To: BUG-LISPM@lurch
Subject: pathname functions don't barf when unknown host is specified

In System 110.232, Local-File 68.7, FILE-Server 18.4, Unix-Interface 9.1,
Tape 6.39, Tiger 24.0, KERMIT 31.3, ZMail 65.14, Lambda-Diag 7.17,
TCP-Kernel 41.2, TCP-User 63.1, TCP-Server 46.0, Site Data Editor 3.4,
System Revision Level 3.279, Object Lisp 5.0, Laser1+ 1.0, Iris 10.0,
VISTA-LIBRARY 31.0, VISOBS 37.0, microcode 1600, SDU Boot Tape 3.14,
SDU ROM 8, t,l+,iv, on Cousin It (LAMBDA):

I think the (non)handling of unknown hosts is wrong. It's easy to
imagine scenarios, for example, where people delete all the files in the
wrong directory because they specify an unknown host by mistake.  There
should be a standard error signalled when an unknown host is specified
in a pathname.  There may be syntactic ambiguities, e.g. disk device
specifications, involved; but the standard way to handle a pathname
should require a host to be specified if the device is specified.  The
entire pathname scheme is a crock, anyway, and CommonLISP doesn't
improve things much.

;Reading at top level.
;Reading in base 10 in package USER with standard Common-Lisp readtable.

(fs:parse-pathname "fool:keith;")
#FS::LOGICAL-PATHNAME "SW: KEITH; "
NIL
(si:describe-host 'fool)
There seems to be no host named FOOL.

T