[NOISE] common server design

[Martin Keegan <martin#cam,sri.com>]

On Wed, 25 Jun 1997, Jon A. Lambert wrote:

> 1)  open 15,8,15;print#15,"c0:fileb=filea";close 15

Vic 20 / C64.
 
> 2)  cp filea fileb

Unix
 
> 3)  copy filea fileb

DOS

> 4)  pip fileb=filea

CP/M

> 5)  assign sysut1,dsn=filea,disp=old
>     assign sysut2,dsn=fileb,disp=new
>     exec iebgener
>     end

haven't a clue.


The fact that there are so many ways of representing such a simple
operation has relevance to the design of command line interfaces to muds.
What is needed is a proper natural language parser capable of
understanding commands typed in normal English. Current NLP technology
doesn't deal with context-dependent abbreviations, though SRI may throw
money at this if anyone's willing to pay for the research.

Mk