CFOG's PIP, July 1987, Volume 5 No. 9, Whole No. 57, page 11

"-README": Thoughts on a Bad Tradition

by Rick Charnes

(San Francisco, June 27, 1987, with no apologies for my mood)

[I found this on the Lillipute Z-Node, 312-644-1730. Comments for Rick Charnes may be left there. I heartily concur with Rick's suggestion. -- bhc]

I have kept something inside me for far too long and it must now come out before I damage something: I propose an immediate and total cessation of our convention in the CP/M-compatible world of giving mini-instruction files the ridiculous name of "-READ.ME". The longer I am in the computer world the more I utterly detest this. It's a terrible tradition. That it's continued so long is completely beyond my understanding.

The situation occurs generally in two sorts of circumstances: (1) inside of *.LBR's and (2) on disks of programs sent by software manufacturers. The latter situation is more forgivable, though hardly. I simply cannot understand how creators of *.LBRs have come to give so little thought to what happens after a user has extracted the files from a library. A programmer must remember that the particular -READ.ME file will most probably not be the only one an end user has on the system. Sure, an end user "should" immediately rename any such-named file, but why create such an unnecessary bother?

When naming these files we really must keep in mind how they will fit in to a user's overall set-up once integration takes place into the rest of the system. Not only does naming a file -READ.ME risk possible overwriting of another by the same name, but how is an end user, looking at the disk directory a day or two later, supposed to remember to which *.LBR or new piece of software this wonderful "-READ.ME" file belongs?

The worst transgression is in libraries meant for downloading through the BBS circuit. To call anything inside one of these libraries -- that will immediately be extracted onto a disk most probably containing many other files -- "-READ.ME" is a criminal transgression.

The use of the hyphen in "-READ.ME", of course, stems from the desire of the programmer to call attention to this file; the hyphen, which precedes the letter characters in ASCII value, ensures that it will float to the top in a disk sort. However, this frequently conflicts with the much more important need of cataloging programs to have the disk name/label at the top of a sort. I am now in the process of cataloging disks and am absolutely livid at the number of -READ.ME and other assorted "-XXXX.XXX" files I have to wade through and rename in order for my 0k disk name file to sort to the top. It's simply infuriating.

Let's leave the initial hyphen for the cataloging programs which need it much more. I believe the assumption has been among the "-READ.ME"-ists that all 0k disk labels have a null filename and only a numerical type as in " .013", and that therefore "-READ.ME" will come AFTER this. This is however not at all the case. Hoff's MCAT allows and Steve Cohen's FATCAT encourages genuine filenames before the period, and this is in fact a preferable name for a disk label. These can very easily conflict with -READ.ME.

If there were no good alternative to using "-READ.ME" files that would be one thing. But this is not at all the case. I have no objection to the idea that mini-doc files of this nature should sort to the top in a library. Similarly I see no reason why they should not be at the top of a disk directory once extracted onto a user's system. But why not exercise a little creativity?

Unless I am gravely mistaken, the slash character ("/") appears to be a perfectly valid filename character, at least in the first position. The DRI CP/M manual on p. 4 says it is illegal but I am quite convinced it is not. [I've been using it that way for years! -- bhc]

There are certainly a few programs that won't take well to a slash in a filename, among them my beloved MEXPLUS (why do you think I didn't name this article "/README.ART"?), but the great majority including WordStar and NewWord have no problem with it. I know for a fact that there is even a program called "/.COM". The slash (2Fh) sorts AFTER the hyphen (2Dh) but of course before any regular [i. e., alphabet] ASCII character.

I suggest, then, that the contents of a library for a file called NUEDIT.COM be named to look like:

/NUEDIT.RMF
NUEDIT10.COM
NUEDIT10.DOC
NUEDIT10.Z80

and none of this absurd:

-READ.ME
NUEDIT.COM
NUEDIT.DOC
NUEDIT.Z80

What is this ridiculous -READ.ME file? Once extracted, how does one know to what it relates? With what other files is it associated?

In my career as a computer enthusiast I have several times come across this "*.RMF" (Read Me First) filetype idea but it has never caught on. It has only been the work of a few eccentric souls courageous enough to brave the wrath of the powerful and entrenched "-READ.ME" crowd. I can hardly remember who these honorable gentlemen are at this point. They are/were simply bold enough to stand up for what they believe in and do what is right even though impossibly outnumbered. May their work live on.

Comments encouraged.