> If one maps the \OPENGEM directory to another drive letter, e.g.
>
> swsubst g: c:\opengem
>
> ... and then runs GEM from drive G, it can find its resources and
> windows get frames, title bars, etc.
FWIW, I use SWSUBST (or SUBST) a lot. SWSUBST doesn't work with all versions
of DOS -- sometimes you need to use the SUBST that came with the DOS.
My system is set up with several different Virtual Machines and DOS versions
and manufacturers so I can test various things. I can also boot DOS to real
hardware (my computers still have a BIOS). Because of all the various
configurations, my drive letters are not always consistent. To try and make
all the different configurations as similar as I can, I have a small C: drive
that just contains a few basic boot utilities, but the majority of useful
programs (including the "extended" boot utilities) are on a different drive
letter (usually D: or E:, but it depends on the exact configuration). The D:
or E: drive can be seen by all the different configurations so I only need one
copy of everything. I use {SW}SUBST to create an S: (System) drive that points
at the drive where the "real" programs are. I normally run things from the S:
drive instead of the C:, D:, or E: drive so I don't get confused about where I
am.
I also set up a few other {SW}SUBST drives, such as T: (for all my Batch
files), U: (for my Utilities), V: (for the DOS utilities associated with the
DOS I'm currently booted to), and R: (for the RAM drive where TEMP and TMP are
pointed to). Sometimes when I'm installing a new program that expects to be
installed from a floppy I use {SW}SUBST to create a "virtual" A drive that
points at the subdirectory where I have the installation files from the floppy
image stored. That usually avoids the need for an actual floppy drive (but
sometimes it doesn't work, depending on the installation program).
Similar to your GEM issue, I also have a program that expects backups to be in
the root directory of a specific drive letter rather than in a subdirectory. I
start the program with a batch file that uses {SW}SUBST to create a virtual
drive letter for the backup, and when the program exits the batch file removes
the {SW}SUBST drive letter.
In summary, I think your approach of using {SW}SUBST to create virtual drive
letters is a good one.
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