[log in to unmask] (Robert C. Leif, Ph.D.) wrote:

>The Ada 95 LRM really does not define what a command line is. The Rationale
>on page A-32 states:
>A:5 Command Line
>"The package Ada.Command_Line provides an Ada program with a simple means of
>accessing any arguments of the command which invoked it. The package also
>enables the program to set a return status. Clearly the interpretation of
>these facilities depends very much on the underlying operating system."
>
>The question is which operating system, Windows or HTTP? The above problem
>is neither a bug nor a design mistake. It is correct for its intended use,
>Windows. However, it does not work with HTTP. I do believe in hindsight that
>a function that returns the entire command_line including the program name
>should be added.

Certainly no Ada standard should presume that a command line includes the
name
of the program invoked.  On VMS the command and the program run are
entirely
separate entities, bound together by the DCL command tables.

>Can any of the Ada compilers read and process a command_line that does NOT
>have a space after the name of the executable?

Answering not for a compiler, but rather for an operating system, it is
quite
reasonable to have a VMS command line that contains multiple qualifiers
and no
spaces, for example:

     DIRECTORY/SELECT=SIZE=MINIMUM=1000/DATE=BACKUP

Larry Kilgallen