And for people who understand what is happening, making those changes to the various INI files is no big deal. That's why this is my preferred way of changing a web development client as needed to point to the proper path code. To be really picky about it, all this fuss is about the path code and not an environment.
The relevant entries in the INI files all point to the path code that needs to be used, and these entries haven't changed since TR 8.96. If you look at any JAS.INI and JDBJ.INI file from before Server Manager came out, you'll recognize how the local versions of these files look.
I still haven't found any official word from Oracle about this issue, but I have been at a few sites that told me that Oracle recommended using SNAPSHOT to switch between 2 different environments when needing the web development piece in both. Notice that what is going on behind the scenes, besides the renaming of the different directories, is that the INI files are switched out.
Well, rather than go through the whole rigmarole with SNAPSHOT (because I know how much <b><i>fun</i></b> we've all had using SNAPSHOT
), why not just cut to the chase and manage the INI files yourself?
This is probably the heart of what people have heard of Oracle's reluctance to support multiple path codes on a single web development client. It's too much hassle to show people what to do, and takes too much time to teach them why it works. Of course, for those who have already learned why it works, it shouldn't be much effort to get it to work the way you want.