually 
> a GPL license.  I assume that's a mistake?


Oops. That'll teach me to copy the COPYING file from popt and assume 
it's the normal GPL.  This error has been corrected.   Thanks for 
pointing it out.

Look for cygutils-1.0.0 soon.

--Chuck




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Re: "start" for Cygwin

[Michael Schaap]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 1187 bytes --]

At 08:33 13-3-2002, Charles Wilson wrote:
>Michael --
>   Did you want to add this to cygutils?  I'm getting ready to release 
> 1.0.0 and I'd like to put start(cygstart, whatev) in it for v1.0 rather 
> than later -- if its going in at all.  If you'd rather keep it separate, 
> that's fine too.

Okay, here we go, according to your (excellent) instructions.

I took the liberty to create the patch (and tar.bz2) *before* running 
./bootstrap - this keeps the patch a lot smaller and simpler.  (I _did_ 
test the bootstrap and build process, of course. :-) )

By the way, I noticed that the file licenses/COPYING.GPL is not actually a 
GPL license.  I assume that's a mistake?

Thanks,

  - Michael

2002-03-02  Michael Schaap  <cygwin_start@mscha.org>

         * src/cygstart: new directory
         * src/cygstart/Makefile.am: new file
         * src/cygstart/Makefile.in: new file
         * src/cygstart/cygstart.c: new file
         * src/cygstart/cygstart.1: new file
         * src/Makefile.am: add subdirectory cygstart
         * src/Makefile.in: regenerate
         * AUTHORS: add Michael Schaap for cygstart
         * PROGLIST: add cygstart
         * README: add cygstart

[-- Attachment #2: cygstart.patch --]
[-- Type: application/octet-stream, Size: 2418 bytes --]

? cygstart.patch
? src/cygstart
Index: AUTHORS
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/cygwin-apps/cygutils/AUTHORS,v
retrieving revision 1.6
diff -u -r1.6 AUTHORS
--- AUTHORS	2002/02/24 03:41:43	1.6
+++ AUTHORS	2002/03/15 03:55:58
@@ -25,3 +25,6 @@
 Joshua Danial Franklin  <joshuadfranklin@yahoo.com>
   mkshortcut.c, mkshortcut.1
   (GPL)
+
+Michael Schaap  <cygwin_start@mscha.org>
+  cygstart.c, cygstart.1
Index: PROGLIST
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/cygwin-apps/cygutils/PROGLIST,v
retrieving revision 1.6
diff -u -r1.6 PROGLIST
--- PROGLIST	2002/02/24 03:41:43	1.6
+++ PROGLIST	2002/03/15 03:55:58
@@ -96,6 +96,12 @@
   using .lnk files, which aren't really "full-featured")
   (GPL)
 
+cygstart.exe
+  A command-line tool which allows you to let Windows start a program or open
+  a file or URL in its associated application. It is similar to the Windows
+  command-line start command.
+  (GPL)
+
 (*) originally BSD+advert, but falls under the blanket 
     conversion to BSD-no-advert, because it was originally
 	 part of the UCB BSD distro. 
Index: README
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/cygwin-apps/cygutils/README,v
retrieving revision 1.7
diff -u -r1.7 README
--- README	2002/02/24 03:41:43	1.7
+++ README	2002/03/15 03:55:58
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
  ascii    banner    conv      dump     getclip
  last     msgtool   putclip   realpath semstat
  semtool  shmtool   utmpdump  lpr      mkshortcut
+ cygstart
 
  d2u      dos2unix  u2d       unix2dos
 
Index: configure.ac
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/cygwin-apps/cygutils/configure.ac,v
retrieving revision 1.7
diff -u -r1.7 configure.ac
--- configure.ac	2002/03/03 03:35:15	1.7
+++ configure.ac	2002/03/15 03:55:59
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@
 src/lpr/Makefile
 src/mkshortcut/Makefile
 src/namei/Makefile
-src/realpath/Makefile])
+src/realpath/Makefile
+src/cygstart/Makefile])
 
 AC_OUTPUT
Index: src/Makefile.am
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/cygwin-apps/cygutils/src/Makefile.am,v
retrieving revision 1.1
diff -u -r1.1 Makefile.am
--- Makefile.am	2002/03/03 03:09:37	1.1
+++ Makefile.am	2002/03/15 03:55:59
@@ -13,5 +13,6 @@
 	lpr        \
 	mkshortcut \
 	namei      \
-	realpath
+	realpath   \
+	cygstart
 

[-- Attachment #3: cygstart.tar.bz2 --]
[-- Type: application/octet-stream, Size: 5386 bytes --]

[-- Attachment #4: cygstart.ChangeLog --]
[-- Type: application/octet-stream, Size: 406 bytes --]

2002-03-02  Michael Schaap  <cygwin_start@mscha.org>

	* src/cygstart: new directory
	* src/cygstart/Makefile.am: new file
	* src/cygstart/Makefile.in: new file
	* src/cygstart/cygstart.c: new file
	* src/cygstart/cygstart.1: new file
	* src/Makefile.am: add subdirectory cygstart
	* src/Makefile.in: regenerate
	* AUTHORS: add Michael Schaap for cygstart
	* PROGLIST: add cygstart
	* README: add cygstart

[-- Attachment #5: Type: text/plain, Size: 210 bytes --]


-- 
     I always wondered about the meaning of life.   So I looked it
     up in the dictionary under "L" and there it was - the meaning
     of life.  It was not what I expected.                  - Dogbert 

[-- Attachment #6: Type: text/plain, Size: 214 bytes --]

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Re: "start" for Cygwin

[Michael Schaap]

At 08:33 13-3-2002, Charles Wilson wrote:
>Michael --
>   Did you want to add this to cygutils?

Sure do!
I was kinda waiting for "consensus" on the start vs. cygstart issue, but 
all we got were some opinions either way.  I guess I'll play it safe and 
call it cygstart.

>   I'm getting ready to release 1.0.0 and I'd like to put start(cygstart, 
> whatev) in it for v1.0 rather than later -- if its going in at all.  If 
> you'd rather keep it separate, that's fine too.

It's kinda busy here, but I'll try to have a submission according to your 
instructions at the latest tomorrow.

Thanks, and best regards,

  - Michael

-- 
     I always wondered about the meaning of life.   So I looked it
     up in the dictionary under "L" and there it was - the meaning
     of life.  It was not what I expected.                  - Dogbert 


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Re: "start" for Cygwin

[Charles Wilson]

Michael --
   Did you want to add this to cygutils?  I'm getting ready to release 
1.0.0 and I'd like to put start(cygstart, whatev) in it for v1.0 rather 
than later -- if its going in at all.  If you'd rather keep it separate, 
that's fine too.

--Chuck


Michael Schaap wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> I've written a little "start" utility, which is similar to "cmd /c 
> start", only better.
> It allows you to let Windows start a program or open a file or URL.
> 
> For instance:
>  - it understands POSIX paths (e.g. "start /tmp/hello.txt")
>  - it can open files which don't have the "executable" flag set (ntsec)
>  - it can start things minimized, hidden, etc. (e.g. start --minimize
>    hello.txt")
>  - it can run non-default actions (e.g. "start --print hello.txt",
>    "start --explore .", "start --action=whatever myfile.ext")
>  - it's a lot faster than "cmd /c start"
> 
> I believe it should run on all Windows versions from Win95 up, but I've 
> only tested it on Windows 2000.  (Anyone using Win9x/ME, can you please 
> let me know if it works?)
> (It's been a while since I did any serious C programming, so the code 
> might be sloppy in some places.  Improvements and bug reports are welcome.)
> 
> You can download it at: http://www.mscha.com/start_0_9.zip .
> 
> (Chuck, if you think this would be a good addition for cygutils, feel 
> free to include it!  After all, I did "borrow" some of the code 
> framework from it.  :-) )
> 
> I'll include the output of "start --help" below.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
>  - Michael
> 
> --------------------------------8<-------------------------------
> 
> start version 0.9, by Michael Schaap
> 
> Let Windows start a program or open a file or URL.
> 
> Usage: start [OPTION]... FILE [ARGUMENTS]
> 
> Action options
>   -a, --action=STRING        Use specified action instead of default
>   -o, --open                 Short for: --action open
>   -x, --explore              Short for: --action explore
>   -e, --edit                 Short for: --action edit
>   -f, --find                 Short for: --action find
>   -p, --print                Short for: --action print
> 
> Directory options
>   -d, --directory=STRING     Set working directory
> 
> Show options
>   --hide                     Hides the window and activates another window
>   --maximize                 Maximizes the specified window
>   --minimize                 Minimizes the specified window and 
> activates the
>                              next top-level window in the z-order
>   --restore                  Activates and displays the window. If the 
> window
>                              is minimized or maximized, Windows restores 
> it to
>                              its original size and position. An application
>                              should specify this flag when restoring a
>                              minimized window
>   --show                     Activates the window and displays it in its
>                              current size and position
>   --showmaximized            Activates the window and displays it as a
>                              maximized window
>   --showminimized            Activates the window and displays it as a
>                              minimized window
>   --showminnoactive          Displays the window as a minimized window. The
>                              active window remains active
>   --showna                   Displays the window in its current state. The
>                              active window remains active
>   --shownoactivate           Displays a window in its most recent size and
>                              position. The active window remains active
>   --shownormal               Activates and displays a window. If the 
> window is
>                              minimized or maximized, Windows restores it to
>                              its original size and position. An application
>                              should specify this flag when displaying the
>                              window for the first time
> 
> Help options
>   -?, --help                 Show this help message
>   --usage                    Display brief usage message
>   --version                  Display version information
>   --license                  Display licensing information
>   --reference                Open MSDN reference for ShellExecute
> 
> With thanks to MSDN: 
> <http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/shellcc/platform/Shell/reference/functions/shellexecute.asp> 
> 
> 
> Please report any bugs to <cygwin_start@mscha.org>.
> 



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RE: "start" for Cygwin

[Roth, Kevin P.]

I prefer start over cygstart. Here's my $0.02, FWIW:

 o Newbies are more likely to find "start" than "cygstart". And
   they'll be impressed that "start appname" JustWorks(tm).

 o Oldies (like me, who can't always remember things very well)
   wouldn't have to learn a new command name.

 o "most" people probably have cygwin/bin at the beginning of 
   their path when using BASH, but towards the end of their path
   (at least after their windows directories) when running under
   COMMAND.COM or CMD.EXE. If they don't, it's my personal 
   opinion that they should. Under this scenario, win9x's 
   command.com will find windows' start.exe, while bash will 
   find cygutils' start.exe; keeping both very happy.

 o for those (few most likely?) who are running win9x/me, and
   have cygwin/bin at the beginning of windows' PATH, *and* have
   loaded the non-default package cygutils, will eventually 
   figure out why start may no longer work...

 o If cygutils' start.exe can be made to work just like 
   windows' start.exe (when called from a windows command.com
   shell), then we theoretically eliminate all problems, right?

Thanks,
--Kevin



-----Original Message-----

>On Sunday 3 Mar 02, Robert Collins writes:
> > I think cygstart or something like that will eliminate the potiential
> > for touble.

At 12:58 3-3-2002, David Starks-Browning wrote:
>Indeed, that would solve it!

From: Michael Schaap [mailto:cygwin@mscha.org]
It would.

I have mixed feelings about this, though.

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Re: "start" for Cygwin

[Scott Evans]

Michael Schaap <cygwin@mscha.org> writes:
> Hi,
>
> I've written a little "start" utility, which is similar to "cmd /c
> start", only better.

Just tried it under Win98SE -- looks like it works great.  I'm all
for adding this to cygutils (but I definitely think "cygstart" is
a smarter name choice -- saves confusion).



--
 scott evans :: www.antisleep.com




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Re: "start" for Cygwin

[Max Bowsher]

I think there was a start.exe in Win9x/Me (i.e. it was not a command.com
builtin), but my Win9x days are mercifully over, so I can't say for sure.

Nevertheless, a cygutils start could be a useful scripting tool.

> Ah -- and that explains why one previously had to do "cmd /c start foo"
> from a bash shell.  Okay, according to my tests (I put a 'start' shell
> script in my /usr/bin directory.)  From bash, 'start foo' causes my
> script to run.  From cmd, 'start foo' causes the builtin cmd command to
> run (even tho D:/cygwin/bin is in the front of my PATH).
>
> This is good -- I withdraw my objection (such as it was).
>
> Anybody else think this is a good cygutil?  I think it *probably* is...
>
> --Chuck
>
>
> Robert Collins wrote:
>
> > Start is a cmd builtin - there is no start.exe
> >
> > Rob
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >>-----Original Message-----
> >>From: Charles Wilson [mailto:cwilson@ece.gatech.edu]
> >>
> > Anyway, I personally have no objection to including start in cygutils --
> >
> > but the sudden appearance of a 'start.exe' command in /usr/bin (which
> > could hide WINNT/start.exe) may cause consternation in some quarters.
> >
> > FYI, I've just completed the following HOW-TO-CONTRIBUTE (to cygutils)
> > document.  It will show up in /usr/doc/cygutils-X.Y.Z/ in the next
> > release of cygutils.
> >
> > --Chuck
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
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RE: "start" for Cygwin

[Michael Schaap]

At 12:58 3-3-2002, David Starks-Browning wrote:
>On Sunday 3 Mar 02, Robert Collins writes:
> > I think cygstart or something like that will eliminate the potiential
> > for touble.
>
>Indeed, that would solve it!

It would.

I have mixed feelings about this, though.

On the one hand, calling it "start" may cause problems for people using 
Win9x/Me, who put ...\cygwin\bin at the front of their path in 
AUTOEXEC.bat, and try to run "start" from command.com.

On the other hand, this is really a Cygwin version of the cmd.exe builtin 
(or Win9x external command) "start", and it would be really nice if people 
could just run "start myfile.ext" OOTB.

Anyway, I prefer "start", but can live with "cygstart".  The "Cygwin 
community" should decide.  (cgf or Corinna, any opinions?)

Thanks,

  - Michael

-- 
     I always wondered about the meaning of life.   So I looked it
     up in the dictionary under "L" and there it was - the meaning
     of life.  It was not what I expected.                  - Dogbert 


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Re: "start" for Cygwin

[Michael Schaap]

At 06:16 3-3-2002, Charles Wilson wrote:
>Michael Schaap wrote:
>
>Hmmm...how does this differ from the "run" utility here:
>
>http://www.neuro.gatech.edu/users/cwilson/cygutils/unversioned/run/
>
>It may be entirely different; I'm not sure.  Certainly they were written 
>for different purposes.  Run was intended to hide the console for GUI 
>programs that still expect a stdout/stderr console.

Well, they seem somewhat related, but they do play different roles, and I 
don't think one can replace the other.
(The code is very different, by the way.  They use different APIs - "start" 
is essentially just a wrapper around the ShellExecute function.)


>Run doesn't use popt :-( so it doesn't have pretty help, but it can be 
>compiled as a native windows app :-)
>
>Anyway, I personally have no objection to including start in cygutils -- 
>but the sudden appearance of a 'start.exe' command in /usr/bin (which 
>could hide WINNT/start.exe) may cause consternation in some quarters.
>
>FYI, I've just completed the following HOW-TO-CONTRIBUTE (to cygutils) 
>document.  It will show up in /usr/doc/cygutils-X.Y.Z/ in the next release 
>of cygutils.

OK, once the discussion settles, and the final name is decided, I'll make a 
contribution according to this document.

Thanks,

  - Michael

-- 
     I always wondered about the meaning of life.   So I looked it
     up in the dictionary under "L" and there it was - the meaning
     of life.  It was not what I expected.                  - Dogbert 


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RE: "start" for Cygwin

[David Starks-Browning]

On Sunday 3 Mar 02, Robert Collins writes:
> I think cygstart or something like that will eliminate the potiential
> for touble.

Indeed, that would solve it!

David


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RE: "start" for Cygwin

[Robert Collins]

I think cygstart or something like that will eliminate the potiential
for touble.

Rob

> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Starks-Browning [mailto:starksb@ebi.ac.uk] 
> Sent: Sunday, March 03, 2002 8:32 PM
> To: cygwin@cygwin.com
> Subject: RE: "start" for Cygwin
> 
> 
> On Saturday 2 Mar 02, Stephan Mueller writes:
> > Note though, that on Win9x, start is a standalone file (I forget if 
> > it's start.exe or start.com) on the path. Cygwin still 
> supports 9x, so 
> > fears about consternation in some quarters still apply 
> (it's just that 
> > they're different quarters than Charles originally had in mind :-)
> 
> I use Win9x, and I don't think it's a problem for the 
> cygutils package to introduce /usr/bin/start.  People who 
> install the cygutils package can probably figure out what's going on.
> 
> My opinion, anyway.
> 
> David
> 
> 
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Re: "start" for Cygwin

[Charles Wilson]

Ah -- and that explains why one previously had to do "cmd /c start foo" 
from a bash shell.  Okay, according to my tests (I put a 'start' shell 
script in my /usr/bin directory.)  From bash, 'start foo' causes my 
script to run.  From cmd, 'start foo' causes the builtin cmd command to 
run (even tho D:/cygwin/bin is in the front of my PATH).

This is good -- I withdraw my objection (such as it was).

Anybody else think this is a good cygutil?  I think it *probably* is...

--Chuck


Robert Collins wrote:

> Start is a cmd builtin - there is no start.exe
> 
> Rob
> 
> 
> 
> 
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Charles Wilson [mailto:cwilson@ece.gatech.edu] 
>>
> Anyway, I personally have no objection to including start in cygutils --
> 
> but the sudden appearance of a 'start.exe' command in /usr/bin (which 
> could hide WINNT/start.exe) may cause consternation in some quarters.
> 
> FYI, I've just completed the following HOW-TO-CONTRIBUTE (to cygutils) 
> document.  It will show up in /usr/doc/cygutils-X.Y.Z/ in the next 
> release of cygutils.
> 
> --Chuck
> 
> 
> 



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RE: "start" for Cygwin

[Robert Collins]

Start is a cmd builtin - there is no start.exe

Rob



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Charles Wilson [mailto:cwilson@ece.gatech.edu] 
Anyway, I personally have no objection to including start in cygutils --

but the sudden appearance of a 'start.exe' command in /usr/bin (which 
could hide WINNT/start.exe) may cause consternation in some quarters.

FYI, I've just completed the following HOW-TO-CONTRIBUTE (to cygutils) 
document.  It will show up in /usr/doc/cygutils-X.Y.Z/ in the next 
release of cygutils.

--Chuck



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Re: "start" for Cygwin

[Charles Wilson]

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Michael Schaap wrote:


> (Chuck, if you think this would be a good addition for cygutils, feel 
> free to include it!  After all, I did "borrow" some of the code 
> framework from it.  :-) )


Hmmm...how does this differ from the "run" utility here:

http://www.neuro.gatech.edu/users/cwilson/cygutils/unversioned/run/

It may be entirely different; I'm not sure.  Certainly they were written 
for different purposes.  Run was intended to hide the console for GUI 
programs that still expect a stdout/stderr console.

Run doesn't use popt :-( so it doesn't have pretty help, but it can be 
compiled as a native windows app :-)

Anyway, I personally have no objection to including start in cygutils -- 
but the sudden appearance of a 'start.exe' command in /usr/bin (which 
could hide WINNT/start.exe) may cause consternation in some quarters.

FYI, I've just completed the following HOW-TO-CONTRIBUTE (to cygutils) 
document.  It will show up in /usr/doc/cygutils-X.Y.Z/ in the next 
release of cygutils.

--Chuck



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So, you have a utility that you believe would 
be a good addition to cygutils, do you?  You 
probably want to know how you could contribute it,
don't you?  Well, first:

  Don't just send me yourfile.c and expect me to
  do all the integration work.

You need to do more than merely insure that it builds
on your machine with a simple

  gcc -o yourfile.exe yourfile.c -lthislibrary -lthatlibrary

In addition to that, you need to check out the cygutils 
source and integrate yourfile into the whole system.  Instructions
follow below.  However, you'll notice that it's quite a bit
of work.  You may want to send an exploratory email to
cygwin@cygwin.com and explain your programs behavior, what
need it fills, and get pre-clearance for eventual inclusion
into cygutils before embarking on the journey outlined below.
Also, note that I will not fix your bugs.  If, at some time
after your program is accepted into cygutils, I (as cygutils
maintainer) get a bug report on your program, I will forward
it to you.  If you don't fix it or respond within a reasonable
time, I will remove it from the distribution.

------------------------------------------------------

Okay, now that we're past that unpleasantness, here's how to
integrate your spiffy new utility.  First, let's assume that 
your spiffy utility is called 'foo', and its source is in 'foo.c'.

The simple 12 step program:
---------------------------

1) Get the cygutils source

   cvs -d:pserver:anoncvs@sources.redhat.com:/cvs/cygwin-apps login
      use 'anoncvs' as the password
   cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anoncvs@sources.redhat.com:/cvs/cygwin-apps co cygutils

   you now have a 'cygutils' directory with the existing source.

2) License information

   make sure that all .c and .h files in your contribution
   have license information: preferably GPL, but other
   open licenses are acceptable, too.  See the top of
   src/lpr/lpr.c for an example.
	
   a) if your license is not GPL or BSD-no-advert, then
      you must also include a copy of the ENTIRE license
      in the licenses subdirectory.  (Most of the time,
      the blurb in the .c or .h file is just that: a short
      blurb, with a reference to the full text elsewhere)

3) Make a home 

   create a new directory for your contribution underneath 'src'
   In our case, we will do this:
     cd cygutils/src
     mkdir foo

   copy your source into the new directory
     cp <location>/foo.c <cygutils>/src/foo/

4) Modify your source code

   Add the following snippet to the beginning of your .c and .h(*) 
   files, just after the license information:

     #if HAVE_CONFIG_H
     #include "config.h"
     #endif
     #include "common.h"
	
   a) If your contribution has its own .h file(s), the entire .h file
      should be "guarded" as follows:
		
        /* license information */
        #ifndef _FOO_H
        #define _FOO_H
        /* the config.h/common.h stuff */
        /* your header stuff */
        #endif /* !_FOO_H */

      the "_FOO_H" identifier should be changed to match the filename
      of your header file.  Thus, "bob.h" would be guarded with _BOB_H.

5) Makefile.am

   Create a Makefile.am file in your 'foo' directory. If your 
   contribution will build on non-windows platforms in addition to
   cygwin, then Makefile.am should look like this:

   ## Makefile.am -- Process this file with automake to produce Makefile.in
   INCLUDES = -I$(top_builddir) -I$(top_srcdir)
   bin_PROGRAMS = foo
   ## end

   (Yes, really.  That's it).  If your contribution is windows-specific,
   like lpr or mkshortcut or the [put|get]clip programs, then your
   Makefile.am should look like:

   ## Makefile.am -- Process this file with automake to produce Makefile.in
   INCLUDES = -I$(top_builddir) -I$(top_srcdir)
   if WITH_WINDOWS_PROGRAMS
   windows_progs = foo
   endif
   bin_PROGRAMS = $(windows_progs)
   EXTRA_PROGRAMS = foo
   ## end

   a) Special link libraries
	
      If you need to link to special *WINDOWS* libraries, then obviously
      your program is windows-specific, but also you should add a line 
      in your Makefile.am like this:

      foo_LDADD = -lwinlib

      Where foo is your program name, and winlib is the library you need.
      See src/lpr/Makefile.am or src/mkshortcut/Makefile.am for 
      more examples.

      If, on the other hand, you need to link to some other (cygwin)
      library that is also more generally available -- like libreadline
      or libncurses -- then you'll need to do a little more work. 
      For your initial submission, just add the -lreadline (or whatever)
      command to your Makefile.am foo_LDADD line.  However, make sure
      to let me know about your special link requirements.

      Note that you do NOT need to include the following libraries in
      a 'foo_LDADD' line; these will be added automatically...

      -lintl -lcygipc -lpopt  (that is, gettext, cygipc, or popt)

   b) man pages and other documentation

      If you got 'em, copy 'em to your foo directory, and add a line
      to your Makefile.am like this:

      man_MANS = foo.1

      If there are non-man-page documentation files, you should add
      a line like this:

      EXTRA_DIST = foo.README

      However, there is no provisiion for actually INSTALLING these
      additional documentation files.  At least not yet.

   c) Extra files

      If your contribution consists of more source files than a single
      .c, then you need to add a line that lists all of them in your
      Makefile.am:

      foo_SOURCES = foo.c otherfoo.c foo.h

      If there are .h files in that list, you should also add a line
      like this:

      noinst_HEADERS = foo.h

   If you have other questions about the Makefile.am file, consult
   the other ones already in cygutils as examples, or read the
   automake documentation.

6) Simplify your #includes.

   Take a good look at the #include statements in your .c and .h
   files.  If the dependencies are listed in <cygutils>/common.h,
   then you shouldn't re-include them.  If a dependency is NOT
   listed in common.h, then leave it in your .h/.c file -- for 
   now.  We may choose to add them to common.h and add new tests
   to configure.ac, or we may choose to let your .c file 
   include it directly.  However, anything that's already in 
   common.h, remove from your .c/.h file.  It's okay to just
   comment them out, rather than deleting them entirely, if 
   you prefer.

7) Add information to cygutils documentation files:

   Add a short blurb about your app to <cygutils>/PROGLIST
	Add your app to the list at the end of the README file
   Add your name to the AUTHORS file.

8) Hook your directory into the package build structure

   Add the name of your directory in src to the list in 
   src/Makefile.am.

   Add your Makefile to the list at the end of configure.ac

9) Bootstrap

   (You need to have autoconf, autoconf-devel, automake, and
   automake-devel installed for this to work).  Change dir
   to the top of your checked-out source, and run bootstrap:

   cd <cygutils>
   ./bootstrap

   If you haven't made any mistakes, you should (a) see no
   errors, and (b) see a Makefile.in file added to your foo
	directory.

10) Build and test

   Now, just run './configure ; make' as usual.  Somewhere 
   amongst the flurry of messages, you should see your application
   being built.  If so, you're almost done.  If not, then you
   need to figure out why.  Time to read the auto* documentation...

11) Create a patch and ChangeLog entry

   a) PATCH
	
      cd <cygutils>
      cvs diff -u > foo.patch

      If you've already edited the ChangeLog file, make sure to
      *remove* that chunk from foo.patch.  I don't want a PATCH
      for the ChangeLog, I want the ChangeLog entry itself (ChangeLog
      patches rarely apply cleanly; it's easier to cut-n-paste.  More
      below).
  
   b) NEW FILES

      However, you'll notice that none of the files in your src/foo
      directory are represented in the patch.  That's normal.  Remove 
      any .o and .exe files from src/foo, and then just make a tarball

      cd <cygutils>
      tar cvjf foo.tar.bz2 src/foo

   c) CHANGELOG

      You should also create a ChangeLog entry.  Don't actually edit
      the ChangeLog itself; create a new file (foo.changelog?) and
      put your stuff there.  It should look like this:

      2002-03-02  Your Name  <your_email_address@domain.com>

         * src/foo: new directory
         * src/foo/Makefile.am: new file
         * src/foo/Makefile.in: new file
         * src/foo/foo.c: new file
         * src/Makefile.am: add subdirectory foo
         * src/Makefile.in: regenerate
         * configure.ac: add src/foo/Makefile to output list
         * AUTHORS: add yourname for foo
         * PROGLIST: add foo
         * README: add foo

      Don't list src/foo/Makefile.  Do list every original
      file in src/foo/ (like your man pages, or extra documentation
      files, or headers)

12) Send an email to cygwin@cygwin.com with the patch and the 
   tarball as attachements.  Paste your changelog into the body 
   of the message -- or you can send it as an attachment.  (Do NOT
   put your patch into the body of the email; most mail programs
   will horrendously distort it if you do). 
	
   In the body of your email, Describe what your program does, why
   it's needed, and why you think it should be added to the 
   cygutils package.  Also explain why (or state that) existing
   tools will not meet the need your program does.  Also, be
   sure and warn of any special link requirements (cf. section
   5a and 5b above).

--
Chuck Wilson
cygutils maintainer


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"start" for Cygwin

[Michael Schaap]

Hi,

I've written a little "start" utility, which is similar to "cmd /c start", 
only better.
It allows you to let Windows start a program or open a file or URL.

For instance:
  - it understands POSIX paths (e.g. "start /tmp/hello.txt")
  - it can open files which don't have the "executable" flag set (ntsec)
  - it can start things minimized, hidden, etc. (e.g. start --minimize
    hello.txt")
  - it can run non-default actions (e.g. "start --print hello.txt",
    "start --explore .", "start --action=whatever myfile.ext")
  - it's a lot faster than "cmd /c start"

I believe it should run on all Windows versions from Win95 up, but I've 
only tested it on Windows 2000.  (Anyone using Win9x/ME, can you please let 
me know if it works?)
(It's been a while since I did any serious C programming, so the code might 
be sloppy in some places.  Improvements and bug reports are welcome.)

You can download it at: http://www.mscha.com/start_0_9.zip .

(Chuck, if you think this would be a good addition for cygutils, feel free 
to include it!  After all, I did "borrow" some of the code framework from 
it.  :-) )

I'll include the output of "start --help" below.

Best regards,

  - Michael

--------------------------------8<-------------------------------

start version 0.9, by Michael Schaap

Let Windows start a program or open a file or URL.

Usage: start [OPTION]... FILE [ARGUMENTS]

Action options
   -a, --action=STRING        Use specified action instead of default
   -o, --open                 Short for: --action open
   -x, --explore              Short for: --action explore
   -e, --edit                 Short for: --action edit
   -f, --find                 Short for: --action find
   -p, --print                Short for: --action print

Directory options
   -d, --directory=STRING     Set working directory

Show options
   --hide                     Hides the window and activates another window
   --maximize                 Maximizes the specified window
   --minimize                 Minimizes the specified window and activates the
                              next top-level window in the z-order
   --restore                  Activates and displays the window. If the window
                              is minimized or maximized, Windows restores it to
                              its original size and position. An application
                              should specify this flag when restoring a
                              minimized window
   --show                     Activates the window and displays it in its
                              current size and position
   --showmaximized            Activates the window and displays it as a
                              maximized window
   --showminimized            Activates the window and displays it as a
                              minimized window
   --showminnoactive          Displays the window as a minimized window. The
                              active window remains active
   --showna                   Displays the window in its current state. The
                              active window remains active
   --shownoactivate           Displays a window in its most recent size and
                              position. The active window remains active
   --shownormal               Activates and displays a window. If the window is
                              minimized or maximized, Windows restores it to
                              its original size and position. An application
                              should specify this flag when displaying the
                              window for the first time

Help options
   -?, --help                 Show this help message
   --usage                    Display brief usage message
   --version                  Display version information
   --license                  Display licensing information
   --reference                Open MSDN reference for ShellExecute

With thanks to MSDN: 
<http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/shellcc/platform/Shell/reference/functions/shellexecute.asp>

Please report any bugs to <cygwin_start@mscha.org>.

-- 
     I always wondered about the meaning of life.   So I looked it
     up in the dictionary under "L" and there it was - the meaning
     of life.  It was not what I expected.                  - Dogbert 


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