If two separate PATH directories contain a same-named executable, how does Windows choose?

Posted by Coldblackice on Super User See other posts from Super User or by Coldblackice
Published on 2012-11-16T08:37:41Z Indexed on 2012/11/16 11:05 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 339

Filed under:

Windows

|

configuration

|

php

|

pear

I'm in the process of upgrading PEAR (PHP) on my system. The upgrade script is encouraging me to add "..\PHP\PEAR" to my PATH so that I can use "pear.bat". However, I already am able to use pear.bat.

Looking in my PATH, I see that I don't have any PEAR directories, only my PHP directory. Opening my PHP directory, I see that there's a "pear.bat" in the base. But there's also a pear.bat in the PEAR subfolder of PHP. I'm wondering if I borked a PEAR install.

I digress. So if I leave ..\PHP in my path, but also add ..\PHP\PEAR -- both of which have a "pear.bat" in them -- which one will Windows "choose"? How does Windows decide?

© Super User or respective owner

Related posts about Windows

Server 2012 DFS New Member Issue

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I am trying to add a new member to our DFS topology. We have 3 DCs (VMs - VMware) running Windows server 2012, two servers are located in or Primary site and the third at our DR site. Currently the two servers at our primary site are currently replicating DFS (full mesh) and are working fine. I have… >>> More
error in IIS7 but not on IIS6

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I have a website that is we are now deploying to windows 2008 servers that has worked in the past on IIS6 without a problem. It is using .net 2 framework. Most of the website works. Just when we create a screen report over a certain size on the server we get this error. Event code: 3005 Event… >>> More
error in IIS7 but not on IIS6

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I have a website that is we are now deploying to windows 2008 servers that has worked in the past on IIS6 without a problem. It is using .net 2 framework. Most of the website works. Just when we create a screen report over a certain size on the server we get this error. Event code: 3005 Event… >>> More
Microsoft Management Console stops working when I add snap-in to it

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I have Windows 7 Ultimate OS. I'm opening mmc.exe as administrator and trying add Certificates or any other snap-in, then while loading that snap-in MMC breaks and displays following message and after that it closes automatically once I click on close button on that message. What could be the problem… >>> More
Handling keyboard and mouse input (Win API)

as seen on Game Development - Search for 'Game Development'
There is a number of ways to catch mouse or keyboard under Windows. So I tried some of them, but every of them has some advantages and drawbacks. I want to ask you: Which method do use? I've tried these: WM_KEYDOWN/WM_KEYUP - Main disadvantage is that, I can't distinguish between left and right-handed… >>> More

Related posts about configuration

SSIS Configuration error: Cannot retrieve configuration table schema

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I'm trying to add a simple configuration to a SSIS package, of type SQL Server, so stored in a table. At the end of the wizard, when it goes to try and write a new row to the nominated table to store the configuration it fails with the error: TITLE: Microsoft Visual Studio Could not complete wizard… >>> More
SharePoint: Can't Connect to a Configuration Database When Using Configuration Wizard

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hello everyone. I wonder if you could help me with the following problem: We have a SharePoint farm consisted of two servers with an NLB (a load balancer), a database server and an index server (4 servers in total). The issues initially appeared when we were trying to change Search settings via Shared… >>> More
Module configuration and layout configuration in zend framework.

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hi all, I got some codes from other articles for configuring module and layout in zend framework. I tried with in my local. i didn't get different layout for default and admin module. Here is my code for configuring module and layout for zend framework. configs/application.ini [production] #… >>> More
Xml configuration versus Annotation based configuration

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
In a few large projects i have been working on lately it seems to become increasingly important to choose one or the other (XML or Annotation). As projects grow, consistency is very important for maintainability. My question is, what do people prefer. Do you prefer XML based or Annotation based… >>> More
Creating packages in code - Package Configurations

as seen on SQLIS - Search for 'SQLIS'
Continuing my theme of building various types of packages in code, this example shows how to building a package with package configurations. Incidentally it shows you how to add a variable, and a connection too. It covers the five most common configurations: Configuration File Indirect Configuration… >>> More