XP renames my files

[acer1]

Hi,
I run a dos data base system under XP. Most of the programs run fine but when using some of them XP renames my file extensions.
EG under dos when I sort AFILE.DAT the output file is AFILE.DAT
Under windows Sort AFILE.DAT the output file is AFILE.1X
I would really appreciate any help.
Regards
acer1.

[MidiMagic]

Is it renaming the file, or leaving the original file untouched and creating a new file?

[acer1]

Hi
Thanks for your interest.
My system is writing a new file with the extension .dat but somehow windows changes it to 0X or 1X. Under WIN98 this would happen when I ran about half of my programs including , rename, copy and definition editors. With XP it only a few progs that it happens. My system thinks memory is 64K. To sort a larger file it writes it into 32K temporary files called stmp1.$$$ stemp2.$$$ etc until original file is all read. Then it will merge these files together to write out the sorted file. My system says 'Cannot open stemp1.$$$'. When I look at the file Its called stemp1.0X.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[MidiMagic]

With DOS, writing to the same filename caused automatic replacement. With Windows 95 and later, such an action will create a new file. You have to explicitely delete the old file before opening the replacement file to prevent renaming.

[acer1]

When I use my sort program stemp files dont exist at the start. They are deleted each time sort is finished. I just tried it again under WIN98 There are 5 files named stemp1 through 5 - all with ext of 1X. so when the merge starts it cant find stemp1.$$$

[MidiMagic]

Are you trying to use a DOS application in windows?

[acer1]

Yes. Its a datebase program called FMS80, written in 1980. It consists of a suite of 35 programs for making file definitions, control definitions, reports etc. FMS has its own language and (with very little skill and limited programing knowledge) I have written cash register, stock control, P&L and balance sheets - about 200 progs over the last 20 years. Its great working in dos. My computer boots in about 10 seconds, never crashes no blue screens or strange error messages - But I can see Mr Gates is backing me into a corner and I must try to get into the 21st century. I have FMS on a FAT16 C drive with WIN98 but boot to XP on E drive. I use autoxec.nt and config.nt the same as I did with WIN98 dos.
Every thing works just fine exept for this.
Regards
Acer1

[MidiMagic]

The problem is that the .$$$ extension was always an illegal extension name, but DOS allowed it.

[acer1]

Using my file definition editor under WIN98 would create a file AFILE.0X instead of AFILE.FD Undex XP the created file is AFILE.FD as it should be. Is .fd allowed under XP? Does XP keep a list of extensions somewhere?

[MidiMagic]

The list of extension associations is found in My Computer or Windows Explorer. Use:

tools / folder options / file types

You can then browse which extensions are in use on your computer, and what program they are associated with. You can also create a new association (but you must know where your program is stored to do this).

This will tell the computer which application to open a file with. It won't tell the application where the file is or what its extension is.

You can create a shortcut for the application which can tell it which folder the files are in.

[acer1]

Thankyou for your advice
I will try

[acer1]

Thankyou for your advice
I will try