44
44
44 DDDDDDD OOOOO SSSSSS
44 DDDDDDDD OOOOOOO SSSSSSSS
44 44 DD DD OO OO SS
44 44 DD DD OO OO SS
44 44 DD DD OO OO SSSSSS
444444444 DD DD OO OO SSSSSS
44444444 DD DD OO OO SS
44 DD DD OO OO SS
44 DDDDDDDD OOOOOOO SSSSSSSS
44 DDDDDDD OOOOO SSSSSS
Version 4.00
Developed By
Rex Conn and Tom Rawson
Documentation By
Hardin Brothers, Tom Rawson, and Rex Conn
Published By
JP Software Inc.
P.O. Box 1470
East Arlington, MA 02174
USA
(617) 646-3975
fax (617) 646-0904
Program and Documentation Copyright 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991,
Rex C. Conn and JP Software Inc., All Rights Reserved. 4DOS
is a registered trademark and 4OS2 is a trademark of JP
Software Inc. Other product and company names are trademarks
of their respective owners.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We couldn't produce a product like 4DOS without the dedication
and quality work of many people. Our thanks to:
JP Software Staff: Mike Bessy, Helen Coyne, Hayyim
Feldman, Henry Harvey, Susan Mampre, Ellen Stone, Misty
White.
Beta Test Support: David Moskowitz, Guy Scharf, Larry
Finkelstein, and Martin Schiff, of CompuServe's CONSULT
forum.
Online Support: Brian Miller and Tess Heder of Channel 1
BBS; Don Watkins and Connie Kageyama of CompuServe's
IBMNET.
Help System: Scott McGrath and Ross Neilson Wentworth.
Beta Testers: We can't list all of our beta testers
here! A special thanks to all of you who helped make
4DOS elegant, reliable, and friendly.
The following tools are used in creating and maintaining 4DOS
and the 4DOS Help System:
Compilers: Microsoft C 6.0 and Macro Assembler 5.1
and 6.0, Borland Turbo Pascal 5.5 and 6.0
Libraries: Object Professional (Turbo Power
Software), Spontaneous Assembly (Base Two
Development)
Editors: Edix (Emerging Technology), Brief
(Solution Systems)
Debuggers: Periscope (The Periscope Company), Soft-
ICE (Nu-Mega Technologies)
Version Control: PVCS (Sage Software)
Documentation: Microsoft Word for Windows with Adobe Type
Manager
CONTENTS
___________________________________________________________________
CONTENTS
Introduction...............................................1
How to Use This Manual................................2
Registration and Upgrade Information..................5
Technical Support.....................................7
Chapter 1 / 4DOS Features..................................9
Chapter 2 / Installation..................................13
Automated Installation...............................13
Manual Installation..................................14
Uninstalling 4DOS....................................15
Chapter 3 / A Guided Tour of 4DOS.........................18
Starting The Tour....................................18
Basic Commands.......................................20
Command Line Editing and History.....................24
More About Files.....................................27
Directory Navigation.................................31
Aliases..............................................33
Other Commands.......................................36
Batch Programming....................................38
Conclusion...........................................40
Chapter 4 / General Concepts..............................41
DOS and the Command Interpreter......................41
Primary and Secondary Shells....................42
AUTOEXEC.BAT, 4START, and 4EXIT.................43
Command Processing...................................43
Files and Paths......................................45
The Environment......................................48
Memory...............................................49
ASCII and Key Codes..................................51
The Keyboard.........................................51
Video................................................52
ANSI Drivers.........................................53
Chapter 5 / Using 4DOS....................................54
At the Command Line..................................54
Command Line Editing............................55
Command History and Recall......................56
Command History Window..........................58
Filename Completion.............................59
Multiple Commands...............................61
Automatic Directory Changes.....................61
___________________________________________________________________
Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / i
CONTENTS
___________________________________________________________________
Temporarily Disabling Aliases...................62
Command Line Help...............................62
Input and Output.....................................65
Redirection.....................................65
Piping..........................................67
Keystack........................................68
File Processing......................................70
Extended Parent Directory Names.................71
Wildcards.......................................71
Multiple Filenames..............................73
Include Lists...................................74
Executable Extensions...........................75
The Environment......................................78
4DOS Configuration Variables....................80
4DOS Internal Variables.........................81
4DOS Variable Functions.........................85
Advanced Features....................................91
Conditional Commands............................91
Command Grouping................................91
Escape Character................................93
Argument Quoting................................94
Aliases..............................................96
Batch Files..........................................98
.BAT Files and .BTM Files.......................99
Echoing.........................................99
Batch File Variables...........................100
Batch File Commands............................101
Batch File Tips................................103
Chapter 6 / Options and Tuning...........................109
Configuration Files.................................109
Setting up CONFIG.SYS...............................110
4DOS and DOS 2.................................113
Startup Options for Secondary Shells...........113
Using AUTOEXEC.BAT..................................114
Using 4START and 4EXIT..............................117
Using the 4DOS.INI File.............................118
Types of Directives............................121
Initialization Directives......................124
Configuration Directives.......................127
Color Directives...............................130
Key Mapping Directives.........................131
Advanced Directives............................135
Examples.......................................137
Chapter 7 / Using 4DOS with Your Hardware and Software...139
Hardware............................................139
The CPU........................................139
___________________________________________________________________
Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / ii
CONTENTS
___________________________________________________________________
Memory.........................................140
Video..........................................142
Hard Drives and Floppy Disks...................144
Laptop and Notebook Computers..................145
Critical Errors................................147
Software............................................148
4DOS and DOS...................................149
Using 4DOS with Task Switchers and Multitaskers149
Multitasking and Disk Swapping.................151
4DOS and Microsoft Windows 3.0.................152
4DOS and DESQView..............................153
Using 4DOS on a Network........................154
Solving Software Compatibility Problems.............156
Chapter 8 / Command Reference Guide......................162
4DOS Commands.......................................162
How to Use the Command Descriptions.................164
?...................................................168
ALIAS...............................................169
ATTRIB..............................................178
BEEP................................................180
BREAK...............................................181
CALL................................................183
CANCEL..............................................184
CD / CHDIR..........................................185
CDD.................................................187
CHCP................................................189
CLS.................................................190
COLOR...............................................192
COPY................................................193
CTTY................................................198
DATE................................................199
DEL / ERASE.........................................200
DELAY...............................................202
DESCRIBE............................................203
DIR.................................................204
DIRS................................................210
DRAWBOX.............................................211
DRAWHLINE...........................................213
DRAWVLINE...........................................214
ECHO................................................215
ECHOS...............................................217
ENDLOCAL............................................218
ESET................................................219
EXCEPT..............................................220
EXIT................................................222
FOR.................................................223
FREE................................................227
___________________________________________________________________
Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / iii
CONTENTS
___________________________________________________________________
GLOBAL..............................................228
GOSUB...............................................230
GOTO................................................232
HELP................................................234
HISTORY.............................................236
IF..................................................238
IFF.................................................244
INKEY...............................................246
INPUT...............................................249
KEYSTACK............................................250
LH / LOADHIGH.......................................254
LIST................................................255
LOADBTM.............................................257
LOG.................................................259
MD / MKDIR..........................................261
MEMORY..............................................262
MOVE................................................263
PATH................................................267
PAUSE...............................................269
POPD................................................270
PROMPT..............................................271
PUSHD...............................................274
QUIT................................................276
RD / RMDIR..........................................277
REBOOT..............................................278
REM.................................................280
REN / RENAME........................................281
RETURN..............................................283
SCREEN..............................................284
SCRPUT..............................................285
SELECT..............................................286
SET.................................................291
SETDOS..............................................294
SETLOCAL............................................298
SHIFT...............................................299
SWAPPING............................................300
TEE.................................................301
TEXT................................................302
TIME................................................303
TIMER...............................................304
TRUENAME............................................306
TYPE................................................307
UNALIAS.............................................308
UNSET...............................................309
VER.................................................310
VERIFY..............................................311
VOL.................................................312
VSCRPUT.............................................313
___________________________________________________________________
Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / iv
CONTENTS
___________________________________________________________________
Y...................................................314
Appendix A / 4DOS Error Messages.........................315
Appendix B / ASCII and Key Codes.........................325
ASCII...............................................325
Keys and Key Codes..................................329
Appendix C / Technical Information.......................335
Detecting 4DOS......................................335
Detecting 4DOS From a Batch File...............335
Detecting 4DOS From a Program..................335
Detecting the 4DOS Prompt......................336
Placing Keystrokes Into the Keystack................336
Writing Installable Commands........................337
Using DESCRIPT.ION..................................338
Interrupt 2E........................................339
Glossary.................................................342
Index....................................................354
___________________________________________________________________
Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / v
CONTACTING JP SOFTWARE
___________________________________________________________________
CONTACTING JP SOFTWARE
You can contact JP Software at any of the following addresses. Our
normal business hours are 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM weekdays, eastern US
time. For more information about contacting us for technical
support see page 7.
By mail:
JP Software Inc.
P.O. Box 1470
East Arlington, MA 02174
USA
By telephone:
Voice: (617) 646-3975
Fax: (617) 646-0904
Order Line: (800) 368-8777 (orders only,
USA only)
Electronically:
CompuServe: General 75300,210
Technical Support 75300,1215
Bix: "trawson"
MCI Mail: 470-7811
Internet: General 75300.210@compuserve.com
Technical Support
75300.1215@compuserve.com
BBS Support: Via Channel 1 BBS, Boston,
617-354-8873 at 2400 baud, no
parity, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit
___________________________________________________________________
Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / vi
INTRODUCTION
___________________________________________________________________
INTRODUCTION
Welcome, and thanks for purchasing 4DOS!
We started developing 4DOS when we realized that our computers
could be a lot more powerful and a lot more helpful than they were.
Whether you are a computer novice or an experienced power user, we
think that 4DOS will help you get the most out of your IBM PC or
compatible computer.
Technically, 4DOS is a command interpreter or "DOS Shell." That
means that it reacts to the commands you type at the C> prompt.
We've designed 4DOS so that you don't have to change your computing
habits or unlearn anything to use it. If you know how to display a
directory, copy a file, or start an application program, you
already know how to use 4DOS. 4DOS understands all of the commands
you know and adds to them. Its purpose is to make DOS friendlier,
easier to use, and much more powerful and versatile, without
requiring you to use or learn a new program, a new set of commands,
or a new style of work.
Once you have 4DOS installed, you can learn its new features at
your own pace. It has more than 40 new commands and scores of
enhanced features, but you don't have to learn them all at once.
Relax, enjoy 4DOS's power, and browse through the manual
occasionally. Press the F1 key whenever you need help. 4DOS will
soon become an essential part of your computer, and you'll wonder
how you ever got along without it.
If you want to take 4DOS for a spin without performing a complete
installation, see the Guided Tour beginning on page 18.
We are constantly working to improve 4DOS. If you have suggestions
for features or commands that you think we should include in the
next version, or any other way we could improve our product, please
let us know. Many of the improvements in this version of 4DOS were
suggested by our users, and while we can't promise to include every
suggested feature, we really do appreciate and pay attention to
your comments.
If you're an OS/2 user, JP Software offers another product, 4OS2,
as a complete replacement for the OS/2 command processor (CMD.EXE).
4OS2 provides the same command set and syntax as 4DOS, with several
OS/2 commands added. You can use it to maintain a common working
environment and run the same batch files under OS/2 and DOS. 4OS2
___________________________________________________________________
Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 1
INTRODUCTION
___________________________________________________________________
is available at a discounted price for 4DOS users. Contact JP
Software for more information.
How to Use This Manual
We have designed this manual to serve as a gentle introduction
to 4DOS for novice users, as a tutorial for those who want to
get the most out of 4DOS, and as a reference manual for
advanced 4DOS users.
You will likely find some parts of the manual too simple or
too technical for your tastes. Unless you are convinced that
one of those sections holds just the information you need for
a specific task, feel free to skip to the next part of the
manual that is more to your liking. You can use almost every
feature of 4DOS without having to worry about other features
or commands.
As you read the manual, you will see the symbol ## next to
certain paragraphs. This indicates a more in-depth discussion
or a more advanced topic which you can skip if you wish to
stick with the basics. Come back to this topic later for more
details, or if you're having trouble with the particular issue
it discusses. In many cases, the remainder of the section
you're reading after such a symbol will be devoted to similar
advanced information. If you see the ## next to a section
heading, it means the entire section contains such
information.
You may find the information in such marked sections useful
even if you're relatively new to computers or to 4DOS.
However you can skip the marked section and still understand
and use the basic topic of the section you're reading.
An exclamation point [!] to the left of a paragraph means that
paragraph contains a caution or warning you may need to
observe when using the feature it discusses.
This manual is divided into eight chapters and three
appendices, plus a glossary and index. Here's a brief
overview of what you'll find in each:
Chapter 1 / 4DOS Features
We begin with a short summary of some of 4DOS's features
to give you a taste of what 4DOS is about. Start here if
you are new to 4DOS.
___________________________________________________________________
Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 2
INTRODUCTION
___________________________________________________________________
Chapter 2 / Installation
Everyone should read this short chapter. The
installation instructions are simple (and quite different
from previous versions of 4DOS).
Chapter 3 / A Guided Tour of 4DOS
This chapter will take you on a short, interactive tour
of some of 4DOS's most powerful features. By the time
you finish the tour, you will have a good idea of what
4DOS will do for you. If you are new to 4DOS, be sure to
take the tour.
Chapter 4 / General Concepts
This reference chapter is an introduction to several
terms and concepts that we use throughout the manual. If
you're a novice, you might want to browse through the
entire chapter. If you're a power user and all of the
topics in this chapter seem simple, then go on to the
next chapter. If you think you need to brush up a bit on
the basics of a couple of terms and ideas, you'll
probably find them here.
Chapter 5 / Using 4DOS
This chapter is for everyone. It contains a description
of 4DOS's features and lots of examples to help you learn
to use each one. Even if you are a novice user and want
to ignore some of these features until later, skim
through this chapter to get an idea of what is available
and where to find the information that you will
eventually want. 4DOS offers both features which are not
related to specific commands, and a complete set of over
80 internal commands. This chapter has complete
reference information on all of the non-command features,
and introduces a few commands as well. Reference
information on 4DOS commands is in Chapter 8.
Chapter 6 / Options and Tuning
This chapter is for advanced users who want to be sure
that 4DOS is running at top efficiency on their systems.
It includes detailed information on setting up 4DOS and
on changing your 4DOS configuration.
___________________________________________________________________
Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 3
INTRODUCTION
___________________________________________________________________
Chapter 7 / Using 4DOS With Your Hardware and Software
This chapter contains tips on using 4DOS with many
popular kinds of PC hardware and software, and
information that will be useful if you think 4DOS may
conflict with your hardware or other software.
Chapter 8 / 4DOS Command Reference
4DOS knows over 80 internal commands. This chapter
explains the purpose of each command and tells you how to
use it. It has examples that will help you learn each
command and the technical details you will need to get
the command to behave exactly as you wish.
Appendices
We've included some helpful tables here, and some
information for those who like to know technical details.
There are three appendices.
Appendix A lists all 4DOS error messages. Look here if
you need an explanation of an error message, or if you
aren't sure if the message came from 4DOS.
Appendix B lists codes for the ASCII character set (your
computer's internal method for representing letters,
digits, and other characters) and for the keys on your
keyboard. These codes can be useful with certain 4DOS
commands.
Appendix C covers technical information and programming
interfaces. You shouldn't need to use it unless you are
an advanced user or a programmer writing add-on software
for 4DOS.
Glossary
If you need help with any of the terminology in this
manual, look here.
Index
If you can't find the information you need, this should
help you find it.
___________________________________________________________________
Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 4
INTRODUCTION
___________________________________________________________________
Quick Reference Card
If you can't remember a key combination, command format,
color name, or other general information, look here.
Whether you are a 4DOS novice or expert, you will
probably want to keep the Quick Reference card near your
computer for those times when you need just a small jog
to your memory.
Additional Files
Files distributed with 4DOS cover important additional
information beyond what's included in this manual.
README.DOC contains general notes, highlights of the
latest release, and brief installation instructions for
those upgrading from a downloaded copy of 4DOS.
UPDATE.DOC covers any changes or corrections in the
manual, and detailed information for users with older
versions on what has changed in the latest release.
APPNOTES.DOC contains application notes for a variety of
other software packages to help you use those packages to
best advantage with 4DOS.
Registration and Upgrade Information
If you purchased 4DOS from a software dealer, your copy came
with a registration card. Please fill out this card and
return it promptly to JP Software. Returning the registration
card ensures that we have a record of your registration, and
enables you to receive ongoing technical support and notices
of upgrades. If you purchased 4DOS directly from JP Software,
you are already registered and no registration card is
necessary.
Once you are a registered 4DOS user, you will receive:
* A subscription to The Prompt Solution, JP Software's
publication for 4DOS users and other customers. The
Prompt Solution includes tips for using 4DOS,
notification of upgrades, and information about 4DOS
enhancements and other products from JP Software.
* Technical support via electronic mail, fax, mail, or
telephone.
* A free or low-cost upgrade to the next version of 4DOS;
see below for details.
___________________________________________________________________
Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 5
INTRODUCTION
___________________________________________________________________
4DOS is upgraded regularly through maintenance releases,
designed to fix minor problems or improve compatibility, and
major upgrades which contain enhancements and additional
features. Maintenance releases are identified by a change in
the hundredths digit of the version number, for example from
4.0 to 4.01 or 4.02. New versions are identified by a change
in the tenths digit or "ones" digit, for example from 4.0 to
4.1 or 5.0.
As a registered user you will automatically be notified when a
major upgrade of 4DOS is released. The first major upgrade
released after your initial purchase of 4DOS can be obtained
at no charge if you download it from one of our support areas
(see below). A new manual will be available for download from
the same sources. If you do not have a modem or prefer to
obtain the new version on diskette, there is a minimal
processing charge; there is also a charge for a new printed
manual. After you've received this first free or low-cost
upgrade, there will be a standard upgrade charge to get
additional major upgrades as they are released.
We don't send out notices when maintenance releases become
available, because you don't usually need them unless you're
having a problem. However, you can download maintenance
releases from our support areas (see below), or order them on
disk at a nominal cost. If you call with a problem that's
been addressed in a maintenance release, we'll mail you a copy
on disk or assist you in downloading it. Downloading a
maintenance release or obtaining it on disk from JP Software
is separate from and does not affect your eligibility for a
free or low-cost upgrade to the next major upgrade of 4DOS.
As a registered user, you can download maintenance releases
and your free or low-cost 4DOS upgrade from the JP Software
support area on CompuServe (GO PCVENB, library 10), Bix
(ibm.vendors/listings), or Channel 1 (see below). The file
name(s) used for 4DOS updates vary from time to time depending
on the extent of the changes made, but typically will look
like 4DOS4*.ZIP. The "*" refers to one or more characters
further identifying the file. Check the directory listings
and file descriptions on the service you are using to identify
the files you need. Downloads are also available from many
other local bulletin boards and online services. Lists of
download locations, including bulletin boards outside the USA,
are published from time to time in The Prompt Solution and are
included in the SUPPORT.BBS file that comes with 4DOS.
___________________________________________________________________
Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 6
INTRODUCTION
___________________________________________________________________
We offer BBS support through Channel 1 in Boston, one of the
largest and best-run bulletin boards in the US. Channel 1 is
an independent bulletin board and is not owned or operated by
JP Software. To access Channel 1 set your modem to 2400 baud,
no parity, 8 data bits, and 1 stop bit, and dial 617-354-8873
(if you have a high-speed modem, additional numbers are
available once you are online). Join conference 5 for 4DOS
downloads. You can leave 4DOS support messages and download
4DOS files at no charge, but if you want to use any of Channel
1's other excellent services you may need to purchase a
membership to have sufficient online time.
Technical Support
Technical support for 4DOS is available to all users. When
you contact us for support please give us your 4DOS serial
number so that we can verify your status as a customer, keep
track of your inquiry properly, and contact you if necessary.
Often the best way to contact us for support is by modem in
one of the following public 4DOS support conferences. The
numbers in parentheses indicate the usual delay, in days, to
receive a reply to a message.
CompuServe / ZiffNet: Primary support is via the JP Software
section of the CompuServe PCVENB forum (GO PCVENB, section 10)
(1 day). We monitor other CompuServe and ZiffNet forums, but
response may vary depending on our workload.
Bulletin Boards: Primary support is via the Channel 1 BBS,
Boston, MA (1 - 3 days; see above for access details).
Messages may be left in any of the 4DOS conferences; check the
online list for exact conference numbers, which may change.
Additional support is available from many local BBSes via the
4DOS conferences on the InterLink, RIME (PC Relay), SmartNet,
and FidoNet BBS Networks (3-5 days).
BIX: Support is available via the ibm.vendors conference,
topic 4DOS (3-5 days).
In addition, you can contact JP Software for support by mail,
telephone, fax, or electronic mail. Addresses and phone
numbers are listed on page vi of this manual.
Our goal is to return all telephone messages within 24 hours
(weekends and holidays excluded). If your problem is urgent
and requires a faster response, please let us know and we will
___________________________________________________________________
Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 7
INTRODUCTION
___________________________________________________________________
try to accommodate you. If you contact us by telephone and
don't receive a reply within 24 hours, please try again. We
may have tried to return your call and been unable to reach
you.
Before contacting us for support, please check if the manual
or other documentation answers your question. If you can't
find what you need, try Chapter 4 / General Concepts (page
41), and the Index. If you're having trouble getting 4DOS to
run properly, either alone or with your particular hardware or
software, see Chapter 7 / Using 4DOS with Your Hardware and
Software, on page 139, and the APPNOTES.DOC file on your 4DOS
disk. Also look through the README.DOC and UPDATE.DOC files
that came with 4DOS, as they may contain updates to this
manual or other important information.
If you do need to contact us for support, it helps if you can
give us some basic information:
* What exactly did you do? A concise description of what
steps you must take to make the problem appear is much
more useful than a long analysis of what might be
happening.
* What went wrong? At what point did the failure occur?
If you saw an error message or other important or
unusual information on the screen, what exactly did it
say?
* Briefly, what techniques did you use to try to resolve
the problem? What results did you get?
* What are the contents of your CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT,
4START, 4EXIT, and 4DOS.INI files, any batch files they
call, and any alias or environment variable files they
load?
* Can you repeat the problem or does it occur randomly?
If it's random, are there any clues as to what programs
you're using when the problem occurs?
___________________________________________________________________
Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 8
CHAPTER 1 / 4DOS FEATURES
___________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER 1 / 4DOS FEATURES
4DOS is a complete computing environment that works with all
versions of MS-DOS and PC-DOS from 2.0 to 5; with DR-DOS 3.4, 5.0,
and above; and in the OS/2 DOS compatibility box. It is compatible
with virtually all application programs, with Microsoft Windows,
and with task switching programs like DESQView and Back & Forth.
4DOS replaces the traditional DOS user interface with a more
modern, friendlier, and more powerful one. 4DOS is completely
compatible with traditional DOS commands, and adds dozens of new
features that aren't available with any version of DOS.
Minimal Memory Usage
4DOS can take advantage of extended memory, expanded memory,
and memory managers for 80286, 386, and 486 computers that let
programs "load high." If you load both 4DOS and the
environment "high," 4DOS will use only 256 bytes of base
memory, less than any version of the traditional DOS command
processor, COMMAND.COM. (See page 127.)
Online Help
4DOS has complete, full-screen, context-sensitive help for all
of its commands and all DOS utilities. The F1 key pops up the
help system at any time from the 4DOS prompt. The help system
is cross-referenced and includes examples. (See page 62.)
Directory Navigation
4DOS's enhanced CD command lets you specify where to look for
subdirectories you're changing to. CDD lets you switch drives
and directories simultaneously, and the new automatic
directory change feature changes directories for you when you
type a directory name at the command line.
Faster and Better Batch Files
4DOS speeds up traditional DOS batch files, and introduces a
new kind of batch file processing that is 5 to 10 times faster
than traditional batch files as well. (See page 99.)
___________________________________________________________________
Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 9
CHAPTER 1 / 4DOS FEATURES
___________________________________________________________________
In addition, 4DOS has more than two dozen new batch file
commands, and many other enhancements that will make your
batch files easier to write and far more powerful.
Command Line Enhancements
4DOS replaces the traditional command line with a much
friendlier and more powerful command line environment. Among
the features which 4DOS offers are:
Command Line Editing: You can use the cursor keys to
make corrections, in the same way that you would with a
text editor. (See page 55.)
Command History and Recall: 4DOS keeps track of each
command you type. You can recall any command and issue
it again, or edit it to create a slightly different
command. Commands can be recalled one at a time, or you
can pop up a window of recently entered commands and
choose the one you want. (See page 56.)
Automatic Filename Expansion: If you type part of a
filename, with or without wildcards, 4DOS will fill in
the complete filename for you at the touch of a key.
(See page 59.)
Multiple Commands on a Single Line: You can type a
series of commands on a single line instead of waiting
for each one to finish before you issue the next one.
(See page 61.)
Multiple Filenames: Most 4DOS commands can operate on
multiple files at once. For example, you can copy
several files at once from your hard drive to drive A
with a command like:
copy *.wks *.dat *.txt a:\
Point-and-Shoot File Selection: The SELECT command lets
you choose files with the cursor keys instead of
remembering their names. It gives you a full "point-and-
shoot" environment for other 4DOS commands. (See page
286.)
___________________________________________________________________
Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 10
CHAPTER 1 / 4DOS FEATURES
___________________________________________________________________
Aliases
An alias is a command you create, assigned to a name you
select or to a key combination of your choosing. You can use
aliases to rename commands, to set command defaults, and to
create new commands that are a combination of other commands.
When aliases are combined with the 4DOS multiple command
feature, they act like very fast batch files. (See pages 96
and 169.)
File Descriptions
4DOS lets you assign a description (up to 40 characters long)
to each of your files and directories. The descriptions are
displayed with the DIR and SELECT commands, and move with
their files when you use a COPY, DEL, MOVE, or RENAME command.
(See page 203.)
Executable Extensions
Executable extensions let you associate a file extension with
the program that processes files of that type. For example,
you could associate .BAS files with the BASIC interpreter, or
.DBF files with dBase or Foxbase. 4DOS runs the appropriate
program automatically whenever you type the name of a file
that has an extension you have defined as executable. (See
page 75.)
Compatibility
You can use 4DOS:
* with all monochrome, CGA, EGA, and VGA video systems,
with any number of screen rows and columns.
* with DOS-compatible networks, including Novell Netware,
3Com 3+, Banyan Vines, and Artisoft LANTastic.
* with all popular memory managers and task switchers.
* with virtually all commercial applications, utility
programs, and memory-resident utilities (TSRs).
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Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 11
CHAPTER 1 / 4DOS FEATURES
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New Commands and Options
4DOS includes over 80 commands. A few are the same as
traditional commands. Many are compatible with traditional
commands but are enhanced with several additional options.
The majority are unique to 4DOS. If you have always wished
that DOS had a command to help in a special situation, you
will probably find that command in 4DOS. A complete list of
4DOS commands and options, along with explanations of how to
use them, begins on page 162.
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Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 12
CHAPTER 2 / INSTALLATION
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CHAPTER 2 / INSTALLATION
Before you install 4DOS (or any other software, for that matter),
you should make a bootable system diskette so you can recover in
case of a power failure or other interruption during the
installation process. To do so, put a fresh diskette in drive A
and then type:
format a: /s
The FORMAT command will take a few minutes to prepare the floppy
diskette and then will copy your system files to drive A. Once the
process is complete, you should test your bootable floppy by
leaving it in drive A and simultaneously pressing the Ctrl, Alt,
and Del keys to make sure your system will boot up properly. Once
that's done, put the floppy away in a safe place and reboot your
computer normally.
Automated Installation
Now you are ready to install 4DOS. Put the distribution
diskette into your first disk drive, drive A. (You can use
drive B if you prefer.) Then log onto drive A by typing:
a:
and press the Enter key. One of the files on the distribution
diskette, README.1ST, contains information that you should
read before you install 4DOS on your computer. Type:
type readme.1st
to view the file. If you want to print a copy of the file,
type:
copy readme.1st prn
Now you can start the installation process. Type:
install
and press the Enter key. If you are using a color video
adapter with a monochrome monitor (for example, a laptop
computer with a monochrome EGA display), type:
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Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 13
CHAPTER 2 / INSTALLATION
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install /m
Once the installation program has started, just follow the
instructions on the screen and 4DOS will install itself on
your system.
The installation program will ask whether you want to perform
a complete installation, a partial installation in order to
run the 4DOS Tour, or whether you want to retrieve specific
files from the 4DOS library. Choose the full installation to
put all of 4DOS on your system, or the Tour option if you want
to see what 4DOS can do before you install it permanently.
The installation program will not make any changes to your
CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files unless you give it permission
to do so.
If you elect to perform a full installation, reboot your
computer when the installation program is done. You will then
have all the power of 4DOS available to you.
We know some users feel unsure about running automated
installation programs on their computers. 4DOS's automated
installation is carefully written to be very well-behaved. It
won't modify or erase any existing files without asking you,
and it takes a very straightforward, step by step approach.
You can halt the installation process at any time and return
to the DOS prompt by pressing Ctrl-X (hold down the Ctrl key
and then press "X").
## Manual Installation
The 4DOS files are contained in a special library file on the
distribution diskette. You cannot simply copy files from the
diskette onto your system. You must use the installation
program to extract and decompress the 4DOS files if you want
to perform a manual installation, or if you need to replace a
damaged 4DOS file on your hard disk.
If you want to install 4DOS manually, first start the
automatic installation program using the instructions above.
Select the Extract all files option and extract the 4DOS files
onto your hard disk or another floppy disk. On a hard disk,
place the files in their own directory. If you are upgrading
from a previous version of 4DOS, use a new directory -- don't
overwrite your existing files.
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Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 14
CHAPTER 2 / INSTALLATION
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Once you've extracted the files, you can go through the 4DOS
Tour (see page 18) if you want to try 4DOS before completing
the installation. When you're ready to finish the
installation process, all you need to do is add one line to
your CONFIG.SYS file (before modifying CONFIG.SYS, be sure you
have a bootable floppy disk as discussed above):
SHELL=D:\PATH\4DOS.COM D:\PATH /P
"d:\path" means the drive and directory where your 4DOS files
are stored. The second "d:\path" on the SHELL= line sets the
COMSPEC environment variable, and can be left out if 4DOS.COM
is in the root directory of your boot drive. Be sure to
delete or REMark out any old SHELL= line for COMMAND.COM after
you add the new SHELL= line for 4DOS.
Next, add the following line to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:
D:\PATH\KSTACK.COM
where "d:\path" is the drive and directory where your 4DOS
files are stored.
Once you've finished modifying CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT,
reboot your system to start 4DOS. For details on setting up
the SHELL= line and AUTOEXEC.BAT, and on the 4DOS.INI file,
which controls 4DOS configuration, see Chapter 6 / Options and
Tuning (page 109).
## Uninstalling 4DOS
In the extremely unlikely event that you have trouble booting
your computer after you install 4DOS, you can also remove it
quite easily. We don't expect you to have any trouble, but we
know some people feel more comfortable knowing how to
uninstall a product as well as install it. Or, you may need
to remove 4DOS from one system if you are moving it to another
system.
To temporarily remove 4DOS from your system, first find the
location of COMMAND.COM on your disk (for example, in the root
directory, or the DOS directory). Boot the system and use any
standard editor to edit your CONFIG.SYS file (before modifying
CONFIG.SYS be sure you have a bootable floppy disk as
discussed above). Look for a line which begins:
SHELL=D:\PATH\4DOS.COM ...
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Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 15
CHAPTER 2 / INSTALLATION
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("d:\path" means a drive letter and directory name). Insert
the characters "REM " at the beginning of this line. This
converts it into "remarks" or comments. (If you are using DOS
3 or below, REMarks are not recognized in CONFIG.SYS, so the
changed lines will produce a harmless "Unrecognized command"
error when the system boots.) Next, add a new line like this:
SHELL=D:\PATH\COMMAND.COM /P
where "d:\path" is the proper drive and directory for
COMMAND.COM. If you were previously running COMMAND.COM with
a /E:nnnn switch to set the size of your environment, you can
add it to this line as well.
After CONFIG.SYS has been modified, edit your AUTOEXEC.BAT
file to remove any changes made to accommodate 4DOS. Look for
two commands:
SET COMSPEC=D:\PATH\4DOS.COM
D:\PATH\KSTACK.COM
The first command will not be present on most systems. If
it's there, change it to read:
SET COMSPEC=D:\PATH\COMMAND.COM
where "d:\path" is replaced by the correct drive and directory
for COMMAND.COM. The second command can be deleted, or you
can place "REM " in front of it to convert it to a comment.
The second command may be present without the "d:\path"
portion or the ".COM" portion; the key thing to look for is
"KSTACK". If you wish, you can look for the PATH command, and
remove the 4DOS directory from the directories listed there.
However, there's probably no reason to do so unless you're
permanently removing 4DOS from your system.
Now reboot your system, and you should be back up and running
under COMMAND.COM. Correct the problem that gave you trouble
with 4DOS (contact our technical support department if you
need help, see page 7). Once the problem is fixed, edit your
CONFIG.SYS file again to remove the REMs on your 4DOS lines
and put one on your COMMAND.COM line instead, restore any
COMSPEC command in AUTOEXEC.BAT, and you can boot with 4DOS
again.
To completely remove 4DOS from your system, change CONFIG.SYS
and AUTOEXEC.BAT as described above, then delete your 4DOS
files.
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Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 16
CHAPTER 2 / INSTALLATION
___________________________________________________________________
Again, we don't expect you to need to use the procedure above
-- but we thought you should have it anyway, just in case it
makes you feel a little more at ease about installing a new
product on your computer.
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Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 17
CHAPTER 3 / A GUIDED TOUR OF 4DOS
___________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER 3 / A GUIDED TOUR OF 4DOS
This chapter will acquaint you with some of the features of 4DOS.
It isn't a substitute for the rest of the manual, but it will help
you understand how familiar 4DOS seems if you are used to working
at the traditional command prompt. At the same time, it will
introduce you to many of 4DOS's most popular features and
enhancements. By the time you finish working through this chapter,
you will have a feeling for how easy and friendly 4DOS is compared
to the traditional DOS command processor.
This tour is designed to be used interactively. Sit down at your
computer with the manual. Each time an example is shown, try it.
The tour will create all of the files it uses; it won't modify or
change your existing files and subdirectories at all. Each section
of the tour is self-contained so you can skip any sections you wish
and return to them later.
If you come across terms or concepts in this chapter that you are
unsure about, refer to Chapter 4 / General Concepts, the Glossary
on page 342, or the Index.
Starting The Tour
Before you can start the tour, you need to install 4DOS. If
you haven't done so yet, see page 13 for instructions. Select
"Tour Installation" from the INSTALL menu to copy the
necessary 4DOS files to your disk without making any
modifications to your CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files. If
you have already done a full installation and 4DOS is running
on your system, just skip the step below that actually starts
4DOS (the step where the command "4DOS" is entered).
During the course of the tour, we'll ask you to enter several
commands. The text that you should enter is always shown in
bold type. Your entries are shown here in lower case, but you
can type in either upper or lower case.
The computer's prompts and responses are displayed in normal,
non-bold type. The display may look slightly different on
your system, depending on how your prompt is set up, what disk
drive you're using, and what files are in your 4DOS directory.
Don't worry about any minor differences.
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Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 18
CHAPTER 3 / A GUIDED TOUR OF 4DOS
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In some cases, the computer's output will be too long to fit
on a line of this manual and remain readable. We've truncated
those lines and placed three dots [...] at the end to show you
that the actual line displayed on your screen will be a little
longer. Some commands create more lines of output than we
need to display here to show how they work. We've put a line
of nine dots [... ... ...] in those locations to indicate that
additional information will be shown on your screen.
To start the tour, first change to the directory where 4DOS
was installed, using the CD command. For example, if you've
installed 4DOS in the directory C:\4DOS, enter the following
command:
C:\> cd 4dos
C:\4DOS>
Now start 4DOS by typing:
C:\4DOS> 4dos
You'll see a sign-on message from 4DOS that looks similar to
this:
4DOS EMS swapping initialized (96K)
4DOS 4.0 DOS 5.0
Copyright 1988-1991 Rex Conn & JP Software Inc. ...
Registered for use on a single computer.
and then a prompt like this:
c:\4dos>
Depending on how your prompt was previously defined, you may
see the 4DOS prompt in lower case, which many people find
easier to read. A lower case prompt is the 4DOS default, and
we'll show the prompt that way throughout the tour. Once you
have 4DOS installed you can use the PROMPT command (see page
271) to change the prompt to upper case if you prefer.
If you want to exit from 4DOS at any time, just type the
command EXIT at the 4DOS prompt and press Enter. This will
return you to the traditional DOS command line:
c:\4dos> exit
C:\4DOS>
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Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 19
CHAPTER 3 / A GUIDED TOUR OF 4DOS
___________________________________________________________________
Basic Commands
We'll begin the tour by demonstrating some of the most common,
and most familiar, 4DOS commands. We'll also show you some of
the enhancements that 4DOS has added to those commands to make
your computing easier.
First, enter the single-character command ?. You'll see a
display like this:
c:\4dos> ?
? ALIAS ATTRIB BEEP ...
CANCEL CD CDD CHCP ...
COLOR COPY CTTY DATE ...
DESCRIBE DIR DIRS DRAWBOX ...
... ... ...
UNALIAS UNSET VER VERIFY ...
Y
The ? command displays a list of all of 4DOS's commands. You
certainly don't have to memorize them all -- we'll show you
how to get help with any command in a few moments. Nor are we
going to demonstrate all of these commands in this tour. If
you want complete information about a command, turn to the
alphabetic Command Reference that begins on page 162.
Now try a DIR command to see a list of files in the current
directory. DIR displays a list of file names, sizes, dates,
and times:
c:\4dos> dir
Volume in drive C is JPS_TEST Serial number is ...
Directory of c:\4dos\*.*
. <DIR> 8-22-91 14:21
.. <DIR> 8-22-91 14:21
4dos.com 99280 8-26-91 4:00
4dos.doc 345005 8-26-91 4:00
4dos.ico 766 8-26-91 4:00
4dos.pif 545 8-26-91 4:00
... ... ...
tour2.btm 2765 8-26-91 4:00
update40.doc 37946 8-26-91 4:00
vendor.doc 4434 8-26-91 4:00
833,056 bytes in 21 file(s) 851,968 bytes allocated
18,651,136 bytes free
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Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 20
CHAPTER 3 / A GUIDED TOUR OF 4DOS
___________________________________________________________________
The 4DOS DIR display should look familiar. But, unlike the
traditional DIR display, 4DOS shows file names in lower case
and in alphabetical order. 4DOS also gives you some totals at
the end of the display that help you see how much space your
files are using.
By using some of DIR's options, you can make the display
easier to read. The directory display you just saw probably
didn't fit on your screen. You can tell DIR to pause at the
end of each page by using the command DIR /P. The /P is an
example of a switch or option which modifies the behavior of a
command:
c:\4dos> dir /p
Volume in drive C is JPS_TEST Serial number is ...
Directory of c:\4dos\*.*
. <DIR> 8-22-91 14:21
.. <DIR> 8-22-91 14:21
4dos.com 99280 8-26-91 4:00
4dos.doc 345005 8-26-91 4:00
4dos.ico 766 8-26-91 4:00
4dos.pif 545 8-26-91 4:00
... ... ...
tour2.btm 2765 8-26-91 4:00
update40.doc 37946 8-26-91 4:00
Press any key when ready...
vendor.doc 4434 8-26-91 4:00
833,056 bytes in 21 file(s) 851,968 bytes allocated
18,649,088 bytes free
You might prefer to display directories in 2 columns. DIR
will do that if you include the /2 option. If you add the /V
option, it will perform a vertical sort, with file names
running alphabetically down the first column and then down the
second column. (We've left off the end of the second column
of the display, since it doesn't fit on a manual page. You'll
be able to see it on the screen.)
c:\4dos> dir /2/v
Volume in drive C is JPS_TEST Serial number is ...
Directory of c:\4dos\*.*
. <DIR> 8-22-91 14:21 helpcfg.exe ...
.. <DIR> 8-22-91 14:21 kstack.com ...
4dos.com 99280 8-26-91 4:00 order.frm ...
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Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 21
CHAPTER 3 / A GUIDED TOUR OF 4DOS
___________________________________________________________________
4dos.doc 345005 8-26-91 4:00 readme.doc ...
4dos.ico 766 8-26-91 4:00 support.bbs ...
4dos.pif 545 8-26-91 4:00 sysop.doc ...
4dosm.ico 766 8-26-91 4:00 tour1.btm ...
4help.exe 45632 8-26-91 4:00 tour2.btm ...
aliases 8164 8-26-91 4:00 update40.doc ...
appnotes.doc 82722 8-26-91 4:00 vendor.doc ...
4dos.hlp 120555 8-26-91 4:00
833,056 bytes in 21 file(s) 851,968 bytes allocated
18,653,184 bytes free
DIR has many other formatting and file selection options.
You'll use a few below; all of them are explained with the DIR
command on page 204.
Next, you'll use a simple batch file called TOUR1.BTM to
create a dummy file. (A .BTM batch file is similar to a
traditional .BAT batch file but faster. See page 99 for an
explanation of the differences between the two.) To run
TOUR1.BTM, enter the command:
c:\4dos> tour1
This batch file creates a small file called FILE1 in your
current directory. The contents of the file aren't important;
we're simply using it to demonstrate some of 4DOS's file-
handling capabilities. You can verify that FILE1 has been
created by using DIR again.
Now use the COPY command to copy the contents of FILE1 to a
new file, FILE2:
c:\4dos> copy file1 file2
c:\4dos\file1 => c:\4dos\file2
1 file(s) copied
4DOS performed the copy just like the traditional COPY command
does. You may notice that the output is a little friendlier:
COPY tells you exactly what file it copied and where it copied
the file to, along with a count of files at the end.
Now try renaming a file. If you've used the traditional
RENAME command or its synonym REN, this will look familiar:
c:\4dos> ren file1 file3
c:\4dos\file1 -> c:\4dos\file3
1 file(s) renamed
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Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 22
CHAPTER 3 / A GUIDED TOUR OF 4DOS
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Like COPY, the 4DOS REN command tells you just what it did.
You now have two files, FILE2 and FILE3, in the current
directory. You can use one of 4DOS's enhancements to add the
extension .TST to both of them:
c:\4dos> ren file2 file3 *.tst
c:\4dos\file2 -> c:\4dos\file2.tst
c:\4dos\file3 -> c:\4dos\file3.tst
2 file(s) renamed
Unlike the traditional REN command, 4DOS lets you rename
multiple files with a single command. All of the 4DOS file
processing commands like COPY, DEL, MOVE, and RENAME accept
multiple file names, so you can do in one command what used to
require a separate command for each file.
Now delete the files you have just created. You could use a
simple command like DEL *.TST, but that would delete any other
.TST files in the current directory also. To protect against
erasing files that you might want to keep, add a /P option to
DEL so that it will prompt you before it deletes each file.
Answer Y to the prompts shown below to let 4DOS delete your
test files:
c:\4dos> del *.tst /p
Delete c:\4dos\file3.tst (Y/N)? y
Delete c:\4dos\file2.tst (Y/N)? y
2 file(s) deleted
To verify all these actions, you can do a DIR or DIR /P to
look at what files are left in the directory. All the files
you've just created (FILE1, FILE2, FILE3, etc.) should be
gone.
The features we've demonstrated here -- traditional commands
with enhancements that make your work easier -- are present
throughout 4DOS. If you want more details, pick a DOS command
that you're familiar with and look up the corresponding 4DOS
command in the reference section to get an idea of what's new
and improved in 4DOS. (Remember that 4DOS only replaces
internal commands like COPY and DIR, not external commands
like DISKCOPY and FORMAT.)
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Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 23
CHAPTER 3 / A GUIDED TOUR OF 4DOS
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Command Line Editing and History
This section demonstrates 4DOS features which make it easy to
correct typing mistakes at the DOS prompt, to repeat previous
commands, and to get help with any command.
We can't show you exact examples here as easily as we can in
the other sections of the tour, since the display depends on
the exact keystrokes you type and we want you to experiment a
little. So we'll guide you through what 4DOS can do, and
you'll see the results on your screen.
First, create a typing error by mistake. Enter an incorrect
DIR command:
c:\4dos> dur /2
Traditionally, you would have had to use the Backspace key to
erase most of the line in order to correct this error, or
press Esc and start over. 4DOS makes corrections much easier.
Press the Home key followed by the right arrow. The cursor
will move to the start of the line and then right one space to
the "u" in "dur". Type an "i" and the command should be
correct. To execute it, press Enter; if you'd rather not,
press Esc.
That's a simple example of 4DOS's command line editing. You
can use the left and right arrow keys, Home and End, and
Backspace and Del to move around and modify your command line
at any time, just like you do in your word processor or
editor. Other keys let you move the cursor a word at a time,
delete words, change between overstrike and insert modes, and
perform many other operations. Esc always clears the line and
lets you start over. For a summary of all the command line
editing keys see page 55, or your 4DOS Quick Reference card.
4DOS also remembers the commands you type in a command
history. To see the commands you have used so far during this
tour, we'll use the 4DOS HISTORY command to display the entire
history list:
c:\4dos> history
?
dir
dir /p
dir /2/v
tour1
ren file1 file3
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Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 24
CHAPTER 3 / A GUIDED TOUR OF 4DOS
___________________________________________________________________
ren file2 file3 *.tst
del *.tst /p
dir /2
4DOS records about 1000 characters of history. You can reduce
or enlarge this amount to suit your own needs.
Now press the up-arrow key once. The last command in the
HISTORY display (DIR /2 in the example above) will appear at
the prompt. You can use the editing keys to modify this
command, which is much easier than retyping it. To execute
the command again, in either its modified or unmodified form,
press Enter. To clear the line, press Esc.
If you'd like to see more commands, first press Esc to clear
the command line. (To see all commands in the history, you
should always start with an empty command line.) Now press
up-arrow several times. Each time you press it, 4DOS will
back up one more line in the command history. Once you find
the line you're looking for, you can modify it if you like and
then press Enter to execute it.
Now imagine that you have been working for a while. An hour
ago you did a complex DIR command and you need to do it again.
You could scroll through an hour's worth of command history.
But another 4DOS feature called command completion will save
you time.
First, type the beginning of the command -- DI, or DIR. Now
press the up-arrow. 4DOS will recall the newest command in
the history that starts with the characters you typed (if
there are no matches, 4DOS beeps). Press up-arrow again to
retrieve the command before that, still matching to the
characters you originally typed.
You can test this out easily using DI or DIR, because you've
put several DIR commands into the command history during the
tour.
Perhaps you would prefer to look at a list of commands that
you have entered and choose from the list. First press the
Esc key to clear the command prompt. Then press the PgUp key.
4DOS will display a history window in the upper right corner
of your screen showing the commands you've recently typed.
You can move around in this window with the up-arrow and down-
arrow keys. PgUp and PgDn move the display a page at a time.
When you find the command you want, press Enter to re-execute
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Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 25
CHAPTER 3 / A GUIDED TOUR OF 4DOS
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it as is, or press any other key to move the line down to the
prompt where you can edit it as usual.
You can find more information on command line editing and
history beginning on pages 55 and 56. And you can use
directives in your 4DOS.INI file (see page 118) to set the
length of the history list and the size of the history window,
and to redefine the editing and history keys.
You can also get help any time you need it from the 4DOS
command prompt. Just press the F1 key. You'll see a display
of all of 4DOS's HELP topics. If you would like some help
with COPY, move the cursor bar to COPY, or just type COPY and
4DOS will move the bar for you. Press Enter to see help on
the topic; once you're there, scroll through the help using
the vertical arrows or PgUp and PgDn keys. The highlighted
items within a topic are cross-references to other topics;
select one with the horizontal arrow keys and press Enter to
view it. Press Esc or F1 to return to the topic list.
For more help using the Help display, select the topic -HELP-
from the topic list. If you have a mouse, see the -MOUSE-
topic for information on using the mouse within the Help
system.
Now exit the help system (use Esc) and start entering a
command:
c:\4dos> copy *.doc a: /
After that "/" you want to use the option that tells COPY to
prompt you before replacing an existing file, but you can't
remember what it is. Just leave the command as it is and
press F1. 4DOS will display help on the command you're
entering, and you'll see that the option you want is /R.
Press Esc to exit help and you'll be right back on the command
line. You can type the R and press Enter to execute your
command, or press Esc instead to clear the line if you don't
really want to execute the command.
4DOS has may more features that can help you at the command
line. Most of them are described in Chapter 5 / Using 4DOS,
in the section At the Command Line starting on page 54.
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Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 26
CHAPTER 3 / A GUIDED TOUR OF 4DOS
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More About Files
This section of the tour lets you explore some more of 4DOS's
features that will help you manage files and directories.
You're about to use another batch file to create some files
with which you can experiment. The batch file you'll use is
called TOUR2.BTM. First, take a look at the batch file with
the 4DOS LIST command:
c:\4dos> list tour2.btm
As you can see on your screen, LIST is a full screen file
viewer. You can scroll and page through the text. You may
notice that some lines near the end of the file extend beyond
the edge of your screen. To make the off-screen text visible
use the left and right arrows to scroll the display
horizontally, or press W to turn line wrapping on and off.
LIST also lets you search for text and print the file you're
viewing, two capabilities that we won't demonstrate on this
tour. The file TOUR2.BTM is simply a batch file that creates
other files, using 4DOS's ECHO command. You don't have to
worry about how it works; we just used it to show you LIST.
Now run TOUR2.BTM:
c:\4dos> tour2
Please wait ...
File creation completed
TOUR2 creates three files called FILE1, FILE2, and FILE3. The
contents of the files aren't important since we're just using
them for demonstration purposes. You'll be deleting and
recreating them several times through the rest of the tour.
Now try 4DOS's SELECT feature. SELECT lets you choose files
for any 4DOS command from a full-screen list. We'll use it
here to delete one of the files that TOUR2 created. Enter the
command:
c:\4dos> select del (file*)
This command tells 4DOS to let you select from files that
begin with the characters "file", and then pass the name of
each file you select to the DEL command for action.
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The display on your screen should include a two-line header
and then the list of files, just as they'd look in a directory
display. Press the spacebar to "mark" the first file -- a
triangular mark will appear to the left of the file name. You
can scroll around in the display and mark and unmark files
with the spacebar as you like. When you hit Enter, the
command will be executed, deleting the files you've marked.
For now, mark FILE1 and leave the other files unmarked, so
that FILE2 and FILE3 are not deleted. You'll use them in the
next step.
SELECT is also handy if you want to copy a group of files to a
floppy disk, perhaps to take your work home for the night or
to make a quick backup. If you'd like to try it, put a blank,
formatted floppy disk in drive A. Then enter this command:
c:\4dos> select copy (file*) a:
Mark one or both of the files in the SELECT display, and the
marked file(s) will be copied to the floppy disk when you hit
Enter.
SELECT is a "prefix" command: it goes before another command
and modifies what that second command does. Another useful
prefix command is EXCEPT, which lets you do something except
to one or more files. Before you try EXCEPT, create new
copies of FILE1, FILE2, and FILE3 (TOUR2 will overwrite any
old copies of these files remaining from the last time it was
run):
c:\4dos> tour2
Please wait ...
File creation completed
Now use EXCEPT to delete all but one of the files that TOUR2
created:
c:\4dos> except (file1) del file*
Deleting c:\4dos\file2
Deleting c:\4dos\file3
2 file(s) deleted
The EXCEPT command protected FILE1 from being deleted. To
verify that, use the DIR command. When you're done, run TOUR2
one more time so the files are there for the next step.
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Next, create two subdirectories within the current directory:
c:\4dos> md dira dirb
Notice that you can create both subdirectories with a single
command. Traditionally, you would have needed two MD commands
to do the same thing. To verify that the directories are
there, use DIR but ask it to display only subdirectories and
not files (if you're curious, /A:D stands for "Attributes:
Directory"; see page 204 for more details):
c:\4dos> dir /a:d
Volume in drive C is JPS_TEST Serial number is ...
Directory of c:\4dos\*.*
. <DIR> 8-22-91 14:21
.. <DIR> 8-22-91 14:21
DIRA <DIR> 8-27-91 10:23
DIRB <DIR> 8-27-91 10:23
0 bytes in 4 file(s) 0 bytes allocated
18,608,128 bytes free
OK, things look right. Now move the demonstration files to
those directories. 4DOS has a built-in MOVE command to move a
file from one directory or drive to another, something DOS
users have wished for for a long time.
Here are the commands to move FILE1 to DIRA, and FILE2 and
FILE3 to DIRB:
c:\4dos> move file1 dira
c:\4dos\file1 -> c:\4dos\dira\file1
1 file(s) moved
c:\4dos> move file2 file3 dirb
c:\4dos\file2 -> c:\4dos\dirb\file2
c:\4dos\file3 -> c:\4dos\dirb\file3
2 file(s) moved
As usual, 4DOS tells you exactly what it's doing.
Now that you've created a subdirectory structure, it's time to
get a comprehensive look at it. Use DIR to look for all the
files whose names begin with "file" in the current directory
and all of its subdirectories -- that's the DIR /S option:
c:\4dos> dir /s file*
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Volume in drive C is JPS_TEST Serial number is ...
Directory of c:\4dos\dira\file*.*
file1 22 8-27-91 10:37
22 bytes in 1 file(s) 2,048 bytes allocated
18,587,648 bytes free
Total for: c:\4dos\dira\file*.*
22 bytes in 1 file(s) 2,048 bytes allocated
Directory of c:\4dos\dirb\file*.*
file2 22 8-27-91 10:37
file3 1938 8-27-91 10:37
1,960 bytes in 2 file(s) 4,096 bytes allocated
18,587,648 bytes free
Total for: c:\4dos\dirb\file*.*
1,960 bytes in 2 file(s) 4,096 bytes allocated
Total for: c:\4dos\file*.*
1,982 bytes in 3 file(s) 6,144 bytes allocated
DIR has displayed the directory header, filenames, and totals
for each of the two subdirectories that contain files matching
the name you entered, FILE*. It also has displayed a grand
total.
You've seen that DIR can look at several subdirectories at
once. Now do the same thing with DEL, and delete the files
you put in your demonstration subdirectories, along with the
subdirectories themselves, with a single command. To do so,
you need to use two options: /S and /X. The first tells DEL
to delete files in the current directory and all of its
subdirectories. The /X option makes DEL remove each
subdirectory if all the files within it are deleted:
c:\4dos> del /s/x dira dirb
c:\4dos\dira\*.* : Are you sure (Y/N)? Y
Deleting c:\4dos\dira\file1
c:\4dos\dirb\*.* : Are you sure (Y/N)? Y
Deleting c:\4dos\dirb\file2
Deleting c:\4dos\dirb\file3
3 file(s) deleted
Note the safety feature that 4DOS gave you here. When you
tell DEL to delete DIRA and DIRB, 4DOS recognizes them as
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directory names and assumes you mean "delete all files in this
directory". Since you're deleting all the files, 4DOS
displays a prompt that tells you what's about to be deleted
and asks you whether you really want to do the deletion. Once
you answer Y, the files are deleted and the subdirectory is
automatically removed because you used the /X switch.
4DOS also lets you use file descriptions, so you can describe
a file's contents more clearly than with an 8-character file
name. The descriptions can be up to 40 characters long.
First, run TOUR2 again to regenerate the three demonstration
files. Then enter a DESCRIBE command, along with a
description for each file (you can enter any description you
like; you don't have to use the text shown):
c:\4dos> tour2
c:\4dos> describe file*
Describe "c:\4dos\file1" : Tour file 1
Describe "c:\4dos\file2" : Tour file 2
Describe "c:\4dos\file3" : Tour file 3
Now look at the descriptions with a DIR command:
c:\4dos> dir file*
Volume in drive C is JPS_TEST Serial number is ...
Directory of c:\4dos\file*.*
file1 22 8-27-91 10:48 Tour file 1
file2 22 8-27-91 10:48 Tour file 2
file3 1938 8-27-91 10:49 Tour file 3
1,982 bytes in 3 file(s) 6,144 bytes allocated
18,604,032 bytes free
The descriptions will appear any time you ask for a standard,
single-column directory display. They will also appear when
you use the SELECT command. They can be a lifesaver when you
have files whose contents you can't remember, or when you have
large groups of files with similar names.
Directory Navigation
4DOS doesn't just make it easier to access files; it also
makes your life much easier when you're navigating through the
hard disk directory structure. You're probably already
familiar with the traditional CD command, which you use to
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change directories. 4DOS adds a "go back" option to CD, which
is invoked by using the minus sign [-] instead of a directory
name. Try this:
c:\4dos> cd \
c:\> cd -
c:\4dos>
The CD - changes back to the directory you were in before the
most recent CD command. It's a convenient way to switch back
and forth between two directories.
4DOS also lets you change the drive and directory at the same
time with the CDD command so you don't have to switch drives
first and then change directories. Here's an example using
CDD. Before you try it, put a floppy disk in drive A:
c:\4dos> cdd a:\
a:\> cdd -
c:\4dos>
As you can see, the minus works with CDD as well.
For more complex sequences of directory navigation, you can
use PUSHD and POPD. These commands maintain a directory
"stack" and let you make several changes, then move back
through the directories you've been to. They can change both
drive and directory, like CDD. For example:
c:\4dos> pushd a:\
a:\> pushd c:\
c:\> popd
a:\> popd
c:\4dos>
4DOS also offers you a special environment variable, CDPATH,
to help you find the right directory without a lot of typing.
CD, CDD, and PUSHD use CDPATH to find the directory you want
to change to if they can't find it in the current directory.
This can help a lot when you have long but commonly used
directory names. For example, say you have a directory called
C:\DBASE\REPORTS which contains a subdirectory for each month
of the year. If you set CDPATH like this:
c:\4dos> set cdpath=c:\dbase\reports
Then you can change to the JANUARY subdirectory like this:
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c:\4dos> cd january
c:\dbase\reports\january> cd -
c:\4dos>
CD found the JANUARY subdirectory, saving you from typing the
entire name, because its parent directory was listed in
CDPATH. For more details about CDPATH see page 116.
Aliases
Aliases are one of 4DOS's most powerful features. Simple
aliases are very easy to set up and use (that's what we'll
discuss here). Complex aliases allow you to configure your
system just about any way you want, and can take the place of
many small batch files.
The purpose of aliases is to rename or reconfigure 4DOS
commands. They are defined and viewed with the ALIAS command.
In this tour, we'll show you how to set up aliases for the DIR
command. Of course, you can use aliases to enhance any
command; for more examples see the ALIAS command on page 169,
and the sample file ALIASES that comes with 4DOS.
Here's a popular favorite for anyone who uses DIR and wants to
be able to use a simple D instead:
c:\4dos> alias d = dir
To see what aliases you've defined, enter ALIAS with no
parameters:
c:\4dos> alias
d=dir
To use the alias, just enter its name at the prompt, like any
command:
c:\4dos> d
Volume in drive C is JPS_TEST Serial number is ...
Directory of c:\4dos\*.*
. <DIR> 8-22-91 14:21
.. <DIR> 8-22-91 14:21
4dos.com 99280 8-26-91 4:00
4dos.doc 345005 8-26-91 4:00
4dos.ico 766 8-26-91 4:00
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4dos.pif 545 8-26-91 4:00
... ... ...
tour2.btm 2765 8-26-91 4:00
update40.doc 37946 8-26-91 4:00
vendor.doc 4434 8-26-91 4:00
835,038 bytes in 24 file(s) 858,112 bytes allocated
18,599,936 bytes free
Once you've defined an alias, you can use it anywhere a
command can be used: at the command prompt, in a batch file,
or inside another alias.
As an example, build on the D alias you have already defined.
Suppose you regularly use 4DOS's 2-column directory listings,
discussed near the start of the tour. Each time you want a
directory listing, you use the command DIR /2. Define an
alias, D2, to let you execute this command with the touch of a
couple of keys. Since you have already defined D, you can
define D2 in either of these ways (choose one to try):
c:\4dos> alias d2 = dir /2
c:\4dos> alias d2 = d /2
If you want to see the results, just enter ALIAS again:
c:\4dos> alias
d=dir
d2=d /2
To use this alias, just enter the command D2 and press Enter.
You can pass file names to these aliases just like you would
to the original command. For example, D2 *.DOC will give you
a 2-column display of the .DOC files.
You can create aliases that are even easier to use with 4DOS's
keystroke aliases. These aliases let you assign an Alt or
Function key to an alias so you can invoke it by pressing a
single key. Say you'd like to assign the 2-column directory
display to F5. Just define an alias like D2 above, and make
the alias name the key name, with an at-sign [@] before it:
c:\4dos> alias @f5 = dir /2
Now press F5 and the DIR /2 command will appear on the command
line. Press Enter to execute it, or type some additional
arguments and then press Enter if you'd like. (You can also
make key aliases execute as soon as you press the key. For
details on how, see the ALIAS command on page 169.)
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You can use an alias to redefine how a standard command works,
without changing its name. Suppose you always want DIR to
display its output in 2 columns, with a vertical sort and a
pause at the end of each page. You might think of using
something like this:
c:\4dos> alias dir = dir /2/p/v
Go ahead and try that, then do a DIR. You'll get an error:
c:\4dos> dir
Alias loop
c:\4dos>
The "alias loop" error is caused because 4DOS tries to
reinterpret the DIR command inside your alias as another
attempt to run the same alias. It's easy to change the alias
so this doesn't happen:
c:\4dos> alias dir = *dir /2/p/v
The [*] tells 4DOS that what follows is not an alias. Try the
definition above (you can scroll back to the incorrect
definition with up-arrow and modify it). Then do a DIR and
you'll see the results. Using this method, you can redefine
the default options for any 4DOS command.
Aliases can contain multiple commands and can do much fancier
things than what you've seen here. They're great for creating
shorthand names for commonly used programs like your word
processor or database, and they will often help get programs
loaded faster as well -- if you put the full name of the
program in an alias, 4DOS doesn't have to search your PATH for
it.
For complete details, see the overview of aliases beginning on
page 96, and the ALIAS command reference on page 169.
When you read about aliases in the rest of the manual, you'll
notice that most alias definitions are shown with back-quotes
[`] around the part after the name. Some aliases require
these back-quotes when they are defined at the command line or
in a batch file, to make it clear to 4DOS what is and isn't
part of the alias.
We show aliases that way elsewhere because it's the safest way
to enter them at the command line. If you always use the
back-quotes, you don't have to worry about whether a
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particular alias needs them or not. We didn't use them here
because none of these aliases require back quotes and we
didn't want to add extra typing during the tour.
Other Commands
There are a few other commands that we'll just touch on, so
that you can see some of 4DOS's other capabilities.
First, turn on the 4DOS LOG facility, which records all the
commands you enter in a file. Enter the command:
c:\4dos> log /w mylog
You won't see anything else happen, but you've turned logging
on. We'll return to the 4DOS log later.
4DOS has a couple of commands that let you control screen
color. The examples here will work on any system with a color
video board (the commands work on monochrome systems, too, but
you're restricted to the colors white and black). Try
clearing the screen to a specific color:
c:\4dos> cls bright white on magenta
Now let's set a different color:
c:\4dos> color bright yellow on blue
The behavior of the COLOR command varies, depending on whether
you have an ANSI driver loaded. If you don't, COLOR will
change the color of the entire screen immediately. If you do
have an ANSI driver loaded, COLOR only affects the color of
text displayed after it's executed, and not the color of text
already on the screen. If you don't know, don't worry about
it -- just experiment with COLOR and see.
The FREE and MEMORY commands help you keep track of system
resources. FREE tells you about free space on your disk
drives (and is much faster than CHKDSK). MEMORY tells you
about memory resources, including expanded and extended memory
and 4DOS's internal alias and history storage areas. Here are
examples of the output from our test system; try the commands
on your system and see what values you get.
c:\4dos> free
Volume in drive C is JPS_TEST Serial number is ...
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41,826,304 bytes total disk space
23,232,512 bytes used
18,593,792 bytes free
c:\4dos> memory
655,360 bytes total DOS RAM
612,256 bytes free
7,815,168 bytes total EMS memory
688,128 bytes free
12,288 bytes free XMS memory (HMA in use)
1,792 bytes total environment
233 bytes free
6,144 bytes total alias
1,045 bytes free
1,024 bytes total history
The TIMER command lets you time events. The following line
also shows 4DOS's ability to accept multiple commands on one
line, separated by a caret [^]. It starts the timer, runs the
TOUR2.BTM file to create the three demonstration files,
deletes the three files, and then stops the timer and displays
the time the whole operation took. Enter this command to time
the entire sequence on your computer:
c:\4dos> timer ^ tour2 ^ del file1 file2 file3 ^ timer
Timer 1 on: 11:10:01
Please wait ...
File creation completed
Deleting c:\4dos\file1
Deleting c:\4dos\file2
Deleting c:\4dos\file3
3 file(s) deleted
Timer 1 off: 11:10:06 elapsed: 0:00:05.11
Now return to the log that you started a few minutes ago.
Turn logging off, then take a look at what was recorded.
Enter the following two commands; the output will pause at
the end of each page:
c:\4dos> log off
c:\4dos> type mylog /p
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[ 8-22-91 11:05:02] cls bright white on magenta
[ 8-22-91 11:05:54] color bright yellow on blue
[ 8-22-91 11:07:08] free
[ 8-22-91 11:07:49] memory
[ 8-22-91 11:09:55] timer
[ 8-22-91 11:09:56] tour2
... (commands from TOUR2.BTM will be displayed here)
[ 8-22-91 11:10:00] del file1 file2 file3
[ 8-22-91 11:10:01] timer
[ 8-22-91 11:12:35] log off
As you can see, the log contains every command you entered
plus a date and time stamp. It's a complete record of system
activity, including commands you type and those entered from
batch files and aliases. You can use it as a record of your
work, for security purposes, or for anything else you desire.
You may want to clean up the directory now by deleting this
demonstration log with a DEL MYLOG command.
Batch Programming
This final section demonstrates a very little bit of what 4DOS
can do for your batch files. If you've never worked with
batch files, you may want to skip this section. If you aren't
sure, give it a try and stop if things seem too complex. You
don't have to be a batch file programmer to use 4DOS.
Rather than having you go to the trouble of writing actual
batch files, we'll demonstrate some of the parts of 4DOS's
batch file power that work just as well at the prompt.
Some 4DOS batch file improvements aid in communicating with
the user. You can make sounds:
c:\4dos> beep 440 2 880 8 660 4
You can draw boxes and lines. Enter each of these commands on
one line; use the second set of commands if you have a
monochrome monitor:
c:\4dos> cls bright white on blue
c:\4dos> drawbox 10 10 20 70 4 bright cyan on black fill
black
c:\4dos> drawhline 15 10 61 1 bright cyan on black
c:\4dos> cls bright white on black
c:\4dos> drawbox 10 10 20 70 4 black on white fill white
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c:\4dos> drawhline 15 10 61 1 black on white
Notice that 4DOS correctly connects the line to the box where
they intersect. 4DOS has additional commands like SCREEN and
SCRPUT, which we won't demonstrate here, to display text
anywhere on the screen and in any color.
4DOS also helps you ask the user for input. Try this (be sure
to use two percent signs before the second "letter"):
c:\4dos> inkey Enter a letter: %%letter
Enter a letter: A
The letter you typed was stored in your environment in the
variable named LETTER. Use the SET command to view it:
c:\4dos> set
COMSPEC=C:\4DOS\4DOS.COM
... ... ...
LETTER=A
The user can also type full strings if you use the INPUT
command:
c:\4dos> input Enter a string: %%string
Enter a string: Type anything you like here ...
Again, SET will let you view the string, stored in the
environment variable STRING.
Once you've collected some input, you will probably want to
test it with the 4DOS IF and IFF commands. Here's one
example. Enter this on one line (there's plenty of room;
4DOS command lines can be up to 255 characters long). Note
that two percent signs are used in the INKEY command and one
is used in the IFF, and that a double equal sign is used in
the IFF statement.
c:\4dos> inkey Enter a letter: %%letter ^
iff "%letter"=="A" then ^ echo hi ^ else ^
echo bye ^ endiff
Try using the up-arrow to repeat the command several times,
giving different responses to the "Enter a letter" prompt.
4DOS offers dozens of additional batch file improvements. For
more information see the section on batch files beginning on
page 98, and the reference for each individual command.
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Conclusion
This has been a very fast tour of some of the most popular
features of 4DOS. There are many more features, commands and
options to explore, as well as ways to customize 4DOS so that
it suits your computing habits and needs. One of 4DOS's best
features is its ability to adapt to your way of working
instead of requiring you to adapt to it.
If you selected "Tour Installation" when you ran the 4DOS
INSTALL program, you will probably want to perform a full
installation now. You can put the 4DOS disk in your floppy
drive, run INSTALL, and follow the instructions on the screen.
If you need help, refer to the installation instructions on
page 13.
To learn more about specific 4DOS commands, look through the
Command Reference section of this manual, beginning on page
162. To learn more about the dozens of 4DOS features that
aren't related to specific commands, read through Chapter 5 /
Using 4DOS, beginning on page 54.
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CHAPTER 4 / GENERAL CONCEPTS
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CHAPTER 4 / GENERAL CONCEPTS
You can start using 4DOS as soon as you finish installing it,
because 4DOS is compatible with the traditional commands you're
used to. But most users find that the more they know about their
computer systems, the more power they get from 4DOS. And, the more
experienced they become with 4DOS, the more they want to know about
their computer system as a whole.
This section of the manual explains some fundamental concepts about
your computer, DOS, and 4DOS. It should help you understand the
terms and concepts in the pages that follow. If you find some of
the concepts overwhelming, just remember that they are here when
you need them. If you find this material too simple, skim over the
topics and then go on to the next section. Each topic in this
chapter is independent, so if you read it straight through you
won't necessarily find a natural "flow" from one topic to another.
If you come across terms or concepts in this chapter that you are
unsure about, refer to the Glossary on page 342 or the Index.
DOS and the Command Interpreter
When you turn on your computer, it first runs some internal
diagnostics and then looks for a boot disk, either a floppy
disk in drive A or your hard disk. There is nothing magical
about a boot disk; it simply has a copy of DOS and a command
interpreter available, plus a small block of special
information that tells the computer that it is indeed a boot
disk.
The core portion of DOS consists of two hidden files (files
that are normally invisible to the DIR command). They aren't
hidden to keep you from copying or examining them, but rather
to keep you from accidentally erasing them. The names of the
files depend on the version of DOS you are using, but they are
usually something like MSDOS.SYS and IO.SYS. These two files
contain the operating system, which controls your disk files
and directories, loads and runs programs, maintains the system
time and date, and performs other housekeeping tasks.
After the computer loads DOS into memory, it performs some
standard initialization tasks and then looks for a file called
CONFIG.SYS, which contains user-specified initialization
commands. You can view and edit your CONFIG.SYS file with any
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text editor. One of the optional lines in CONFIG.SYS begins
with the word SHELL. That line names the command interpreter
that DOS should load as it completes its initialization.
A command interpreter is a program that accepts your
instructions and carries them out. The command interpreter
shipped with DOS is called COMMAND.COM. Once you have 4DOS
installed, 4DOS.COM replaces COMMAND.COM as your command
interpreter. Both COMMAND.COM and 4DOS are normal programs
that know how to translate your commands into actions. 4DOS
is simply a much more powerful command interpreter than
COMMAND.COM.
Primary and Secondary Shells
Technically, the command interpreter is a shell: a program
that understands your commands and makes the correct calls to
DOS to perform various operations, including running programs.
The command interpreter that runs when the computer boots up
is called the primary shell. Any command interpreter that is
run by an application program with a "shell to DOS" feature,
or that is run by a multitasking program like Windows or
DESQView, is a secondary shell. 4DOS can be run as a primary
shell and as a secondary shell.
A secondary shell has all the same features as a primary
shell, but you can leave a secondary shell with the EXIT
command. There is no way to exit from the primary shell,
because your computer needs a shell present to operate. (You
can exit from the primary shell in one special case: if
you're running in the DOS compatibility box of OS/2 version
2.0.)
There are only a few differences between primary and secondary
shells. Generally, less memory is available when a secondary
shell is running, because at least part of the program that
started it is still in memory waiting to spring back to life
when you exit. And normally only the primary shell
automatically executes the instructions in your AUTOEXEC.BAT
file.
You may also see the term shell used to describe programs
which assist you in managing your files (for example XTree or
Lotus Magellan). This is a different and less precise meaning
of "shell" than the one used above and elsewhere in this
manual. Such programs are also sometimes called "visual
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shells" because they use a menu or graphical interface to
receive commands. Unlike 4DOS, these programs are not command
interpreters, and cannot replace COMMAND.COM.
AUTOEXEC.BAT, 4START, and 4EXIT
When a primary shell, either COMMAND.COM or 4DOS, gets control
from DOS during boot up, one of its first responsibilities is
to look for and run a batch file called AUTOEXEC.BAT, if that
file is available in the root directory of the boot drive.
This file is simply a list of commands that you want to have
executed every time your computer boots up. If COMMAND.COM
cannot find AUTOEXEC.BAT, it asks you for the time and date.
4DOS skips that step and immediately displays a standard
prompt (e.g., c:\>).
Every time 4DOS starts as either a primary or secondary shell,
it also looks for an optional batch file called 4START.BTM or
4START.BAT, and runs the file if it finds it. 4START is a
convenient place to put special 4DOS configuration commands.
Whenever you exit from a 4DOS secondary shell, 4DOS looks for
another optional file called 4EXIT.BTM or 4EXIT.BAT and runs
the file if it finds it. 4EXIT is not necessary in most
circumstances, but is a convenient place to put commands to
save information from a secondary shell before it exits.
AUTOEXEC.BAT, 4START, and 4EXIT are called automatic batch
files because they run without your intervention at specific
times. 4START and 4EXIT should not be used to load any memory
resident programs (TSRs). Otherwise, these three files can
include any commands that could be part of any batch file or
any commands which you could type from the command line.
For more details about batch files and batch file commands,
see pages 98 and 163.
Command Processing
Whenever you type something at the command line and press the
Enter key, you have given a command to 4DOS, which must figure
out how to execute your command. If you understand the
general process that 4DOS uses, you will be able to make the
best use of the 4DOS commands.
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4DOS begins by dividing the line you typed into an action word
and a command tail. The action word is the first word in the
command; the tail is everything that follows the command
word. For example, in the command line
dir *.txt /p/o/n
the action word is "dir," and the command tail is "*.txt
/p/o/n."
To decide what activity to perform, 4DOS makes five attempts
to understand the action word:
First, 4DOS tries to match the action word against its
internal list of aliases, which are synonyms that you have
defined for commands. If it finds a match between the action
word you typed and one of the aliases you've defined, it
replaces the action word you typed with the action word from
the alias. (This substitution is done internally, and is not
normally visible to you). Once it has finished with the
aliases, 4DOS continues with the steps listed below to
identify the meaning of the new action word.
4DOS first tries to match the action word against its
list of more than 80 internal commands, which are actions
that are built into 4DOS. If it finds a match, 4DOS
performs the internal command and then waits for a new
instruction from you.
If there is no match with any of 4DOS's internal
commands, it looks for an executable file (one with a
.COM or .EXE extension) whose name matches the action
word. It runs the executable file if it finds one. This
is called an external command or external program.
Next, 4DOS looks for a batch file (with a .BTM or .BAT
extension) that matches the action word. If it finds
such a file, it then reads each line in the file as a new
command.
Finally, 4DOS checks to see if the action word matches
the name of a file with an extension that you have
defined as executable. If a match is found, 4DOS runs
the program you specified when you defined the executable
extension. (Executable extensions are used to associate
file extensions with the specific program that processes
a particular type of file; see page 75 for details).
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4DOS first tries the last three steps in the current
directory. If the action word doesn't match a .COM, .EXE,
.BTM, or .BAT file or an executable extension in the current
directory, 4DOS repeats its search in every directory in your
PATH. The PATH is a list of directories that 4DOS (and some
applications) search to look for executable files. If all
these searches fail, 4DOS displays an "Unknown command" error
message and waits for your next instruction.
If 4DOS finds a matching internal command in the first step,
that command begins its activity by examining the command
tail. Some commands require information in the command tail,
some accept optional information, and others don't allow any
command tail at all. The command tail for internal commands
usually contains filenames, directory names, option switches
which modify the command's behavior, or other information.
4DOS makes the command tail available to every alias, batch
file, and external command that it executes. Aliases and
batch files can examine the command tail by using "replaceable
parameters," (see page 100). External commands examine the
command tail in a manner determined by the programmer who
wrote that particular external program.
It is up to each command to examine the command tail to make
sure that the information it has received makes sense. If you
use an option switch which the command doesn't understand, or
if you omit a required piece of information, the command
issues an error message and ends. Therefore, the command
lines that you create must fit the format that each alias,
internal or external command, or batch file expects.
The process that internal and external commands go through to
separate the individual elements of the command line, make
sure you used the correct syntax, and understand what you have
requested, is called parsing.
Files and Paths
You may have dozens, hundreds, or thousands of files stored on
your computer's disks. DOS is responsible for managing all of
these files. In order to do so, it uses a unique name to
locate each file in much the same way that the post office
assigns a unique address to every residence.
The unique name of any file is composed of a drive letter, a
directory path, and a filename. Each of these parts of the
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file's name is case insensitive; you can mix upper and lower
case letters in any way you wish.
A drive letter designates which drive contains the file. In a
file's full name, the drive letter is followed by a colon.
Drive letters A: and B: are normally reserved for the floppy
disk drives. (Systems with a single drive use both A: and B:
for that drive. DOS asks you to swap diskettes as necessary
to turn that single physical drive into two separate logical
disk drives.)
Normally, drive C: is the first (or only) hard disk drive.
Later versions of DOS and some utility programs can divide a
large hard disk into multiple logical drives that are usually
called C:, D:, E:, etc. Also, the DOS utility SUBST lets you
use drive letters as a substitute for directory names. Many
network systems (LANs) use a similar feature to give drive
letters to sections of the network file server drives.
Some computers also have "RAM disks", which are areas of
memory set aside by software (a "RAM disk driver") for use as
fast, but temporary storage. RAM disks are also assigned
drive letters, typically using letters beyond that used by the
last hard disk in the system, but before any network drives.
For example, on a system with a large hard disk you might have
A: and B: as floppy drives, C:, D:, and E: as parts of the
hard disk, F: as a RAM disk, and G: and H: as network drives.
Directories are used to divide the files on a drive into
logical groups that are easy to work with. Their purpose is
similar to the use of file drawers to contain groups of
hanging folders, hanging folders to contain smaller manila
folders, and so on.
Every drive has a root or base directory, and many have one or
more subdirectories. Subdirectories can also have
subdirectories, extending in a branching tree structure from
the root directory. The collection of all directories on a
drive is often called the directory tree, and a portion of the
tree is sometimes called a subtree. The terms directory and
subdirectory are typically used interchangeably to mean a
single subdirectory within this tree structure.
Subdirectory names follow the same naming rules as files (see
below): a base name followed by an optional extension.
However, some application programs do not properly handle
subdirectory names that have an extension. It is best to use
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only an 8 character (or less) name, without an extension, for
subdirectories.
The drive and subdirectory portion of a file's name are
collectively called the file's path. For example, the file
name C:\DIR1\DIR2\MYFILE.DAT says to look for the file
MYFILE.DAT in the subdirectory DIR2 which is part of the
subdirectory DIR1 which is on drive C. The path for
MYFILE.DAT is C:\DIR1\DIR2. The backslashes between
subdirectory names are required. The total length of a file's
path may not exceed 64 characters (excluding the file name and
extension, but including the drive letter and colon).
DOS remembers both a current or default drive for your system
as a whole, and a current or default directory for every drive
in your system. Whenever a program tries to create or access
a file without specifying the file's path, DOS uses the
current drive (if no other drive is specified) and the current
directory (if no other directory path is specified).
The root directory is named using the drive letter and a
single backslash. For example, D:\ refers to the root
directory of drive D:. Using a drive letter with no directory
name at all refers to the current directory on the specified
drive. For example, E:4DOS.DOC refers to the file 4DOS.DOC in
the current directory on drive E:.
There are also two special subdirectory names that are useful
in many situations: a single period [.] by itself means "the
current default directory." Two periods together [..] means
"the directory which contains the current default directory"
(often referred to as the parent directory). These special
names can be used wherever a full directory name can be used.
4DOS allows you to use additional periods to specify
directories further "up" the tree (see page 185).
Finally, each file has a filename. The filename consists of a
base name of 1 to 8 characters plus an optional extension
composed of a period plus 1 to 3 more characters. You can use
alphabetic and numeric characters plus the punctuation marks !
# $ % & ' ( ) - @ ^ _ ` { } and ~ in both the base name and
the extension. Because the exclamation point [!], percent
sign [%], caret [^], at-sign [@], parentheses [()], and back-
quote [`] also have other meanings to 4DOS, it is best to
avoid using them in filenames.
Each file also has attributes which define characteristics of
the file which may be useful to DOS, to you, or to an
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application program. Attributes can be set with 4DOS's ATTRIB
command (see page 178) and viewed with the ATTRIB and DIR
commands. Every time a program modifies a file, DOS sets the
Archive attribute, which signals that the file has been
modified since it was last backed up. This can be used by
4DOS to determine which files to COPY, and by backup programs
to determine which files to back up. When the Read-only
attribute is set, the file can't be changed or erased; this
can be used to protect important files from damage. The
Hidden and System attributes prevent the file from appearing
in normal directory listings. The 4DOS DIR command (see page
204) has options which allow you to select filenames to view
based on their attributes, to view the attributes themselves,
and to view information about normally "invisible" hidden and
system files.
When a file is created, and every time it is modified, DOS
records the system time and date in a time stamp in the file's
directory entry. Several 4DOS commands and variable
functions, and many backup and utility programs, use this time
stamp to determine the relative ages of files.
The Environment
The command interpreter keeps a list of information about your
computer in memory. This list is called the environment.
Every program receives a copy of the environment when it
begins, and many programs use some of its information to
configure themselves or to find files.
The environment is arranged as a series of variables and their
related values. Each variable is a name stored in upper case.
The name is followed by an equal sign [=] and some text. You
can view the environment with the SET command, and add new
entries or edit existing entries with SET and ESET. A typical
environment entry looks like this:
LIB=c:\lib
In this example, the name of the variable is LIB and its value
is "c:\lib."
The format and meaning of each entry in the environment is up
to the program that uses the particular variable. Environment
variables can contain just about anything, and can be used for
any purpose the author of a program desires. The "purpose" of
the environment as a whole is simply to hold small amounts of
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text which programs can then access according to their own
rules. Most environment variables are used by single programs
for their own information; a few have well-defined meanings
and are used by many different programs.
One of the most important environment variables is called
PATH. The text of PATH is a list of subdirectories separated
by semi-colons. 4DOS searches each of the subdirectories
listed in the PATH entry to find executable files that aren't
in the default directory. Many programs also search the PATH
list to find their own files.
4DOS uses several environment variables to control its own
behavior, and provides a wide range of facilities for
manipulating and managing the environment. See page 115 for
additional details.
Memory
The memory in your computer is organized in bytes. Normally,
the amount of memory in a computer is discussed in terms of
kilobytes (KBytes or 1,024 bytes) and megabytes (MBytes or
1,048,576 bytes or 1,024 KBytes). The amount of memory
available in your computer is determined by the number of
memory chips you have installed.
In an ideal world, there would be little more to say about
memory. But because of the history of PCs, the needs of large
application programs, and the capabilities of advanced CPUs,
there are many different kinds of memory. The original 8088
CPUs of the PC and PC/XT can address 1 MByte of memory. Of
that, a maximum of 640KBytes is allocated as base,
conventional, DOS, or low DOS memory (all these terms mean the
same thing). The other 384 KBytes, known as upper memory, are
set aside for the computer's built-in ROM BIOS, video adapter
cards, hard disk controllers, and other expansion hardware.
When base memory became too limiting, expanded memory (or EMS
memory) was developed to give programs more data space.
Expanded memory adds up to 16 MBytes which programs can
access, 64KBytes at a time, through a window in upper memory.
In 8088 / 8086 (PC and XT), and 80286 (AT) based computers,
expanded memory typically requires an add-on board and support
software. In 386 and 486 computers, expanded memory is
typically provided without additional hardware, using the
capabilities of the 386/486 chips.
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The 80286 CPU used in the AT, and modern 386 and 486 CPUs, can
use much more than the 8088's original 1 MByte of memory. An
80286 can use a total of 16 MBytes; the 386 and 486 can use
up to a whopping 4,096 MBytes. This extended memory is not
normally available to DOS-based programs, however, without
special programming techniques and the help of DOS extenders
or memory managers.
The memory terms used in this manual include
BASE memory: The 640 Kbytes or less that has
traditionally been available for DOS and DOS-based
applications.
EMS or LIM EMS Memory: Memory which conforms to the
Expanded Memory Specification, developed by Lotus, Intel,
and Microsoft, that lets programs and utilities share
expanded memory.
Extended Memory: Memory beyond 1 MB in 80286, 386, and
486 computers. This memory may be accessed directly, in
which case it is referred to as Extended Memory, or
through XMS software, in which case it is referred to as
XMS Memory (see below).
XMS Memory: Extended memory managed by software which
conforms to the Extended Memory Specification (XMS). XMS
lets programs share extended memory without conflict.
This specification divides extended memory into extended
memory blocks (EMBs). XMS software also usually manages
the HMA and the UMBs (see below).
HMA: The first 64K bytes of extended memory, located
just above 1 MB. Certain specialized programs such as
DESQView, some network drivers, and portions of MS-DOS
5.0 and DR-DOS 5.0 can be loaded into the HMA instead of
taking up valuable space in base memory.
UMBs: 386 and 486 computers can electronically move
pieces of extended memory into unused space in the upper
memory area between 640KB and 1 MB. Each block of this
memory is called an Upper Memory Block (UMB). With DOS
5.0 or special 386/486 memory managers, memory-resident
programs can be loaded into these UMBs instead of taking
up valuable space in base memory. Some 8086, 8088, and
80286 systems can also use UMBs with appropriate
additional hardware and software (see page 140 for
details).
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ASCII and Key Codes
Internally, computers use numbers for everything. To
represent the text that you type, a computer must translate
each letter to and from a number. For all PC-compatible
computers, the code used for this translation is called ASCII
(American Standard Code for Information Interchange). ASCII
codes are used both for the characters you type and for the
characters that are displayed on the screen.
The original ASCII code has 128 values for upper and lower
case letters, numerals, punctuation marks, and control codes.
The control codes correspond to pressing the Ctrl key plus an
alphabetic character. Some control codes are also represented
on the keyboard with such keys as Tab, Enter, Backspace, and
Esc. IBM, in its original PC, defined an additional 128
extended ASCII codes for math symbols, international
characters, the line characters used to draw boxes, and some
miscellaneous symbols. You can enter extended ASCII codes on
the keyboard by holding down the Alt key while you type the
code number on the numeric key pad.
Do not confuse extended ASCII with extended key codes. The
latter include special codes that the computer generates when
you press a function key, cursor key, or Alt plus a letter.
Those keys do not have any representation in either the ASCII
or extended ASCII code systems. Another set of key codes,
called scan codes, is discussed in the section on the keyboard
below.
Appendix B on page 325 has a complete list of ASCII, extended
ASCII, and extended key codes.
The Keyboard
The original IBM PC, PC/XT, and virtually all XT-compatible
computers use an 83-key keyboard with 10 function keys. The
earliest PC/AT computer and compatibles added an 84th key,
called SysReq, but left the rest of the keyboard the same.
Most 80286, 386, and 486 computers now use an "enhanced"
keyboard with 101 or more keys, including 12 or more function
keys.
When you press a single key or a key combination, the computer
translates the keystroke into two numbers. For all
alphabetic, numeric, and punctuation keys, the Tab, Enter,
Backspace, Esc keys and Ctrl plus an alphabetic key, these
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numbers are an ASCII code plus a scan code. The ASCII code
represents the key's meaning; the scan code identifies which
specific key was pressed. For example, many keyboards have
two plus [+] keys, one above the equal sign and one on the
numeric keypad. Both generate the same ASCII code, but they
generate different scan codes.
Keys which are not represented by ASCII codes are translated
to an ASCII 0 plus an extended key code. These keys include
the function keys, the cursor keys, and Alt plus a key. The
extended key code for a key is generally the same as the scan
code for that key.
Some keys, like the Alt, Ctrl, and Shift by themselves or in
combination with each other, plus the Print Screen, SysReq,
Scroll Lock, Pause, Break, Num Lock, and Caps Lock do not have
any code representations at all. The computer performs
special actions automatically when you press these keys (for
example, it switches your keyboard into Caps Lock mode when
you press the Caps Lock key), and does not report the
keystrokes to whatever program is running unless the program
has been written specially to accept them.
It is up to the computer to smooth over the differences
between the different keyboards. That is part of the reason
why not all keyboards can be used with all computers.
Appendix B has a complete list of ASCII and scan codes of each
of the keys on your keyboard.
Video
4DOS is a "character-based" program, which means that it works
in text mode on your computer. In text mode, the screen
displays text in a single font, but cannot mix fonts or
display graphics. 4DOS can run graphics programs which change
your screen to graphics mode, but the screen must be returned
to text mode whenever 4DOS is active. In the early days of
the IBM PC, text mode was a single, simple video operating
environment. Today, advanced video boards and video software
have created a wide range of text modes.
The original IBM PC monochrome and CGA color video cards can
display 80 columns and 25 rows of text. Newer, advanced video
systems normally run in this 80 x 25 display mode but can also
display more columns and rows. For example, EGA video cards
can display 43 rows of text and VGA video cards can display 50
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rows. With special driver programs, a VGA can display 60 rows
or more and up to 132 columns of text. Each of these
different screen configurations is a different text mode.
4DOS supports whatever number of rows and columns of text you
decide to use. It doesn't have commands to switch from one
screen size to another -- you will need to use the software
that came with your computer or video board to do that -- but
it can read and work with the number of rows and columns on
your screen.
ANSI Drivers
Every version of DOS includes a program called ANSI.SYS. This
program lets you use text colors other than drab white on
black, redefine keys, and control screen output. Commercial
ANSI drivers are available as replacements for ANSI.SYS. The
commercial programs usually include many new features, boost
screen display speed dramatically, and support text displays
that have more than 80 columns and 25 lines.
4DOS automatically determines whether you have an ANSI driver
installed. If you do, 4DOS will use the driver to clear the
screen and set screen colors.
Several 4DOS commands provide replacements for traditional
ANSI.SYS commands. For example, 4DOS has commands to set the
screen colors and display text in specific colors. These
commands are easier to understand and use than traditional
ANSI.SYS control sequences. Some of these commands manipulate
screen colors directly. Others use an ANSI driver if one is
installed, but save you the work of figuring out complex ANSI
control sequences. Any special interaction between 4DOS
commands and the ANSI.SYS driver is described in the
documentation for each command.
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CHAPTER 5 / USING 4DOS
4DOS is both a collection of commands and a set of features which
make your computer easier to use. The commands are explained in
the Command Reference section which begins on page 162. This
section of the manual primarily explains each of the 4DOS features
that are not directly related to individual commands.
Most of the features described in this section are easy to use, but
a few are more technical in nature. Such features are marked with
a ## next to the feature name or the paragraph which describes the
feature's operation.
As you read through this section, we urge you to experiment with
the features that catch your interest and pass over any which seem
too complicated. Come back to this section as you gain expertise
with 4DOS, and you will probably discover that the more complex
features will seem easy and very useful. 4DOS doesn't require that
you learn any more than you want, and even if you are a computer
novice, you'll find some features that will interest you
immediately.
If you come across terms or concepts in this chapter that you are
unsure about, refer to Chapter 4 / General Concepts, the Glossary
on page 342, or the Index.
At the Command Line
4DOS displays a c:\> prompt when it is waiting for you to
enter a command. (The actual text depends on the current
drive and directory, as well as your PROMPT settings.) This
is called the command line and the prompt is 4DOS's way of
asking you to enter a command, an alias or batch file name, or
the instructions necessary to begin an application program.
This section of the manual explains the 4DOS features that
will help you while you are typing in commands, and how 4DOS
interprets keystrokes entered at the command line. The
keystrokes discussed here are the ones 4DOS normally uses. If
you prefer using different keystrokes to perform these
functions, you can reassign virtually all 4DOS keystrokes with
keystroke directives in the 4DOS.INI configuration file (see
page 118).
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Command Line Editing
The 4DOS command line works like a single-line word processor,
allowing you to edit any part the command line at any time
before you press Enter to execute the command, or Esc to erase
it. 4DOS extends the command line to a maximum of 255
characters, and allows you to edit the command line even when
it exceeds the width of your screen.
4DOS recognizes the following editing keys when you are typing
a command (the words Ctrl and Shift mean to press the Ctrl
[Control] or Shift key together with the other key named):
Cursor Movement:
Left arrow Move the cursor left one character.
Right arrow Move the cursor right one character.
Ctrl-Left arrow Move the cursor left one word.
Ctrl-Right arrow Move the cursor right one word.
Home Move the cursor to the beginning of the
line.
End Move the cursor to the end of the line.
Insert and Delete:
Ins Toggle between insert and overtype
mode.
Del Delete the character at the cursor.
Backspace Delete the character to the left of the
cursor.
Ctrl-L Delete the word or partial word to the
left of the cursor.
Ctrl-R or
Ctrl-Backspace Delete the word or partial word to the
right of the cursor.
Ctrl-Home Delete from the beginning of the line
to the cursor.
Ctrl-End Delete from the cursor to the end of
the line.
Esc Delete the entire line.
Ctrl-C or
Ctrl-Break Cancel the command.
Enter or Return Execute the command line.
## Sometimes you may need to have 4DOS interpret a keystroke
literally and place it on the command line instead of
performing the usual action listed above. For example,
suppose you have a program that requires a Ctrl-R character on
its command line. Normally you couldn't type this keystroke
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at the 4DOS prompt, because 4DOS would interpret it as a
"Delete word right" command.
To get around this problem, use the special keystroke Alt-255.
You enter Alt-255 by holding down the Alt key while you type
255 on the numeric keypad, then releasing the Alt key (you
must use the number keys on the numeric pad; the row of keys
at the top of your keyboard won't work). When 4DOS sees the
Alt-255, it interprets the next keystroke literally and places
it on the command line, ignoring any special meaning it would
normally have as a 4DOS command line editing or history
keystroke. You can use Alt-255 to suppress the normal meaning
of command line editing keystrokes even if they have been
reassigned with key mapping directives in 4DOS.INI (see page
118), and Alt-255 itself can be reassigned with the
CommandEscape directive.
Command History and Recall
Each time you execute a command, 4DOS saves the command line
in a command history list. 4DOS lets you display the saved
commands, search the list, modify commands, and rerun
commands.
The simplest use of the command history list is to repeat a
command exactly. For example, you might enter the command
c:\> dir b:*.wks;*.doc
to see some of the files on drive B. You might move some new
files to drive B and then want to repeat the DIR command.
Just press the Up Arrow key repeatedly to scan back through
the history list. When the DIR command appears, press Enter
to execute it again.
After you have found a command, you can edit it before
pressing Enter. You will appreciate this feature when you
have to execute a series of commands that differ only slightly
from each other.
The history list is "circular". If you move to the last
command in the list and then press the down arrow one more
time, you'll see the first command in the list. Similarly, if
you move to the first command in the list ]and then press the
up arrow one more time, you'll see the last command in the
list.
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You can have 4DOS search the command history list to find a
previous command quickly using command completion. Just enter
the first few characters of the command you want to find and
press Up Arrow. You only need to enter enough characters to
identify the command that you want to find. For example, to
find the DIR command, enter DI and then press Up Arrow. If
you press the Up Arrow key a second time, 4DOS will display
the next command that matches. 4DOS will beep if there are no
matching commands. The search process stops as soon as you
type one of the 4DOS editing keys, whether or not the line is
changed. At that point, the line you're viewing becomes the
new line to match if you press Up Arrow again.
You can specify the size of the command history list with the
History directive in 4DOS.INI (see page 125). When the list
is full, 4DOS discards the oldest commands to make room for
new ones. You can also use the HistMin directive in 4DOS.INI
to enable or disable history saves and to specify the shortest
command line that 4DOS will save (see page 129).
You can prevent 4DOS from saving a command line by beginning
it with an at-sign [@].
Command History Keys:
Up Arrow Recall the previous (or most recent)
command, or the most recent command
that matches a partial command line.
Down Arrow Recall the next (or oldest) command, or
the oldest command that matches a
partial command line.
F3 Fill in the rest of the command line
from the previous command, beginning at
the current cursor position.
Ctrl-D Delete the currently displayed history
list entry, erase the command line, and
display the previous matching history
list entry.
Ctrl-E Display the last entry in the history
list.
Ctrl-K Save the current command line in the
history list without executing it, and
then clear the command line
@ As the first character in a line: Do
not save the current line in the
history list when it is executed, and
do not store it in the CMDLINE
environment variable..
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Use F3 when your new command is different from your old one by
just a character or two at the beginning. For example,
suppose you want to execute a DIR on several file names then
use DEL to delete those same files. After the DIR is complete
type DEL and press F3; the rest of the command line will be
completed for you. Check that it's correct, and then press
Enter to delete the files. F3 also retrieves the entire
previous command (like up-arrow) if nothing has been typed on
the line.
Use Ctrl-E to "get your bearings" by returning to the end of
the list if you've scrolled around so much that you aren't
sure where you are any more.
Use Ctrl-K to save some work when you've typed a long command
and then realize that you weren't quite ready. For example,
if you forget to change directories and notice it after a
command is typed or mostly typed, but before you press Enter,
just press Ctrl-K to save the command without executing it.
Use the CD or CDD command to change to the right directory,
press up-arrow twice to retrieve the command you saved, make
any final changes to it, and press Enter to execute it.
Command History Window
You can also view the command history in a scrollable history
window, and select the command to modify or re-execute from
those displayed in the window. To activate the history window
press PgUp or PgDn at the command line. 4DOS will display a
window in the upper right corner of the screen, with the
command you most recently executed marked with a highlight.
(If you just finished re-executing a command from the history,
then the next command in sequence will be highlighted.)
You can scroll the history window up and down one line at a
time with Up Arrow and Down Arrow, and one page (screen) at a
time with PgUp and PgDn. The display is not circular as it is
at the prompt, it has fixed beginning and end points. Home or
Ctrl-PgUp will go to the beginning of the history, and End or
Ctrl-PgDn will go to the end. The Ctrl-D (delete from
history) key works within the history as it does at the
command line.
Once you have selected a command in the history window, press
Enter to execute it immediately, or Ctrl-Enter to move the
line to the prompt for editing (you can not edit the line
directly in the history window).
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You can bring up a "filtered" history window by typing some
characters on the command line, then pressing PgUp or PgDn.
Only those commands matching the typed characters will be
displayed in the window.
You can control the position and size of the history window
with directives in 4DOS.INI (see page 129). You can also
change the keys used in the window with key mapping directives
in 4DOS.INI (see page 134).
Command History Window:
PgUp or PgDn (from the command line) Open the
command history window.
Up Arrow Scroll the display up one line.
Down Arrow Scroll the display down one line.
PgUp (inside the window) Scroll the display
up one page.
PgDn (inside the window) Scroll the display
down one page.
Ctrl-PgUp or HomeGo to the beginning of the history
list.
Ctrl-PgDn or End Go to the end of the history list.
Ctrl-D Delete the selected line from the
history list.
Enter Execute the selected line.
Any other key Move the selected line to the command
line for editing, then perform the
key's normal action.
Filename Completion
4DOS's filename completion can help you by filling in a
complete file name on the command line when you only remember
part of the name. For example, suppose you want to copy a
file. You know that its name begins AU but you can't remember
the rest of the name. Type
c:\> copy au
and then press the Tab key or F9 key. 4DOS will search the
current directory for filenames that begin AU and insert the
first one onto the command line in place of the AU that you
typed.
If 4DOS found the file that you want, simply complete the
command. If it didn't find the file that you were looking
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for, press Tab again to substitute the next filename that
begins with AU. When there are no more filenames that match
your pattern, 4DOS will beep each time you press Tab or F9.
If you go past the filename that you want, press Shift-Tab or
F8 to back up and 4DOS will return to the previous matching
filename. After you back up to the first filename, 4DOS will
beep each time you press Shift-Tab.
If you want to enter more than one matching filename on the
same command line, press F10 when each desired name appears.
4DOS will keep that name and place the next matching filename
after it on the command line. You can then use Tab (or F8)
and Shift-Tab (or F9) to move through the remaining matching
files.
The pattern you use for matching may contain any valid
filename characters, as well as wildcard characters and 4DOS's
extended wildcards (see page 71). For example, you can copy
the first matching .TXT file by typing
c:\> copy *.txt
and then pressing Tab.
If you don't specify part of a filename before pressing Tab,
4DOS will use *.* as the matching pattern. If you type a
filename without an extension, 4DOS will add *.* to the name.
It will also place a "*" after a partial extension. If you
are typing a group of file names in an include list (see page
74), 4DOS will use the part of the include list at the cursor
as the pattern to match.
When filename completion is used at the start of the command
line, 4DOS will only try to match directories, executable
files (.COM, .EXE, .BTM, and .BAT), and files with executable
extensions, since these are the only file names that it makes
sense to use at the start of a command. If a directory is
found a "\" will be appended to enable an automatic directory
change (see below).
If you would rather select files from a list of matching file
names, see the SELECT command on page 286.
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Filename Completion Keys:
F8 or Shift-Tab Get the previous matching filename.
F9 or Tab Get the next matching filename.
F10 Keep the current matching filename and
display the next matching name
immediately after the current one.
Multiple Commands
At times, you probably know the next two or three commands
that you want 4DOS to execute. Instead of waiting for each
one to finish before you type the next, you can type them all
on the same command line, separated by a caret [^]. For
example, if you know you want to copy all of your .TXT files
to drive A: and then run CHKDSK to be sure that drive A's file
structure is in good shape, you can type the following command
line:
c:\> copy *.txt a: ^ chkdsk a:
If you don't like using the caret as the command separator,
you can pick another character using the SETDOS command (see
page 294) or the CommandSep directive in 4DOS.INI (see page
128).
You may put as many commands on the command line as you wish,
as long as the total length of the command line does not
exceed 255 characters.
You can use multiple commands in batch files (see page 98) and
alias definitions (see page 96) as well as from the command
line.
Automatic Directory Changes
4DOS's automatic directory change feature gives you a quick
method for changing directories. You can use an automatic
directory change in place of the CD or CDD command. To do so,
simply type the name of the directory you want to change to at
the prompt, with a backslash [\] at the end, and 4DOS will
switch to that directory. For example:
c:\> 4dos\
c:\4dos>
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This feature can make directory changes very simple when it's
combined with the CDPATH environment variable (see page 116).
CDPATH includes a list of directories for the CD and CDD
commands to search if the directory you name does not exist
below the current directory. Automatic directory changes use
CDPATH as well. For example, suppose CDPATH is set to
C:\;D:\;E:\, and the directory WIN exists on drive E:. You
can change to this directory with a single word on the command
line:
c:\4dos> win\
e:\win>
In executing the command shown above, 4DOS first looks for a
WIN subdirectory of the current directory, i.e. C:\4DOS\WIN.
If no such directory exists it looks for a WIN subdirectory in
every directory in the CDPATH list, and changes to the first
one it finds.
Internally, automatic directory changes use the CDD command;
the text before the backslash can be anything that could be
included after CDD on the command line, except "-". Arguments
like "...." are allowed. Automatic directory changes save the
current directory, so it can be recalled with a "CDD -" or "CD
-" command. For more information on directory changes see CD
on page 185 and CDD on page 187.
Temporarily Disabling Aliases
At times, you may want to temporarily disable an alias that
you have defined. You may have an alias that changes the
defaults of a particular command, for example, and want to run
the unmodified version of the command. To do so, precede the
command name with an asterisk [*]. For example, if you have
an alias for DIR which displays directories in 2-column paged
mode by default, you can use the following command to display
a directory in the normal single-column, non-paged mode:
c:\> *dir
Command Line Help
4DOS includes a complete help program (called 4HELP.EXE). The
help system includes complete help for all 4DOS internal
commands, all standard DOS external commands, and many 4DOS
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features. It is indexed and fully cross-referenced, so you
can move easily among related commands.
You can start the 4DOS help system to get help for any 4DOS or
DOS command in several different ways.
If you type HELP at the 4DOS prompt, a list of all help topics
will be displayed. Move the cursor bar to the topic you want
using a mouse or the arrow keys, and press Enter to see help
on that topic.
If you type HELP followed by a topic on the command line, 4DOS
will skip the opening help screen and go directly to that
topic. For example, if you need help with the COPY command,
you can type:
help copy
If you press F1 at the 4DOS prompt, 4DOS will display the list
of all help topics just as if you had entered the HELP
command. If you have already typed part or all of a command
on the line, 4DOS will provide "context-sensitive" help by
using the first word on the line as a help topic. If it's a
valid topic, you will see help for that topic automatically;
if not, you will see the list of all help topics and you can
pick the topic you want. For example, if you press F1 after
entering each of the command lines shown below you will get
the display indicated:
c:\> List of help topics
c:\> copy *.* a: Help on COPY
c:\> c:\util\map List of help topics
If you type the name of any 4DOS internal command at the 4DOS
prompt, followed by a slash and a question mark [/?] like
this:
copy /?
then 4DOS will display help for the command in a "quick-
reference" style. Output from a /? display may be redirected
with > or >>. The /? option may not work correctly if you
havve redefined how the command operates with an alias. In
this case you may need to add an asterisk to the beginning of
the command to prevent 4DOS from processing the alias:
alias copy copy /r
*copy /?
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/? will only access the 4DOS help system when you use it with
a 4DOS internal command. If you use it with an external
command name, the external command will be executed and will
interpret the /? parameter according to its own rules. Some
external commands, including MS-DOS 5.0 external utility
programs, do display help when run with a /? parameter, but
this a characteristic of these commands and does not depend on
4DOS. Many other external commands do not have this feature.
Once you've started the 4DOS help system with HELP or F1, you
can use a standard set of keystrokes to navigate. The table
below gives a brief summary of keys you can use in the help
topic list, and in a help text screen; for details see the
topic -HELP- in the help system itself. For details on mouse
usage, see the topic -MOUSE- in the help system.
Help topic list keys:
Arrow Keys Move the highlight to a different
topic.
Enter Display help on the highlighted topic.
Esc Return to 4DOS.
Any other key Attempt to match the characters typed
with one of the names in the topic
list.
Help text screen keys:
Up Arrow Scroll up one line in the display.
Down Arrow Scroll down one line in the display.
PgUp Scroll up one page in the display.
PgDn Scroll down one page in the display.
Left Arrow Move the cross-reference highlight to
the previous item.
Right Arrow Move the cross-reference highlight to
the next item.
Enter Switch to the topic shown by the
highlighted cross-reference item.
Esc Return to the topic list, or back to
4DOS if this topic was displayed
directly without using the topic list.
F1 Go to the topic list in order to select
a new topic.
Alt-N
or Ctrl-Right View the next topic in the topic list.
Alt-P
or Ctrl-Left View the previous topic in the topic
list.
Alt-F1 View the previously displayed topic.
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Alt-X Return directly to 4DOS without
restoring the original screen contents.
Ctrl-P Print the text for the current topic on
LPT1.
The help system normally restores the screen when exiting.
Use Alt-X to leave a page of help text on the screen so you
can refer to it. You can use Ctrl-P to print the topic you
are viewing. Your printer must be turned on and ready before
pressing Ctrl-P.
Input and Output
4DOS commands and many programs get their input from the
computer's standard input device and send their output to the
standard output device. Some programs also send special
messages to the standard error device. Normally, the keyboard
is used for standard input and the video screen for both
standard output and standard error. But you can temporarily
change these devices for special tasks.
For example, suppose you want a printed list of the files in a
directory. If you change the standard output to the printer
and issue a DIR command, the task is easy. DIR prints to
standard output, and you have redirected standard output to
the printer, so the DIR command prints filenames instead of
displaying them on the screen. You can just as easily send
the output of DIR (or any other command) to a file or a serial
port.
4DOS has three methods of manipulating input and output:
Redirection, Piping, and the Keystack. All three are
explained in this section.
Redirection and piping affect the standard input, standard
output, and standard error devices. They do not work with
application programs which read the keyboard hardware
directly, or which write directly to the screen.
Redirection
Redirection replaces standard input, standard output, and
standard error with another device like the printer or serial
port, or with a file. The redirection lasts for one command
and then everything returns to normal. You have to use some
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discretion when you use redirection with a device; there is
no way to get input from the printer, for example.
In the descriptions below, filename means either the name of a
file or of an appropriate device (PRN, LPT1, LPT2, or LPT3 for
printers; COM1 to COM4 for serial ports; CON for the keyboard
and screen; etc.).
To use redirection, place the redirection symbol and filename
at the end of the command line, after the command name and any
parameters. For example, to redirect the output of the DIR
command to a file called DIRLIST, you could use a command line
like this:
c:\> dir /b1 *.dat > dirlist
You can use both input and output redirection for the same
command, if both are appropriate:
c:\> sort < dirlist > dirlist.srt
Here are the redirection options supported by 4DOS:
To get input from a file or device instead of from the
keyboard:
< filename
To redirect standard output to a file or device:
> filename
To redirect standard output and standard error to a file
or device:
>& filename
To redirect standard error only to a file or device:
>&> filename
If you want to append output to the end of a file, replace the
first ">" in the last three commands above with ">>" (use >>,
>>&, and >>&>).
## When output is directed to a file with >, >&, or >&>, if the
file already exists, it will be overwritten. You can protect
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existing files by using the SETDOS /N1 command (see page 294)
or the NoClobber directive in 4DOS.INI (see page 130).
## When output is appended to a file with >>, >>&, or >>&>, the
file will be created if it doesn't already exist. Setting
NoClobber will also prevent the creation of a new file. You
can temporarily override the current setting of NoClobber by
using an exclamation mark [!] after the redirection symbol.
For example, to redirect the output of DIR to the file DIROUT,
and allow overwriting of any existing file despite the
NoClobber setting:
c:\> dir >! dirout
## 4DOS redirection is fully nestable. For example, you can
invoke a batch file and redirect all of its output to a file
or device. Output redirection on a command within the batch
file will take effect for that command only; when the command
is completed, output will revert to the redirected output file
or device in use for the batch file as a whole.
## For another method of changing the standard input and output
devices see CTTY on page 198.
Piping
You can also create a "pipe," which means sending the standard
output of one command to the standard input of another
command. To send the standard output of command1 to the
standard input of command2:
command1 | command2
To send the standard output and standard error of command1 to
the standard input of command2:
command1 |& command2
For example, to take the output of the SET command (which
displays a list of your environment variables and their
values) and pipe it to the DOS SORT utility to generate a
sorted list, you would use the command:
c:\> set | sort
To do the same thing and then pipe the sorted list to 4DOS's
LIST command for full-screen viewing (see page 255):
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c:\> set | sort | list /s
## 4DOS creates one or two temporary files to hold the output of
pipes. The files are named P1.$00 and P2.$00. By default,
these files are stored in the root directory of the boot
drive, but you can override this with either the TEMP4DOS or
TEMP environment variable (see page 115). The last character
of the extension will change with the shell nesting level (0
for the primary shell, 1 for the first secondary shell, and so
on).
## The 4DOS commands TEE and Y (see pages 301 and 314) are "pipe
fittings" which add more flexibility to pipes.
Keystack
The 4DOS Keystack overcomes two weaknesses of input
redirection: many programs ignore standard input and read the
keyboard directly, and input redirection doesn't end until the
program or command terminates. You can't, for example, use
redirection to send the opening commands to a program and then
type the rest of the commands yourself. But the Keystack lets
you do exactly that.
The 4DOS Keystack, which is often used in batch files and
aliases, sends keystrokes to an application program. Once the
Keystack is empty, the program will receive the rest of its
input from the keyboard. The Keystack is useful when you want
a program to take certain actions automatically when it
starts.
The Keystack is invoked with the KEYSTACK command (see page
250). It depends on a small resident program called
KSTACK.COM, which must be installed in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file
(see page 114). If you don't have KSTACK.COM installed, the
KEYSTACK command will display an error message. If you are
using a multitasking system such as DESQView or Windows, see
page 151 for information on loading KSTACK within a window.
To place the letters, digits, and punctuation marks you would
normally type for your program into the keystack, enclose them
in double quotes:
c:\> keystack "myfile"
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Many other keys can be entered into the Keystack using their
names. This example puts the F1 key followed by the Enter key
in the keystack:
c:\> keystack F1 Enter
See the KEYSTACK command for details on how key names are
entered and on using numeric key values along with or instead
of key names.
Some programs may require a delay between keystrokes. You can
insert a delay with the /W option, followed by a delay time in
1/18-seconds. To add a 1-second delay between the keystrokes
in the previous example:
c:\> keystack F1 /W18 Enter
Some programs clear all keystrokes from the keyboard buffer
and then accept input. Place a 0 (zero) in the keystack to
tell such programs that the keyboard buffer is empty. This
example reports an empty keyboard buffer and then types
myfile:
c:\> keystack 0 "myfile"
Some programs require both the ASCII code and the key's scan
code. To put both together in the Keystack, multiply the scan
code by 256, add the ASCII code, and use the resulting
numeric value as an argument to KEYSTACK. For example, the
Enter key has a scan code of 28 and an ASCII code of 13. The
combined code is (28 * 256) + 13 = 7181. To put the combined
code for the Enter key on the keystack:
c:\> keystack 7181
If a program has different uses for the similar keys on the
regular keyboard and the numeric keypad, it will need combined
codes.
The following command creates an alias (see page 169) that
will run a dBASE report called TIMEREP (it should be entered
on one line):
c:\> alias drpt `keystack "use times index times" Enter
"report form timerep to print" Enter "quit" Enter
^ dbase`
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This command creates an alias called DRPT which puts the
following characters on the keystack:
the characters "use times index times"
the Enter key's code
the characters "report form timerep to print"
the Enter key's code
the characters "quit"
and one more Enter key
The alias then runs the program dBASE which receives those
characters just as if you had typed them.
You may have to experiment with some programs to find the
proper sequence of keystrokes. Programs which bypass both DOS
and the computer's BIOS, and read keystrokes directly from the
keyboard hardware, will not accept input from the 4DOS
Keystack. Few programs fit into this category except memory-
resident utilities.
When you use the Keystack, remember that you must put the
keystrokes into the Keystack before you run the program that
will receive them. The Keystack will hold the keystrokes
until a program asks for them.
See Appendix B on page 325 for a complete list of ASCII,
extended key, and scan codes, and KEYSTACK on page 250 for
more information.
File Processing
Most 4DOS commands (like COPY, DIR, etc.) and many external
commands work on a file or a group of files. Besides typing
the exact name of the file you want to work with, you can use
4DOS's shorthand forms of naming files: Extended Parent
Directory Names, Wildcards, Multiple Filenames, Include Lists,
and Executable Extensions. These four features are explained
in this section.
These features apply to 4DOS commands only, and generally can
not be used to pass file names to external programs. For
example, 4DOS can understand the file name ...\FILE.DAT when
it is used in an internal 4DOS command like COPY or MOVE.
However your editor probably was not designed to support this
extension to traditional DOS directory names, and is likely to
give an error message if you try to pass it such a name.
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Remember throughout this section that a filename is a base
name of 1 to 8 characters, optionally followed by an extension
which is a period [.] and 1 to 3 more characters.
Extended Parent Directory Names
4DOS allows you to extend the traditional DOS ".." syntax for
naming the parent directory, by adding additional [.]
characters. Each additional [.] represents an additional
directory level above the current directory. For example, to
copy the file LETTERS.DAT from the directory C:\DATA to drive
A:, while you are in a directory further down in the directory
tree:
C:\DATA\FINANCE\JANUARY>copy ...\LETTERS.DAT A:
Wildcards
Wildcards let you specify a file or group of files by typing a
partial filename. 4DOS scans the appropriate directory to
find all of the files that match the partial name you have
specified.
Most 4DOS commands accept filenames with wildcards anywhere
that a full filename can be used. 4DOS recognizes 2 wildcard
characters, the asterisk [*] and the question mark [?], plus a
special method of specifying a range of permissible
characters.
An asterisk [*] in a filename means "any zero or more
characters in this position." For example, this command will
display a list of all files in the current directory,
regardless of the length of each file's name:
c:\> dir *.*
If you want to see all of the files with a .TXT extension, you
could type this:
c:\> dir *.txt
If you know that the file you are looking for has a base name
that begins with ST and an extension that begins with .D, you
can find it this way. Filenames such as STATE.DAT,
STEVEN.DOC, and ST.D will all be displayed:
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c:\> dir st*.d*
With 4DOS, you can also use the asterisk to match filenames
with specific letters somewhere inside the name. The
following example will display any file with a .TXT extension
that has the letters AM together anywhere inside its base
name. It will, for example, display AMPLE.TXT, STAMP.TXT,
CLAM.TXT, and AM.TXT:
c:\> dir *am*.txt
A question mark [?] matches any single filename character.
Also, DOS automatically extends all base names to 8 characters
and all extensions to 3 characters by adding blanks at the end
of the names, if necessary. The question mark wildcard will
match one of these blanks as well as a normal character. For
example, if you have files called LETTER.DOC, LETTER1.DOC, and
LETTERA.DOC, this command will display all three names:
c:\> dir letter?.doc
You can put the question mark anywhere in a filename and use
as many question marks as you need. The following example
will display files with names like LETTER.DOC and LATTER.DAT,
and LITTER.DU:
c:\> dir l?tter.d??
The use of an asterisk wildcard before other characters, and
of the character ranges discussed below, is unique to 4DOS.
These wildcards work only with 4DOS internal commands, not
with external programs that accept file names and wildcards,
unless such programs have been written especially to parallel
4DOS's features.
## In some cases, the question mark wildcard may be too general.
You can also tell 4DOS what characters you want to accept (or
exclude) in a particular position in the filename by using
square brackets. Inside the brackets, you can put the
individual acceptable characters or ranges of characters. For
example, if you wanted to match LETTER0.DOC through
LETTER9.DOC, you could use this command:
c:\> dir letter[0-9].doc
You could find all files that have a vowel as the second
letter in their name this way. This example also demonstrates
how to mix the wildcard characters:
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c:\> dir ?[aeiouy]*.*
You can exclude a group of characters or a range of characters
by using an exclamation mark [!] as the first character inside
the brackets. This example displays all filenames that are at
least 2 characters long except those which have a vowel as the
second letter in their names:
c:\> dir ?[!aeiouy]*.*
The next example, which selects files such as AIP, BIP, and
TIP but not NIP, demonstrates how you can use multiple ranges
inside the brackets. It will accept a file that begins with
an A, B, C, D, T, U, or V:
c:\> dir [a-dt-v]ip
## You may use a question mark character inside the brackets, but
its meaning is slightly different than a normal (unbracketted)
question mark wildcard. A normal question mark wildcard
matches any character or an implied blank at the end of a name
or extension. 4DOS will match a question mark inside brackets
with any character but not with an implied blank. For
example,
c:\> dir letter[?].doc
will display LETTER1.DOC and LETTERA.DOC, but not LETTER.DOC.
## You can repeat any of the wildcard characters in any
combination you desire within a single file name. For
example, the following command lists all files which have an
A, B, or C as the third character, followed by zero or more
additional characters, followed by a D, E, or F, followed
optionally by some additional characters, and with an
extension beginning with P or Q. You probably won't need to
do anything this complex, but we've included it to show you
the flexibility of 4DOS wildcards:
c:\> dir ??[abc]*[def]*.[pq]*
Multiple Filenames
Most 4DOS file processing commands can work with multiple
files at one time. To use multiple file names, you simply
list the files one after another on the command line,
separated by spaces. You can use wildcards in any or all of
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the filenames. For example, to copy all .TXT and .DOC files
from the current directory to drive A, you could use this
command:
c:\> copy *.txt *.doc a:
If the files you want to work with are not in the default
directory, you must include the full path with each filename:
c:\> copy a:\details\file1.txt a:\details\file1.doc c:
! Multiple filenames are handy when you want to match a group of
files which cannot be defined with a single filename and
wildcards. They let you be very specific about which files
you want to work with in a command. When you use multiple
filenames with a command that expects both a source and a
destination, like COPY or MOVE, be sure that you always
include a specific destination on the command line. If you
don't, the command will assume that the last filename is the
destination and may overwrite important files.
Like extended wildcards and include lists (see below), the
4DOS multiple filename feature will work with internal 4DOS
commands but not with external programs unless those programs
have been written to handle multiple file names on the command
line.
If you have a list of files to process that's too long to put
on the command line or too time-consuming to type, see the
SELECT command on page 286 for another way of passing multiple
file names to a command.
Include Lists
Any 4DOS command that accepts multiple filenames can also
accept one or more include lists. An include list is simply a
group of filenames, with or without wildcards, separated by
semi-colons [;]. All files in the include list must be in the
same directory. You may not add a space on either side of the
semi-colon.
If you used an include list instead of multiple file names for
the previous examples, they would look like this:
c:\> copy *.txt;*.doc a:
c:\> copy a:\details\*.txt;*.doc c:
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Include lists are similar to multiple filenames, but have
three important differences. First, you don't have to repeat
the path to your files if you use an include list, because all
of the included files must be in the same directory. Second,
if you use include lists, you aren't as likely to accidentally
overwrite files if you forget a destination path for commands
like COPY, because the last name in the list will be part of
the include list, and won't be seen as the destination file
name. Include lists can only be used as the source parameter
(the location files are coming from) for COPY and other
similar commands. They cannot be used to specify a
destination for files.
Third, multiple filenames and include lists are processed
differently by the 4DOS DIR and SELECT commands. If you use
multiple filenames, all of the files matching the first
filename are processed, then all of the files matching the
second name, and so on. When you use an include list, all
files that match any entry in the include list are processed
together, and will appear together in the directory display or
SELECT list. You can see this difference most clearly if you
experiment with both techniques and the DIR command. For
example,
c:\> dir *.txt *.doc
will list all the .TXT files with a directory header, the file
list, and a summary of the total number of files and bytes
used. Then it will do the same for the .DOC files. However,
c:\> dir *.txt;*.doc
will display all the files in one list.
Like extended wildcards and multiple filenames (see above),
the 4DOS include list feature will work with internal 4DOS
commands but not with external programs unless they have been
programmed especially to parallel 4DOS's features.
Executable Extensions
Normally, when you type a filename (as opposed to an alias or
internal command name) as the first word on the command line,
4DOS looks for a .COM, .EXE, .BTM, or .BAT file with that name
to execute (.COM and .EXE files are executable programs; .BTM
and .BAT files are batch files). You can add to this list of
extensions and have 4DOS take the actions you want with files
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that have other extensions as well. You could have 4DOS start
your text editor whenever you type the name of a .DOC file, or
start your database manager whenever you type the name of a
.DAT file.
4DOS uses environment variables to define what program or
batch file to run for each defined file extension. To create
an executable extension, you use the SET command to create a
new environment variable.
For example, if you want to run a word processor called EDITOR
whenever you type the name of a file that has an extension of
.EDT, you could use this command:
c:\> set .edt=c:\edit\editor.exe
The syntax for creating an executable extension is
set .ext=d:\path\program [options]
where .EXT is the executable file extension, D:\PATH\PROGRAM
is the full name of the program or batch file to run, and
[options] are any command-line startup options you want to
specify for the program. The pathname is optional if the
program is in a directory on your PATH. The program to run
must be a .COM, .EXE, .BTM, or .BAT file or an internal
command. It cannot be an alias.
## Extended wildcards (e.g. "DO[CT]" for .DOC and .DOT files) can
be used in executable extensions.
The following example defines BASICA.COM as the processor for
.BAS files:
c:\> set .bas=c:\dos\basica.com
With this definition, if you have a file named PUSHCART.BAS in
the current directory and enter the command:
c:\> pushcart
4DOS will execute the command:
c:\dos\basica.com pushcart
The next example defines B.EXE (the Brief text editor) as the
processor for .C files:
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c:\> set .c=c:\brief\b.exe -Mxyz
Now, if you have a file called HELLO.C and enter the command
c:\> hello -i30
4DOS will expand the command line and execute this command:
c:\brief\b.exe -Mxyz hello.c -i30
Notice that 4DOS inserts the value of the environment variable
at the beginning of the line, including any options, then
appends the original file name plus its extension, and then
the remainder of the original command line.
If the program you want to run doesn't accept a file name on
its command line as shown in these examples, then executable
extensions won't work with that program.
## 4DOS searches for executable commands in the following order:
.COM, .EXE, .BTM, .BAT, and executable extensions in the order
they appear in the environment. It first searches the current
directory, and then each subdirectory specified by the PATH
environment variable (if a "." is used in the PATH the current
directory is not searched first; see the PATH command on page
267 for details). 4DOS recognizes environment variables as
executable extensions if they begin with a period followed by
1 to 3 valid filename characters.
You may need to take this search order into account when using
executable extensions. Using the .BAS example above, if you
had a file FORMAT.BAS in the current directory and entered the
command FORMAT A:, 4DOS would run the BASIC interpreter
specified by the executable extension, instead of finding the
standard DOS FORMAT command as you intended. You can get
around this by remembering that the DOS FORMAT command is in
the file FORMAT.COM. If you entered the command FORMAT.COM A:
then 4DOS would not find a match for the executable extension,
and would continue the usual search sequence until it found
the FORMAT command.
## Executable extensions may include wildcards, so you could, for
example, have 4DOS run your text editor for any file with an
extension beginning with T by defining an executable extension
called .T*.
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The Environment
The environment is a collection of information about your
computer that every program receives. You can view the
environment by typing SET, and modify it with the ESET, SET,
and UNSET commands (see pages 219, 291, and 309).
Each entry in the environment consists of a variable name
(usually in upper case) followed by an equal sign and a string
of text. Some variables are of general use to many programs;
some are used only by one program or group of programs. The
content and form of the text string following the equal sign
is defined by the program that uses each particular
environment variable. The text strings can be used from the
4DOS command line, by application programs, and within aliases
and batch files.
The text string can include any characters except nulls (ASCII
0). The maximum length for the variable name, equal sign, and
text string is 255 characters.
4DOS can automatically substitute the text for the variable
name in a command. To create the substitution, include a
percent sign [%] and a variable name on the command line or in
an alias or batch file. For example, if you create a variable
named BACKUP like this:
c:\> set BACKUP=*.bak;*.bk!;*.bk
and then type
c:\> del %BACKUP
4DOS will execute the following command:
del *.bak;*.bk!;*.bk
## The variable names you use this way may contain any alphabetic
or numeric characters, the underscore character [_], and the
dollar sign [$]. You can force 4DOS to accept other
characters by including the full variable name in square
brackets, like this: %[AB##2]. You can also "nest"
environment variables using square brackets. For example
%[%var1] means "the contents of the variable whose name is
stored in VAR1".
## If you want to pass a percent sign, or a string beginning with
a percent sign, to a command you must use two percent signs in
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a row. Otherwise 4DOS will see your single percent sign as
the beginning of a variable name, and will not pass it on to
the command. For example, to display the string "We're with
you 100%", you would use the command:
echo We're with you 100%%
## Environment variables may be used to contain alias names.
Normally 4DOS expands aliases before environment variables.
However if you use an environment variable name (with a
leading percent sign) as the first word in a command line,
4DOS will substitute the variable value for the name, then
check for any alias name which may have been included within
the variable's value. For example, the following commands
would generate a 2-column directory of the .TXT files:
c:\> alias d2 dir /2
c:\> set cmd=d2
c:\> %cmd *.txt
## The trailing percent sign that was traditionally required for
environment variable names is not usually required in 4DOS,
which accepts any character that cannot be part of a variable
name as the terminator. However the trailing percent can be
used to maintain compatibility.
The trailing percent sign is needed if you want to concatenate
two variable values. The following examples show the possible
interactions between variables and literal strings. First,
create two environment variables called ONE and TWO this way:
c:\> set ONE=abcd
c:\> set TWO=efgh
Now the following combinations produce the output text shown:
%ONE%TWO abcdTWO ("%ONE%" + "TWO")
%ONE%TWO% abcdTWO ("%ONE%" + "TWO%")
%ONE%%TWO abcdefgh ("%ONE%" + "%TWO")
%ONE%%TWO% abcdefgh ("%ONE%" + "%TWO%")
%ONE%[TWO] abcd[TWO] ("%ONE%" + "[TWO]")
%ONE%[TWO]% abcd[TWO] ("%ONE%" + "[TWO]%")
%[ONE]%TWO abcdefgh ("%[ONE]" + "%TWO")
%[ONE]%TWO% abcdefgh ("%[ONE]" + "%TWO%")
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4DOS Configuration Variables
The following environment variables have special meanings in
4DOS. Chapter 6 / Options and Fine Tuning (see page 115)
explains the details of how to set and use each of them,
except COLORDIR which is explained under the DIR and SELECT
commands on pages 204 and 286. You can see the current value
of each variable, if it exists, with the SET command.
CDPATH tells 4DOS where to search for directories
specified by the CD and CDD commands and in automatic
directory changes. _CDPATH can be used as an alternative
to CDPATH if you are using Microsoft Bookshelf, which
uses a CDPATH variable for its own purposes.
CMDLINE is the fully expanded text (up to 255 characters
long) of the currently executing 4DOS command line. 4DOS
sets CMDLINE just before it invokes any .COM, .EXE, .BTM,
or .BAT file. If a command line is prefaced with an "@"
to prevent echoing (see page 57), 4DOS also will not
attempt to put it in CMDLINE. This allows you to squeeze
out the last few bytes of environment space before
loading TSRs by putting a "SET CMDLINE=" before you load
each one, and an "@" prefacing each TSR command.
COLORDIR controls directory display colors used by DIR
and SELECT.
COMSPEC contains the full path and name of 4DOS itself.
COMSPEC is often used by applications which have a "shell
to DOS" feature.
PATH is a list of directories that 4DOS will search for
executable files that aren't in the current directory.
PATH may also be used by some application programs to
find their own files.
PROMPT defines the 4DOS command line prompt.
TEMP specifies the directory where 4DOS should store
temporary pipe files if the TEMP4DOS variable doesn't
exist. Some other programs also use TEMP to define where
they should place their temporary files.
TEMP4DOS specifies where 4DOS should store temporary pipe
files.
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## 4DOS Internal Variables
The following variables are not actually stored in the
environment, but can be used in commands, aliases, and batch
files just like any other environment variable. The values of
these variables are stored internally in 4DOS and cannot be
changed with the SET, UNSET, or ESET command. However, you
can override any of these variables by defining a new variable
with the same name, which will be stored in the environment.
These internal variables are often used in 4DOS batch files
and aliases to examine system resources and adjust to the
current computer settings. You can examine the contents of
any internal variable from the command line with a command
like this:
c:\> echo %variablename
In the list below, the possible values for most variables are
shown in double quotes for ease of understanding. The actual
values returned by the variables do not include the double
quotes.
? contains the exit code of the last external command. Many
programs return a 0 to indicate success and a non-zero value
to signal an error. However, not all programs return an exit
code. If no exit code is returned, the value of %? is
undefined.
_? contains the exit code of the last internal 4DOS command.
It is set to 0 if the command was successful, non-zero if not.
You must use or save this value immediately, because it is set
by every internal command.
_4VER is the current 4DOS version (for example, "4.0").
_ALIAS contains the free space in the alias list, in bytes.
_ANSI contains "1" if 4DOS's internal flags indicate that
ANSI.SYS or a compatible driver is installed; "0" if not. The
internal flags which determine the value of _ANSI depend on
the SETDOS /A option (see page 294) and the ANSI directive in
4DOS.INI (see page 127), as shown in the table below. If
SETDOS /A is 0 or ANSI is set to Auto, 4DOS tests for the
presence of an ANSI driver. Because there is no standard and
100% reliable way to detect an ANSI driver, you may need to
experiment to see if this variable works properly with your
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particular driver when 4DOS is allowed to test for its
presence.
ANSI
SETDOS /A Directive _ANSI Value
------------ ------------ ------------
0 (default) Auto (default) Result of test
1 Yes 1
2 No 0
_BATCH is the current batch nesting level. It is "0" if no
batch file is currently being processed.
_BG is a string containing the first three characters of the
screen background color at the current cursor location (for
example, "Bla").
_BOOT is the boot drive letter, without a colon.
_CODEPAGE is the current code page number (see CHCP on page
189).
_COLUMN is the current cursor column (for example, "0" for the
left side of the screen).
_COLUMNS is the current number of screen columns (for example,
"80").
_CPU is the cpu type, returned as a string:
86 8086 and 8088 286 80286
186 80186 and 80188 386 i386
200 NEC V20 and V30 486 i486
_CWD is the current directory in the format d:\pathname.
_CWDS has the same value as CWD, except it ends the pathname
with a backslash [\].
_CWP is the current directory in the format \pathname.
_CWPS has the same value as CWP, except it ends the pathname
with a backslash [\].
_DATE contains the current system date, in the format mm-dd-yy
(U.S.), dd-mm-yy (Europe), or yy-mm-dd (Japan).
_DISK is the current disk drive, without a colon (for example,
"C").
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_DOS is the operating system type ("DOS" or "OS2"). 4DOS
always returns "DOS", and 4OS2 always returns "OS2". This is
useful if you have batch files running in both modes.
_DOSVER is the current DOS version (for example, "5.0"). In
the OS/2 DOS compatibility box the version number will be 10.2
for OS/2 1.2, 10.3 for OS/2 1.3, 20.0 for OS/2 2.0, and so on.
_DOW is the first three characters of the current day of the
week ("Mon", "Tue", "Wed", etc.).
_DV is "1" if DESQView is loaded or "0" otherwise.
_ENV is the free space in the environment, in bytes.
_FG is a string containing the first three letters of the
screen foreground color at the current cursor position (for
example, "Whi").
_LASTDISK is the last valid drive letter, without a colon.
_MONITOR is the monitor type ("mono" or "color").
_MOUSE is 1 if a Microsoft-compatible mouse driver is loaded,
and 0 otherwise.
_NDP is the coprocessor type, returned as a string:
0 no coprocessor is installed
87 8087
287 80287
387 80387 or 80486DX
_ROW is the current cursor row (for example, "0" for the top
of the screen).
_ROWS is the current number of screen rows (for example,
"25").
_SHELL is the current shell nesting level. The primary shell
is level "0", and each subsequent secondary shell increments
the level by 1.
_TIME contains the current system time in the format hh:mm:ss.
The separator character may vary depending upon your country
information (see the CHCP command on page 189).
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_TRANSIENT is 1 if the current shell is transient (started
with a /C), or 0 otherwise.
_VIDEO is the video card type ("mono", "cga", "ega", or
"vga").
_WIN is the current Microsoft Windows mode. This variable
will always be zero except when 4DOS is running under
Microsoft Windows, or under a DOS session in OS/2 2.0:
0 Windows is not running
1 Windows 2
2 Windows 3 in 386 enhanced mode
3 Windows 3 in real or standard mode
20 OS/2 2.0 DOS machine with Windows support
The _CWD, _CWDS, _CWP, _CWPS, and _DISK variables will return
their result in upper or lower case depending on the value of
the SETDOS /U switch (see page 294) or the UpperCase directive
in 4DOS.INI (see page 130). The _MONITOR and _VIDEO variables
always return lower case. The _BG, _DOW, and _FG variables
return the first letter of the result in upper case and the
rest in lower case.
You can use these variables in a wide variety of ways
depending on your needs. Here are just a few examples. Some
of these examples rely on the IF command (page 238) or the IFF
command (page 244) to test the value of a variable and perform
different actions based on that value.
In a batch file, set the color based on the video card type:
iff "%_video"=="mono" then
color bright white on black
else
color bright white on blue
endiff
Call another batch file if 4DOS is running under DESQView:
if "%_dv" == "1" call dvstart
Store the current date and time in a file, then save the
output of a DIR command in the same file:
echo Directory as of %_date %_time > dirsave
dir >> dirsave
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Set up a prompt for the primary shell which displays the time
and current directory, and a different one for secondary
shells which includes the shell level rather than the time.
Also set different background colors for the two shells,
without changing the foreground color. You might use a
sequence like this in your 4START file, which is executed each
time 4DOS starts:
iff %_shell==0 then
prompt $t $p$g
color %_fg on blue
else
prompt [$z] $p$g
color %_fg on cyan
endiff
## 4DOS Variable Functions
Variable functions are like internal variables, but they take
one or more arguments (which can be environment variables or
even other variable functions), and they return a value. Like
all environment variables, these variable functions must be
preceded by a percent sign in normal use (%@EVAL, %@LEN,
etc.). All variable functions must have square brackets
enclosing their argument(s).
The variable functions are useful in aliases and batch files
to check on available system resources, manipulate strings and
numbers, and work with filenames. Some of the variable
functions, like @DISKFREE, are shown with "b|k|m" as one of
their arguments. Those functions return a number of bytes,
kilobytes, or megabytes based upon a "b|k|m" argument:
b return the number of bytes
K return the number of kilobytes (bytes / 1,024)
k return the number of thousands of bytes (bytes /
1,000)
M return the number of megabytes (bytes / 1,048,576)
m return the number of millions of bytes (bytes /
1,000,000)
@ALIAS[name]: Returns the contents of the specified alias as
a string, or a null string if the alias doesn't exist.
@ASCII[c]: Returns the numeric value of the specified ASCII
character as a string. For example %@ASCII[A] returns 65.
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@ATTRIB[filename,attrib]: Returns a "1" if the specified file
has the matching attribute(s); otherwise returns a "0". The
attributes are:
N Normal (no attribute bits set)
R Read-only
H Hidden
S System
D Directory
A Archive
The attributes (other than N) can be combined; ATTRIB will
only return a 1 if all the attributes match.
@CHAR[n]: Returns the character corresponding to an ASCII
numeric value. For example %@CHAR[65] returns A.
@DATE[mm-dd-yy]: Returns the number of days since January 1,
1980 for the specified date. DATE uses the date format
mandated by your country code (dd-mm-yy in Europe; yy-mm-dd
in Japan).
@DESCRIPT[filename]: Returns the file description for the
specified filename (see the DESCRIBE command on page 203).
@DEVICE[name]: Returns 1 if the specified name is a character
device (such as a printer or serial port), or 0 if not.
@DISKFREE[d:,b|k|m]: Returns the amount of free disk space on
the specified drive.
@DISKTOTAL[d:,b|k|m]: Returns the total disk space on the
specified drive.
@DISKUSED[d:,b|k|m]: Returns the amount of disk space in use
by files and directories on the specified drive.
@DOSMEM[b|k|m]: Returns the amount of free base memory.
@EMS[b|k|m]: Returns the amount of free EMS memory.
@EVAL[expression]: Evaluates an arithmetic expression. @EVAL
supports addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (*),
division (/), and modulo (%%). The expression can contain
environment variables and other variable functions. @EVAL
also supports parentheses, commas, and decimal places.
Parentheses can be nested. The maximum number size is 16
digits to the left of the decimal point and 8 digits to the
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right of the decimal point. @EVAL will strip leading and
trailing zeros from the result. When evaluating expressions,
*, /, and %% take precedence over + and -. For example, 3 + 4
* 2 will be interpreted as 3 + 8 = 11, not as (3 + 4) * 2 =
14. To change this order of evaluation, use parentheses to
specify the order you want.
@EXEC[command]: Execute the command. The command can be a
4DOS alias, internal command, external command, .BTM file, or
.BAT file. This function is a "back-door" entry into 4DOS
command processing and should be used with extreme caution.
Incorrect or recursive use of @EXEC may cause stack overflows
or hang your system. @EXEC is primarily intended for running
a program from within the PROMPT, where it should also be used
with caution.
@EXT[filename]: Returns the extension from a file name,
without a leading period.
@EXTENDED[b|k|m]: Returns the amount of extended memory.
@FILEDATE[filename]: Returns the date a file was last
modified, in the default country format (mm-dd-yy for the US).
@FILESIZE[filename,b|k|m]: Returns the size of a file.
@FILETIME[filename]: Returns the time a file was last
modified, in hh:mm format. The separator character will vary
with the country definition in use on your system.
@FULL[filename]: Returns the fully qualified path name of a
file.
@INDEX[string1,string2]: Returns the position of string2
within string1, or "-1" if string2 is not found. The first
position in string1 is numbered 0.
@INT[n]: Returns the integer part of the number n.
@LABEL[d:]: Returns the volume label of the specified disk
drive.
@LEN[string]: Returns the length of a string.
@LINE[filename,n]: Returns line "n" from the specified file.
The first line in the file is numbered 0. "**EOF**" is
returned for all line numbers beyond the end of the file.
@LINE will retrieve input from STDIN if you specify "con" as
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the filename. If you are redirecting input to @LINE using
this feature, you must use command grouping (see page 91)
since redirection is normally performed AFTER variable
functions are processed. For example:
(echo %@line[con,0]) < myfile.dat
@LINES[filename]: Returns the line number of the last line in
the file, or -1 if the file is empty. The first line in the
file is numbered 0, so (for example) @LINES will return 0 for
a file containing one line.
@LOWER[string]: Returns the string converted to lower case.
@LPT[n]: Returns a "1" if the specified printer is ready;
otherwise, returns "0". n=1 checks the printer connected to
LPT1, n=2 checks LPT2, and n=3 checks LPT3.
@MAKEDATE[n]: Returns a date (formatted according to the
current country settings) from a number of days since 1/1/80.
This is the opposite of @DATE.
@MAKETIME[n]: Returns a time (formatted according to the
current country settings) from a number of seconds since
midnight. This is the opposite of @TIME.
@NAME[filename]: Returns the base name of a file, without the
path or extension.
@PATH[filename]: Returns the path from a file name, including
the drive letter and a trailing backslash but not including
the base name or extension.
@READSCR[row,col,length]: Returns the text displayed on the
screen at the specified location. The first row and column on
the screen are numbered 0.
@READY[d:]: Returns "1" if the specified drive is ready;
otherwise returns "0".
@REMOTE[d:]: Returns "1" if the specified drive is a remote
(network) drive; otherwise returns "0".
@REMOVABLE[d:]: Returns "1" if the specified drive is
removable (i.e., a floppy disk or removable hard disk);
otherwise returns "0".
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@SEARCH[filename]: Searches for the filename using the PATH
environment variable, appending an extension (.COM, .EXE,
.BAT, .BTM, or executable extension) if one isn't specified.
Returns the fully-expanded name of the file including drive,
path, base name, and extension, or an empty string if a
matching file is not found. If wildcards are used in the
filename, @SEARCH will search for the first file that matches
the wildcard specification, and return the drive and path for
that file plus the wildcard filename (e.g., E:\UTIL\*.COM).
@SELECT[filename,top,left,bottom,right,title]: Pops up a
selection window with the lines from the specified file.
Returns the text of the line the scrollbar is on if you press
RETURN, or an empty string if you press ESCAPE. Can be used
to design menus or other selection lists from inside a batch
file.
@SUBSTR[string,start,length]: Returns a substring, starting
at the position "start" and continuing for "length"
characters. If the length is omitted, it will default to the
remainder of the string. If the length is negative, the start
is relative to the right side of the string. The first
character in the string is numbered 0; if the length is
negative, the last character is numbered 0. For example,
%@SUBSTR[%_time,0,2] gets the current time and extracts the
hour. If the string includes commas, it must be quoted with
double quotes ["] or back-quotes [`]. The quotes do count in
calculating the position of the substring to be extracted.
@TIME[hh:mm:ss]: Returns the number of seconds since midnight
for the specified time. The time must be in 24-hour format;
"am" and "pm" cannot be used.
@TRUENAME[filename]: Returns the true, fully-expanded name
for a file. TRUENAME will see "through" a JOIN or SUBST, and
requires DOS 3.0 or above. Wildcards may not be used in the
filename.
@UNIQUE[d:\path]: Creates a zero-length file with a unique
name in the specified directory, and returns the full name and
path. If no path is specified, the file will be created in
the current directory. This function allows you to create a
temporary file without overwriting an existing file. @UNIQUE
only works in DOS 3.0 and above.
@UPPER[string]: Returns the string converted to upper case.
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@WORD[n,string]: Returns the "nth" word in a string. The
first word is numbered 0. If "n" is negative, words are
returned from the end of the string. For example:
%@WORD[2,NOW IS THE TIME] returns "THE"
%@WORD[-0,NOW IS THE TIME] returns "TIME"
%@WORD[-2,NOW IS THE TIME] returns "IS"
@XMS[b|k|m]: Returns the amount of free XMS memory.
You can use these variable functions in a wide variety of ways
depending on your needs. We've included a few examples below
to give you an idea of what's possible.
To set the prompt to show the amount of free base memory (see
the PROMPT command, page 271, for details on including
variable functions in your prompt):
c:\> prompt (%%@dosmem[K]K) $p$g
Set up a simple command line calculator. The calculator is
used with a command like CALC 3 * (4 + 5):
c:\> alias calc `echo The answer is: %@eval[%&]`
The following batch file uses variable functions to implement
"once a day" execution of a group of commands. It works by
constructing a 6-digit number "yymmdd" from today's date, and
comparing that to a number of the same type stored in the file
C:\ONCEADAY.DAT. If today's date is numerically larger than
the saved date, and the time is after 6:00 AM, then the "once
a day" commands are run, and today's date is saved in the file
as the new date for comparison. Otherwise, no action is
taken. You can make this file simpler using the %@DATE and
%@TIME functions instead of using %@SUBSTR to extract
substrings of the %_DATE and %_TIME variables; we used the
approach shown to demonstrate the use of %@SUBSTR.
rem Temporary variables used to shorten example lines:
rem DD is _date, DY is yymmdd date, TM is _time
set dd=%_date
set dy=%@substr[%dd,6,2]%@substr[%dd,0,2]%@substr[%dd,3,2]
set lastdate=0
iff exist c:\onceaday.dat then
set lastdate=%@line[onceaday.dat,0]
endiff
iff %dy gt %lastdate then
set tm=%_time
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iff "%@substr[%tm,0,2]%@substr[%tm,3,2]" gt "0600" then
rem Commands to be executed once a day go here
echo %dy > c:\onceaday.dat
endiff
endiff
## Advanced Features
The next four 4DOS features are designed for advanced users of
DOS and 4DOS. If you are a novice user, you might want to
skim over this section and return to it as your computing
skills and needs progress.
Conditional Commands
When an internal command or external program finishes, it
returns a result called the exit code. 4DOS's conditional
commands allow you to perform tasks based upon the previous
command's exit code. Most programs return a 0 if they are
successful and a non-zero value if they encounter an error.
If you separate two commands by && (AND), the second command
will be executed only if the first returns an exit code of 0.
For example, the following command will only erase files if
the BACKUP operation succeeds:
c:\> backup c:\ a: && del c:\*.bak;*.lst
If you separate two commands by || (OR), the second command
will be executed only if the first returns a non-zero exit
code. For example, if the following BACKUP operation fails,
then ECHO will display a message:
c:\> backup c:\ a: || echo Error in the backup!
All 4DOS internal commands return an explicit exit code, but
not all application programs do. Conditional commands will
behave unpredictably if you use them with programs which do
not return an explicit exit code.
Command Grouping
Command grouping allows you to logically group a set of
commands together by enclosing them in parentheses. The
parentheses are similar in function to the BEGIN and END block
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statements in some programming languages. Command grouping is
a feature of the OS/2 command processor which 4DOS makes
available to you under DOS as well.
There are two primary uses for command grouping. One is to
execute multiple commands in a place where normally only a
single command is allowed. For example, suppose you want to
copy then rename all the .WKQ files on drives A: and B: using
the FOR command. You could do it like this:
c:\> for %drv in (A B) do copy %drv:*.wkq d:\wksave\
c:\> for %drv in (A B) do ren %drv:*.wkq *.old
But with command grouping you can do the same thing in one
command (enter this on one line):
c:\> for %drv in (A B) do (copy %drv:*.wkq d:\wksave\ ^
ren %drv:*.wkq *.sav)
The COPY and REN commands enclosed in the parentheses appear
to FOR as if they were a single command, so both commands are
executed for every element of the FOR list.
This kind of command grouping is most useful with the EXCEPT,
FOR, GLOBAL, and IF commands. You can not use command
grouping to make SELECT execute several commands, because
SELECT will assume that the parentheses are marking the list
of files from which to select, and will display an error
message or give incorrect results if you try to use
parentheses for command grouping instead. (You can use a
SELECT command inside the command grouping parentheses, you
just can't use command grouping to specify a group of commands
for SELECT to execute.)
The second common use of command grouping is to redirect input
or output for several commands without repeatedly using the
redirection symbols. For example, consider the following
batch file fragment which places some header lines (including
today's date) and directory displays in an output file using
redirection. The first ECHO command creates the file using >,
and the other commands append to the file using >>:
echo Data files %_date > filelist
dir *.dat >> filelist
echo. >> filelist
echo Text files %_date > filelist
dir *.txt >> filelist
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Using command grouping, these commands can be written much
more simply (enter this on one line):
(echo Data files %_date ^ dir *.dat ^ echo. ^ echo Text
files %_date ^ dir *.txt) > filelist
The redirection, which appears outside the parentheses,
applies to all the commands within the parentheses. The same
approach can be used for input redirection and for piping.
You can also use command grouping in a batch file or at the
prompt to split commands over several lines. This last
example is like the redirection example above, but is entered
at the prompt. Note that 4DOS displays a "More? prompt after
each incomplete line. None of the commands are executed until
the command group is completed with the closing parenthesis.
This example does not have to be entered on one line:
c:\> (echo Data files %_date
More? dir *.dat
More? echo.
More? echo Text files %_date
More? dir *.txt) > filelist
c:\>
A group of commands in parentheses is like a long command
line. The total length of the group may not exceed 511
characters, whether the commands are entered from the prompt,
an alias, or a batch file. The 511-character limit includes
the space required to expand aliases and environment variables
invoked within the group.
Escape Character
4DOS recognizes a user-definable escape character. This
character gives the following character a special meaning; it
is not the same as the ASCII ESC that is often used in ANSI
sequences. The default 4DOS escape character is Ctrl-X (ASCII
24), which will be displayed on your screen as an up arrow.
(The escape character is shown below as "^X", but when
entering it you must use the single keystroke Ctrl-X or ASCII
24, not "^" followed by "X"!). You can use the SETDOS /E
command or the EscapeChar directive in 4DOS.INI to select a
different escape character if you wish.
4DOS recognizes six special characters if they are preceded by
the escape character. The combination of the escape character
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and one of these characters is translated to a single
character by 4DOS, as shown below. These are useful for
redirecting codes to the printer; ^Xe is also useful to
generate ANSI "escape sequences" in your PROMPT, ECHO, or
other output commands; and ^Xr is used in keystroke aliases:
^Xb backspace
^Xe the ASCII ESC character (ASCII 27)
^Xf form feed
^Xn line feed
^Xr carriage return
^Xt tab character
If you follow the escape character with any other character,
the escape character is removed and the second character is
copied directly to the command line. This allows you to
suppress the normal meaning of special characters (such as ? *
/ \ | " ` > < and &).
For example, to send a form feed followed by the sequence ESC
Y to the printer, you can use this command:
c:\> echos ^Xf^XeY > prn
Argument Quoting
When it begins to parse the command line, 4DOS looks for
carets [^] to break the line into individual commands, for
redirection symbols, and for white space (blanks, tabs, and
commas) to separate commands from arguments. It also looks
for percent signs [%] which designate alias or batch file
replaceable parameters (%1, %2, etc.), or environment
variables, and substitutes the appropriate value for each
variable (this process is called variable expansion).
Normally, the separation characters and the percent sign
cannot be passed to a command as part of an argument.
However, you can include any of these special characters in an
argument by enclosing the entire argument in back quotes [`]
or double quotes ["]. Although both back quotes and double
quotes will let you build arguments that include special
characters, they do not work the same way.
No alias or variable expansion will be performed on an
argument enclosed in back quotes. Redirection symbols inside
the back quotes will be ignored. The back quotes will be
removed from the command line before the command is executed.
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No alias expansion will be performed on expressions enclosed
in double quotes. Redirection symbols inside double quotes
will be ignored. However, variable expansion will be
performed on expressions inside double quotes. The double
quotes themselves will be passed through to the command as
part of the argument.
For example, suppose the batch file QUOTES.BAT contains the
following commands:
@echo off
echo Arg1 = %1
echo Arg2 = %2
echo Arg3 = %3
and that the environment variable FORVAR has been defined with
this command:
c:\> set FORVAR=for
Now, if you enter the command
c:\> quotes `Now is the time %forvar` all good
the output from QUOTES.BAT will look like this:
Arg1 = Now is the time %forvar
Arg2 = all
Arg3 = good
But if you enter the command
c:\> quotes "Now is the time %forvar" all good
the output from QUOTES.BAT will look like this:
Arg1 = "Now is the time for"
Arg2 = all
Arg3 = good
Notice that in both cases, the quotes keep characters together
and reduce the number of arguments in the line.
The following example has 7 command line arguments, while the
examples above only have 3:
c:\> quotes Now is the time %forvar all good
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When an alias is defined in a batch file or from the command
line, its argument should be enclosed in back quotes to
prevent the expansion of replaceable parameters, variables,
and multiple commands until the alias is invoked. Back quotes
should not be used when defining aliases to be read in an
ALIAS /R file.
Aliases
Much of the power of 4DOS comes together in aliases, which
give you the ability to create your own commands. An alias is
a name that you select for a command or group of commands.
Simple aliases substitute a new name for an existing command.
More complex aliases can redefine the default settings of 4DOS
commands, operate as very fast in-memory batch files, and
perform actions based on the results of other actions.
This section of the manual will show you some examples of the
power of aliases. You can use these examples as the basis for
your own aliases. See the ALIAS command (page 169) for
complete details about writing your own aliases.
The simplest type of alias gives a new name to an existing
command. For example, you could create a command called ROOT
to switch to the root directory this way:
c:\> alias root = `cd \`
After the alias has been defined this way, every time you type
the command ROOT, 4DOS will execute the command CD \.
Aliases can also create customized versions of 4DOS commands.
For example, the 4DOS DIR command can sort a directory in
various ways. You can create an alias called DE that means
"sort the directory by filename extension, and pause after
each page while displaying it" like this:
c:\> alias de = `dir /oe /p`
Aliases can be used to execute sequences of commands as well.
The following command creates an alias called W which saves
the current drive and directory, changes to the WP directory
on drive C, runs the program E:\WP51\WP.EXE, and, when the
program terminates, returns to the original drive and
directory:
c:\> alias w = `pushd c:\wp ^ e:\wp51\wp.exe ^ popd`
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Aliases can be nested, that is, one alias can invoke another.
For example, the alias above could also be written as:
c:\> alias wp = `e:\wp51\wp.exe`
c:\> alias w = `pushd c:\wp ^ wp ^ popd`
If you enter the W command, 4DOS will execute the PUSHD
command, detect that the next command (WP) is another alias,
execute the program E:\WP51\WP.EXE, and -- when the program
exits -- return to the first alias, execute the POPD command,
and finally return to the prompt.
You can use aliases to change the default options for both
internal 4DOS commands and external commands. Suppose that
you always want the DEL command to prompt before it erases a
file:
c:\> alias del = `*del /p`
You may have a program on your system that has the same name
as an internal 4DOS command. Normally, 4DOS will run the
internal command and not let you run the program you desire,
unless you explicitly add its full path on the command line
(type C:\UTIL\LIST.COM, for example). Aliases give you two
ways to get around this problem.
First, you could define an alias that runs the program in
question, but with a different name. For example, if you want
to run a program called HELP.EXE when you type HLP, this alias
will do the trick:
c:\> alias hlp = `c:\dos\help.exe`
Another approach you could take would be to rename the
internal 4DOS command and use the original name for the
external program. The following example renames the 4DOS LIST
command as DISPLAY and then uses a second alias to run
LIST.COM whenever you type LIST:
c:\> alias display = `*list`
c:\> alias list = `c:\util\list.com`
You can also assign an alias to a key, so that every time you
press the key, the command will be invoked. After you enter
this next example, 4DOS will display a 2-column directory with
paging whenever you press Shift plus F5:
c:\> alias @Shift-F5 = `*dir /2/p`
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That example will put the DIR command on the command line when
you press F5 and wait for you to enter file names to display
and then press Enter. This next example clears the screen
whenever you press Alt-F1. The "^X" is the 4DOS escape
character (see page 93), which you enter by pressing Ctrl-X
(it is entered twice before the r at the end of this alias):
c:\> alias @Alt-F1 = `cls^X^Xr`
Aliases have many other capabilities as well. This example
creates a simple command-line calculator. Once you have
entered the example, you can type CALC 4*19, for example, and
4DOS will display the answer:
c:\> alias calc = `echo The answer is: %@eval[%&]`
Our last example in this section creates an alias called IN.
It will temporarily change directories, run an internal or
external command, and then return to the current directory
when the command is finished:
c:\> alias in = `pushd %1 ^ %2& ^ popd`
Now if you type
c:\> in c:\letters wp letter.txt
4DOS will change to the C:\LETTERS subdirectory, execute the
command WP LETTER.TXT and then return to the current
directory.
The distribution diskette includes a sample alias file called
ALIASES which contains several useful aliases and demonstrates
many alias techniques. Also, see the ALIAS and UNALIAS
commands on pages 169 and 308 for more information and
examples. See page 103 for tips about using aliases inside
your batch files.
Batch Files
A batch file is a file that contains a list of commands for
4DOS to execute. 4DOS reads and interprets each line as if it
had been typed at the keyboard. Like aliases, batch files are
handy for automating computing tasks. Unlike aliases, batch
files can be as long as you wish. Batch files take up
separate disk space for each file, and can't usually execute
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quite as quickly as aliases, since they must be read from the
disk.
.BAT Files and .BTM Files
4DOS can execute a batch file in two different modes. In the
first, traditional mode, 4DOS reads and executes the lines of
the batch file individually. In the second mode, 4DOS reads
the entire batch file into memory at once. The second mode
can be 5 to 10 times faster, especially if most of the
commands in the batch file are internal 4DOS commands.
However, only the first mode can be used for self-modifying
batch files (which are rare), for batch files which install
memory-resident utilities, and for batch files larger than 64K
bytes.
4DOS decides which batch file mode to use by the file's
extension. It runs files with a .BAT extension in the slower,
traditional mode. Files that have a .BTM extension are run in
the faster, more efficient mode. You can change the execution
mode inside of a batch file (of either type) with the LOADBTM
command (see page 257).
Echoing
By default, 4DOS displays or "echoes" every batch file line as
it is executed. You can change this behavior, if you want, in
several different ways:
Any batch file line that begins with an [@] symbol will
not be displayed.
The display can be turned off and on within a batch file
with the ECHO OFF and ECHO ON commands.
The default setting can be changed with the SETDOS /V
command (see page 294) or the BatchEcho directive in
4DOS.INI (see page 127).
For example, the following line turns off echoing inside a
batch file. The [@] symbol keeps the batch file from
displaying the ECHO OFF command:
@echo off
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4DOS also has a command line echo that is unrelated to the
batch file echo setting. See the ECHO command on page 215 for
details about both settings.
Batch File Variables
Like aliases and application programs, batch files can examine
the command line that is used to invoke them. 4DOS separates
the command tail (everything on the command line after the
batch file name) into individual parameters or variables by
scanning for the spaces, tabs, and commas that separate the
parameters. A batch file can work with individual parameters
or with the command tail as a whole.
4DOS numbers these replaceable parameters from %1 to %127. It
is up to the batch file to determine the meaning of each
parameter. Parameters that are referred to in a batch file,
but which are missing on the command line, appear as empty
strings inside the batch file.
A batch file can also work with three special parameters: %0
contains the name of the batch file as it was entered on the
command line, %# contains the number of command-line
arguments, and %n& contains the complete command line tail
starting with argument number "n". The default value of "n"
is 1, so %& contains the entire command tail. The values of
these special parameters can change if you use the SHIFT
command (see page 299).
For example, suppose the batch file interprets the first
argument as a subdirectory name. Then the following line
would move to the specified directory:
cd %1
A friendlier batch file would check to make sure the directory
exists and take some special action if it doesn't:
iff isdir %1 then ^ cd %1
else ^ echo Subdirectory %1 does not exist ^ quit
endiff
(see the IF and IFF commands on pages 238 and 244).
## Batch files can also use environment variables, internal
variables, and variable functions. See pages 81 - 91 for a
complete list of the internal variables and variable functions
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available. You can use these variables and functions to
determine system status (e.g., the type of CPU in the system),
resource levels (e.g., the amount of free disk space), file
information (e.g., the date and time a file was last
modified) and other information (e.g., the current date and
time). You can also perform arithmetic (including date
arithmetic), manipulate strings and substrings, extract parts
of a filename, and perform simple file access.
## To create temporary variables for use inside a batch file,
just use the SET command to store the information you want in
an environment variable. Pick a variable name that isn't
likely to be in use by some other program (for example, PATH
would be a bad choice), and use the UNSET command (page 309)
to remove these variables from the environment at the end of
your batch file. You can also use SETLOCAL and ENDLOCAL
(pages 298 and 218) to create a "local" environment so that
the original environment will be restored when your batch file
is finished.
## Environment variables used in a batch file may contain either
numbers or text. It is up to you to keep track of what's in
each variable and use it appropriately; if you don't (for
example, if you use %@EVAL to add a number to a text string),
you'll get an error message.
## Be careful not to confuse the various kinds of variables that
4DOS provides. Replaceable parameters, environment variables,
internal variables, and variable functions look similar and
have similar uses but they are not the same.
Batch File Commands
Several 4DOS commands are particularly suited to batch file
processing. Each command is explained in detail in the
Command Reference section of this manual, beginning on page
162. Here is a list of some of the commands you might find
most useful:
BEEP produces a sound of any pitch and duration through
the computer's speaker .
CALL executes one batch file from within another.
CANCEL terminates all batch file processing.
CLS and COLOR set the screen display colors.
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DRAWBOX draws a box on the screen.
DRAWHLINE and DRAWVLINE draw horizontal and vertical
lines on the screen.
ECHO and ECHOS print text on the screen (the text can be
redirected to a file or device).
GOSUB executes a subroutine inside a batch file. The
RETURN command terminates the subroutine.
GOTO branches to a different location in the batch file.
FOR executes commands for each file that matches a set of
wildcards, or each entry in a list.
IF and IFF execute commands based on a test of string or
numeric values, program exit codes, or other conditions.
INKEY and INPUT collect keyboard input from the user and
store it in environment variables.
KEYSTACK places keystrokes into the 4DOS Keystack.
LOADBTM changes the batch file operating mode.
PAUSE displays a message and waits for the user to press
a key.
QUIT ends the current batch file and optionally returns
an exit code.
REM places a remark in a batch file.
SCREEN positions the cursor on the screen and optionally
prints a message at the new location.
SCRPUT displays a message in color.
SETLOCAL saves the current disk drive, default directory,
environment, and alias list. ENDLOCAL restores the
settings that were saved.
SHIFT changes the numbering of the replaceable
parameters.
TEXT displays a block of text. ENDTEXT ends the block.
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TIMER starts or reads a stopwatch.
VSCRPUT displays a vertical message in color.
These commands, along with the 4DOS internal variables and
variable functions, make the 4DOS batch file language
extremely powerful. The distribution diskette contains a
number of sample batch files that demonstrate some of the
things you can do with 4DOS batch files.
## Batch File Tips
This section gives you some tips on batch file programming,
including a few things we've found useful and a few that you
should stay from.
One way to simplify batch file programming is to use aliases.
Not aliases that can be used from the command line, but
aliases that hide unnecessary detail inside a batch file. For
example, suppose you want to implement a multiple choice list
in a batch file that will let you select among several
different applications. This example shows one way to do so:
alias in `pushd %1 ^ %2& ^ popd`
alias choice `elseiff "%userchoice"=="%1" then`
:dispmenu
screen 8 0
text
Enter your choice:
1. Word Processing
2. Spreadsheet
3. Communications
endtext
inkey %%userchoice
iff "1"=="2" then ^ rem Always fail and go to next line
choice 1 ^ in d:\letters c:\wp51\wp.exe
choice 2 ^ in d:\finance c:\quattro\q.exe
choice 3 ^ in d:\comm c:\comsw\pcplus.exe
else
scrput 23 0 bri whi on red Invalid choice, try again
goto dispmenu
endiff
The first alias, IN, expects 2 or more command-line arguments.
It uses the first as a new working directory and changes to
that directory with a PUSHD command. The rest of the command
line is interpreted as the name of an application program plus
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possible command line parameters, which the alias executes.
This alias could be used from the command line.
The second alias, CHOICE, expects 1 command line argument. It
tests whether an environment variable called userchoice has
the same value as the command line argument. But the test
comes between ELSEIFF and THEN statements. If you try to use
CHOICE from the command line, 4DOS will generate an error
because it will see ELSEIFF and THEN without the necessary IFF
and ENDIFF to define a block.
The next 9 lines print a menu on the screen and then get a
keystroke from the user and store the keystroke in an
environment variable called userchoice. Then the batch file
tests the user's keystroke to decide what action to take.
Since the CHOICE alias starts with an ELSEIFF command, there
has to be an IFF. But the first condition must fail in order
to get to the CHOICE aliases, so the IFF statement starts with
a condition that will always be false. The three lines after
the IFF are easy to follow and much shorter than they would be
without the aliases. If it had to be typed in full, the first
choice line would look like this:
elseiff "%userchoice"=="1" then pushd d:\letters ^
c:\wp\wp51.exe ^ popd
There's another side to aliases in batch files. If you're
going to distribute your 4DOS batch files to others, you need
to remember that they may have aliases defined for the
commands you're going to use. For example if the user has
aliased CD to CDD and you aren't expecting this, your file may
not work as you intended. There are two ways to address this
problem. First, you can use SETLOCAL, ENDLOCAL, and UNALIAS
to clear out aliases before your batch file starts and restore
them at the end. For example:
setlocal
unalias *
rem Aliases cleared, set up new aliases
alias ...
rem Other batch file commands go here
endlocal
Remember that SETLOCAL and ENDLOCAL will save and restore not
only the aliases but also the environment and the current
drive and directory.
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If this method isn't appropriate or necessary for the batch
file you're working on, you can also use an asterisk [*]
before the name of any command. The asterisk tells 4DOS not
to interpret the command that follows it as an alias. For
example the following command redirects a list of file names
to the file FILELIST:
dir /b > filelist
However if the user has redefined DIR with an alias this
command may not do what you want. To get around this just
use:
*dir /b > filelist
The same can be done for any command in your batch file. If
you use the asterisk, 4DOS will skip alias processing, discard
the asterisk, and process the rest of the command normally as
an internal command, external command, or batch file. Using
an asterisk before a command will work whether or not there is
actually an alias defined with the same name as the command.
If there is no alias with that name, the asterisk will be
ignored and the command will be processed as if the asterisk
wasn't there.
There are several tricks you can use in debugging batch files.
Probably the simplest is to turn ECHO on at the beginning of
the file while you're testing it, or use SETDOS /V2 to force
echo on even if an ECHO OFF command is used in the batch file.
This will give you a picture of what 4DOS is doing when it
executes the file. It will make your output look messy of
course, so just turn it off once things are working. You can
also turn ECHO on at the beginning of a group of commands you
want to "watch", and off at the end, just by adding ECHO
commands at the appropriate spots in your file.
Another trick is to insert PAUSE commands wherever you need
them in order to be able to watch what's happening. For
complex debugging, you can make an alias that uses INKEY for a
similar purpose, but helps you out a little more. For example
(enter this on one line):
alias step `set skey=^inkey Step: %%skey^iff
"%skey"=="S" then ^ set /P ^ elseiff "%skey"=="X" then ^
quit ^ endiff`
Now anywhere you insert a STEP command in your file you'll get
the Step: prompt during execution. At that point you can type
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S to do a SET /P and display the current contents of your
environment variables, X to exit the batch file, and any other
key to go on. Of course you'll need to create an alias
tailored to your particular needs, but this gives you the
basic idea.
If you can't figure out how 4DOS is expanding your aliases and
variables, try turning LOG on at the start of the batch file.
LOG keeps track of all commands after alias and variable
expansion are completed, and gives you a record in a file
that you can examine after the batch file is done.
You may also want to consider using redirection to capture
your batch file output. Simply type the batch file name
followed by the redirection symbols, for example:
c:\> mybatch >& testout
This records all batch file output, including error messages,
in the file TESTOUT, so you can go back and examine it. If
you have ECHO ON in the batch file you'll get the batch
commands intermingled with the output, which can provide a
very useful trace of what's happening. Of course output from
full-screen commands and programs that don't write to the
standard DOS output devices can't be recorded, but you can
still gain a lot of useful information if your batch file does
much output.
If you're using redirection to see the output, remember that
any prompts for input will probably go to the output file and
not to the screen, so you need to know in advance the sequence
of keystrokes required to get through the entire batch file,
and enter them by hand or with KEYSTACK. (As an example, the
raw text for the 4DOS tour in this manual was created by
writing a batch file containing the demonstration commands,
testing it to get the proper keystroke sequence, and executing
a command which used KEYSTACK to send the keystrokes and
redirected the batch file's output to a disk file.)
Because of the power of the 4DOS batch language, some
programmers begin to treat it as a full, general-purpose
language. But the batch language is interpreted one line at a
time, which can lead the unwary into some subtle traps.
In particular, the IFF and GOTO instructions may not work
together as many programmers expect. 4DOS has no way of
telling whether a GOTO is branching within the same IFF block,
into another IFF block, or out of all IFF blocks, so it has to
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make an assumption. It assumes that the branch is leaving the
IFF block and it therefore cancels all pending IFF processing.
For example, the following commands will NOT work:
iff "%_monitor" == "color" then
iff %@diskfree[c:,K] gt 100 then
set var1=Y
goto point1
else
set var1=N
endiff
else
:point1
rem do something else here
endiff
If the GOTO in the 4th line is executed, the commands after
:POINT1 will execute properly. But 4DOS will generate an
error message when it reaches the last ENDIFF, because it
assumed that the GOTO branched outside of all IFF blocks. You
can override this restriction with GOTO /I, but do so only if
you are absolutely certain that your GOTO command is branching
entirely within the current active IFF statement, and not into
another IFF statement or a different IFF nesting level. Using
/I under any other conditions will cause an error later in
your batch file.
Because the IFF state is saved whenever a GOSUB occurs or
whenever another batch file is CALLed, GOTO only cancels IFF
processing within the current subroutine or batch file. This
allows you to use GOTO inside a subroutine without affecting
any IFF blocks that surround the GOSUB statement which called
the subroutine.
GOSUB and GOTO can also have unexpected consequences when
mixed with chains to new batch files. The GOSUB, and any
block that contains it, remains active after the second batch
file ends. Here is another example that will NOT work:
BAT1:
rem do something here
gosub sub1
quit
:sub1
rem do something else here
if [some condition] BAT2
return
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BAT2:
rem do some more work
BAT1
If the condition near the end of BAT1 is true, then BAT2 is
launched. But BAT2 ends by restarting BAT1. The original
BAT1's subroutine is still pending. Since 4DOS has no way to
detect this infinite loop, it will eventually suffer a stack
overflow and hang the system. If you do want to chain from
one batch file to another, set an environment variable inside
the GOSUB block and then use that variable outside the block
to see whether you should CALL another batch file.
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## CHAPTER 6 / OPTIONS AND TUNING
Normally, the 4DOS install program will properly set up your system
to run 4DOS. It must, however, make certain assumptions about your
computer and the way that you will use 4DOS. This chapter explains
how you can tune 4DOS to make it as efficient and as useful as
possible in your computing environment.
Nearly everything in this chapter is for advanced users and those
with unusual needs. If 4DOS works the way you want it to after the
automatic installation, you can skip this chapter. You may,
however, want to skim this material to see what options are
available.
Configuration Files
4DOS uses five configuration files. Two are for general DOS
configuration; the other three are unique to 4DOS. The
general DOS files are CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT. The
specialized 4DOS files are called 4START.BTM, 4EXIT.BTM, and
4DOS.INI. These five files are discussed in order in this
section.
! Anytime you change a configuration file, a typographical
mistake or other error could make your system lock up or run
erratically. Before you make any changes to any of these
files, we strongly urge you to take the some precautions.
First, create a boot-up floppy diskette (you can use the
FORMAT /S command) and make sure that you can use it to boot
your computer. Second, make a backup copy of all five
configuration files. You might want to create copies that
have the same base name plus an extension of .BAK. Copy the
.BAK files to your boot-up floppy for safe keeping. You also
might want to make a copy of your computer's SETUP information
(on 80286, 386, and 486 computers) and save it on this floppy.
If the battery that keeps that data in your computer fails,
this file will be invaluable after you install a new battery.
A short text file should be sufficient.
With these two precautions, if something goes wrong, you will
be able to boot with your floppy diskette and copy the files
back to their original names. You'll only have to spend a few
minutes recovering your system. You probably will want to
follow the same precautions each time you install a new
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application program that changes your DOS or 4DOS
configuration files.
Setting up CONFIG.SYS
The CONFIG.SYS file contains instructions for DOS to execute
before it loads a command processor. Only one line in the
CONFIG.SYS file affects 4DOS. It tells DOS to use 4DOS as the
command processor instead of COMMAND.COM. The format of this
line is:
SHELL=d:\path\4DOS.COM [d:\path] [@d:\path\inifile]
[/E:nnnn] [/F] [/P] [//iniline]... [command]
"SHELL=" identifies this line as defining the command
processor that DOS will load after it finishes executing the
commands in CONFIG.SYS. It is required.
If 4DOS is not in the root directory of the boot drive,
replace the first "d:\path\" (immediately after "SHELL=") with
the 4DOS drive and directory (if you are using DOS 2.x, 4DOS
must be in the root directory of the boot drive). The drive
and path must be correct or your system won't boot (and you'll
be very happy that you made the boot-up floppy we suggested).
The remainder of the items on this line are optional. If they
are used, you should not include the square brackets. In the
descriptions below, "d:" means a drive letter and "\path"
means a subdirectory name.
d:\path This is the "d:\path" option shown in square
brackets above (not the "d:\path" immediately
after "SHELL="). It sets the drive and directory
where 4DOS is stored. 4DOS uses this path to set
the COMSPEC environment variable. When running
under MS-DOS or PC-DOS 3.0 or above, 4DOS will
normally find itself automatically and this
option will not be needed. When running under
DR-DOS this option is required unless 4DOS.COM is
in the root directory of the boot drive. When
4DOS is running as the primary command processor,
you can tell if COMSPEC has been set correctly by
typing the following line at the 4DOS prompt:
echo %comspec
If 4DOS has properly located itself, the location
of 4DOS.COM will be correctly displayed. If the
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COMSPEC is incorrect, you can set it yourself in
AUTOEXEC.BAT, or add this "d:\path" option on the
SHELL= line.
@d:\path\inifile
This option sets the path and name of the
4DOS.INI file, which is discussed below. If the
INI file is in the same directory as 4DOS.COM, or
is in the root directory of the boot drive, and
is named 4DOS.INI, or if you aren't using an INI
file at all, then this option is not needed.
Otherwise, it must be included.
/E:nnnn This option sets the size of the environment, in
bytes. If you don't use this option, 4DOS will
allocate 512 bytes for the environment. You can
use any value from 256 to 32000 as the
environment size. For example, to set an
environment of 1,000 bytes, you would enter the
option this way:
/E:1000
You can also set the environment size with the
Environment directive in the 4DOS.INI file (see
below).
/F This option tells 4DOS to automatically provide a
Fail response to all critical errors, without
prompting or waiting for a user response. It is
rarely used except on systems that must run
unattended, like bulletin boards. We do not
recommend use of this option on a normal system,
because you will not have a chance to react to a
critical error and correct the problem that
caused it. For more information on critical
errors see page 147. /F only affects critical
errors detected by 4DOS, and will not affect
critical error handling for many application
programs which perform this function themselves.
/P This option tells 4DOS to load permanently and to
run AUTOEXEC.BAT. When 4DOS is loaded from the
SHELL= command in CONFIG.SYS, it will detect that
it is the primary shell and set the /P option
automatically. Under very rare circumstances you
may want to load 4DOS permanently and have it run
AUTOEXEC even though you are not loading it from
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CONFIG.SYS; in such cases you must set /P
yourself. 4DOS will not run AUTOEXEC.BAT without
a /P. Do not use this option in secondary
shells, or you will be unable to return to the
primary shell.
//iniline This option tells 4DOS to treat the text
appearing between the // and the next space or
tab as a 4DOS.INI directive (see page 118 for
information on 4DOS.INI directives). The
directive should be in the same format as a line
in 4DOS.INI, but may not contain spaces, tabs, or
comments. Directives on the SHELL= line override
any corresponding directive in 4DOS.INI. This is
a convenient way to place one or two simple
directives on the SHELL= line without having to
modify or create a 4DOS.INI file, but is
primarily intended for use in secondary shells
(see below).
command This option tells 4DOS to run the command
included on the SHELL= line. The command will be
run after 4START and AUTOEXEC.BAT but before
displaying the prompt. It can be any valid
alias, internal or external command, or batch
file, and can include multiple commands (but see
the Caution below). All other startup options
(such as /F and /P) must be placed before the
command, because 4DOS will treat characters after
the command as part of the command and not as
additional startup options. Use this option if
you want 4DOS to run a file other than
AUTOEXEC.BAT when your system boots: simply
rename AUTOEXEC.BAT and place the new name,
including its full path, at the end of the SHELL=
line.
Caution
! There is a bug in all versions of MS-DOS and PC-DOS from 2.0
through 4.01. In all these versions, the SHELL= line in the
CONFIG.SYS file may not contain more than 31 characters
following the name of the shell program (i.e., beginning with
the space after the "M" in "4DOS.COM"). If the line is too
long, the options will not be passed properly to 4DOS and a
variety of errors can occur. You can set all necessary 4DOS
options without exceeding this limit, especially if you put
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4DOS.COM and 4DOS.INI in the root directory of your boot
drive. This limit is not present in MS-DOS 5.0 and above or
in DR-DOS.
4DOS and DOS 2
We recommend using DOS 3.1 or above, but 4DOS can be used with
DOS 2. The only special consideration is that 4DOS must be
loaded differently under DOS 2.x, because certain DOS 2
functions require that COMMAND.COM be loaded as the primary
command processor. Therefore, you must load COMMAND.COM first
and then 4DOS. Assuming that all files are in the root
directory of your boot drive, the SHELL= line in DOS 2.x
should look like this:
shell=command.com /c 4DOS [options]
Note that due to the "/c 4DOS" on the SHELL line, fewer
options can be used before running into the 31-character
limit. You must, however, use the /P option, or AUTOEXEC.BAT
will not run. 4DOS will not automatically detect that it is
the primary shell and set /P for you when run under DOS 2.
Startup Options for Secondary Shells
In most cases, secondary shells do not use or require any of
the startup options defined for the primary shell in
CONFIG.SYS. Usually, you can only set explicit options for a
4DOS secondary shell when you define a 4DOS window in a
multitasking system such as Back & Forth, DESQView, Windows,
or the MS-DOS shell (DOSSHELL); or in rare cases when you run
a secondary copy of 4DOS directly from the command line. If
you do need to set options for secondary shells, you can use
any of the following:
@d:\path\inifile
Set INI file name, as in CONFIG.SYS (see above).
This option is not necessary if you want 4DOS to
use the same INI file that you used for the
primary shell, as values from that file --
including those in its [Secondary] section --
will be passed automatically to secondary shells.
/C command This option forces 4DOS to execute a command and
then return to the parent program. It is used by
some applications to start the command processor,
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run one command, and the return to the
application. This option can be used when 4DOS
is run as a secondary shell, but never in the
SHELL statement in the CONFIG.SYS file. All
other startup options must be placed before the
command, because 4DOS will treat characters after
the command as part of the command and not as
additional startup options. This option cannot
be used with the command option (below).
/E:nnnn Set the environment size, as in CONFIG.SYS (see
above).
/F Force an automatic "Fail" on critical error, as
in CONFIG.SYS (see above).
//iniline This option tells 4DOS to treat the text
appearing between the // and the next space or
tab as a 4DOS.INI directive (see page 118 for
more information on 4DOS.INI directives). The
directive should be in the same format as a line
in 4DOS.INI, but may not contain spaces, tabs, or
comments. Directives on the SHELL= line override
any corresponding directive in 4DOS.INI. This
allows you to use 4DOS.INI directives directly on
the command line when starting 4DOS in a window
of a multitasking system, rather than having to
create separate copies of 4DOS.INI to accommodate
small configuration changes in different windows.
command This option tells 4DOS to run the command
included on the line, with the same restrictions
and considerations as the command option in
CONFIG.SYS (see above). The command will be run
after 4START but before displaying the prompt.
Use this option if you want 4DOS to run a batch
file or execute a command when it starts, for
example to run a specific batch file when 4DOS is
started in a window of a multitasking system.
This option cannot be used with the /C command
option (above).
Using AUTOEXEC.BAT
If 4DOS is the primary command processor, it is up and running
before AUTOEXEC.BAT is executed. You generally won't need to
make any changes to AUTOEXEC.BAT to make it run properly under
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4DOS, although once you get used to some of 4DOS's batch file
enhancements, you may want to use them to streamline AUTOEXEC.
If you want to use the 4DOS KEYSTACK command, you will
normally load the program KSTACK.COM from your AUTOEXEC.BAT
file. To do so, include the following line in your file. Its
location in the file is unimportant as long as you place it
before any KEYSTACK commands:
d:\path\kstack.com
Replace the "d:\path" with the path to the KSTACK.COM program,
which will normally be stored in your 4DOS directory.
You may want to use AUTOEXEC.BAT to configure 4DOS the way you
want it by setting some of the environment variables that 4DOS
uses. You may also want to include a SETDOS command (see page
294) to set configuration variables (most of these variables
can also be set in the 4DOS.INI file discussed below). All of
these settings are optional.
4DOS uses seven environment variables. Five of the seven (all
except PATH and PROMPT) are created with the SET command (see
page 291) using this format:
set name=value
The seven variables and their uses are explained below:
COMSPEC: The COMSPEC variable is the path and filename
that programs use to launch a secondary shell. Normally,
this will be set automatically by 4DOS as it installs
itself. However, in rare circumstances you may wish to
load 4DOS.COM for secondary shells from a directory other
than the one it's in when you boot (for example, from a
RAM disk). In these cases, you will need to reset the
COMSPEC variable. For example, if you want to load
secondary copies of 4DOS.COM from the root directory of
drive D, you would use this command:
set comspec=D:\4DOS.COM
PATH: The PATH variable lists the directories that 4DOS
should search for executable files that aren't in the
current directory (executable files include .COM, .EXE,
.BTM, and .BAT files and files with executable
extensions). The PATH variable is normally set with the
PATH command. See PATH on page 267 for more details.
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PROMPT: The prompt variable defines the 4DOS command
prompt. It is normally set with the PROMPT command. See
PROMPT on page 271 for details about the options
available.
TEMP4DOS: This variable contains the drive and directory
that 4DOS will use to store temporary pipe files (see
page 65). If you have a RAM disk, piping will be faster
if you direct 4DOS to use it for the pipe files. This
variable should hold a single path. The path can be
terminated with a backslash [\] if you choose, but this
is not required. For example, to direct pipe temporary
files to the TEMP directory on drive D:
set temp4dos=d:\temp
TEMP: If TEMP4DOS does not exist, 4DOS looks for this
variable to find the path for temporary pipe files (if
neither exists, 4DOS uses the root directory of the drive
from which it was started). TEMP is also used by some
other programs to set a path for their temporary files.
The format of TEMP is the same as TEMP4DOS.
COLORDIR: This variable sets the colors that 4DOS will
use for directories displayed by the DIR and SELECT
commands. See those commands (page 204 and 286) for
details about COLORDIR.
CDPATH: This variable defines default directories to be
used by the CD and CDD commands, and by automatic
directory changes. If CD, CDD, or an automatic directory
entry cannot find the path you specify on the command
line, 4DOS will try appending the command line path to
each path in this variable. For example, you may have a
C:\LETTERS directory that has subdirectories named JAN,
FEB, MARCH, etc. You can put C:\LETTERS into CDPATH and
get to the FEB directory from anywhere on your system by
typing CDD FEB or FEB\.
The format of the CDPATH variable is the same as the PATH
variable: a list of directories separated by semicolons.
For example:
set cdpath=c:\letters;c:\data;c:\memos
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Using 4START and 4EXIT
4DOS runs two special batch files automatically, 4START.BTM
and 4EXIT.BTM (you can make them .BAT files, if you prefer).
4START is executed whenever 4DOS is started as a primary or
secondary shell. In the primary shell, it is executed before
AUTOEXEC.BAT. If 4DOS is started as a secondary shell with
the /C command option, 4START is executed before the command.
A 4START file is normally very short. You should NOT load any
memory-resident programs (TSRs) from 4START because they will
be reloaded every time a secondary shell is started.
Normally, 4START is used to vary the PROMPT setting or screen
colors from shell to shell. The LOG command is sometimes used
in 4START to record that a new shell has begun. A PAUSE
command inserted temporarily in 4START will let you see if a
particular program is running a secondary shell with the /C
command option to accomplish some of its own work. Do not
load aliases from 4START -- 4DOS passes them along to a
secondary shell automatically, so you only need to load them
once, in AUTOEXEC.
The 4EXIT batch file is executed every time a secondary 4DOS
command processor ends. A secondary shell can end because of
an EXIT command or after completing the command specified with
a /C command startup option. Normally, 4EXIT is used to LOG a
record that the shell has ended. You might also use 4EXIT to
view the results of the command that an application has given
to 4DOS, or to save the history accumulated during that shell
with the HISTORY command with output redirected to a file.
4DOS looks for the 4START and 4EXIT batch files in three
places:
* If the 4DOS.INI file has a 4StartPath entry, 4DOS will
use it, and will not look elsewhere.
* If 4StartPath is not set, 4DOS will look in the
directory where 4DOS.COM is stored. For the primary
shell, 4DOS determines this directory automatically, or
you can set it yourself by placing a COMSPEC directory
name on the SHELL= line in CONFIG.SYS (see page 110).
For secondary shells, the directory is determined from
the COMSPEC environment variable (see page 115).
* If the COMSPEC directory search fails, 4DOS will look
in the root directory of the boot drive.
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The easiest way to make sure that 4DOS finds the 4START and
4EXIT batch files is to specify their location with the
4StartPath directive in the 4DOS.INI file (see below). If you
don't, put 4START and 4EXIT in the root directory of the boot
drive. If the COMSPEC drive is not the same as the boot
drive, then you should also put a copy of 4START and 4EXIT in
the root directory of the COMSPEC drive.
Using the 4DOS.INI File
4DOS uses a file of initialization information called the
4DOS.INI file. You can create, add to, and edit this file
with any ASCII text editor to set 4DOS options and alter the
way that 4DOS works. The 4DOS installation program will
create a 4DOS.INI file for you if one does not already exist
on your system. Most of this section explains the options
available through 4DOS.INI. You only need to include entries
in 4DOS.INI for any settings that you want to change from
their default values. If you are happy with all of 4DOS's
default values, you don't need a 4DOS.INI file at all.
Some settings in 4DOS.INI are initialized when you install
4DOS, so you may have a 4DOS.INI file even if you didn't
create one yourself. You should not delete this file unless
you've checked carefully to be sure that you don't need any of
the settings the initialization program put there.
When 4DOS is loaded as the primary shell, it searches for the
4DOS.INI file in three places:
* If there is an "@d:\path\inifile" option on the SHELL=
line in CONFIG.SYS (see page 111), 4DOS will use the
path and file name specified there, and will not look
elsewhere.
* If there is no INI file path or name on the SHELL=
line, 4DOS will look in the same directory where
4DOS.COM is stored (this is how 4DOS.INI is found on
most systems). 4DOS determines this directory
automatically, or you can set it yourself by placing a
COMSPEC directory name on the SHELL= line in CONFIG.SYS
(see page 110).
* If the COMSPEC directory search fails, 4DOS will look
in the root directory of the boot drive.
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When 4DOS is loaded as a secondary shell, it does not search
for the 4DOS.INI file. Instead, it reprocesses the file used
for the primary shell (if necessary), then processes any
"@d:\path\inifile" option on the secondary shell command line
(see page 113).
Most lines in the 4DOS.INI file consist of a one-word
directive, an equal sign [=], and a value. For example, in
the following line, the word "Environment" is the directive
and "2048" is the value:
Environment = 2048
Any spaces before or after the equal sign are ignored. The
directive name may be abbreviated to the minimum length needed
to make it unique; 4DOS will display an error if the name you
use is unknown or ambiguous. We recommend that you use full-
length directive names, since future versions of 4DOS may add
directives that would make your abbreviations ambiguous and
cause an error.
The format of the value part of a directive line depends on
the individual directive. It may be a numeric value, a single
character, a choice (like "Yes" or "No"), a color setting, a
key name, a path, a filename, or a text string. The value
begins with the first non-blank character after the equal sign
and ends at the end of the line or the beginning of a comment.
Blank lines are ignored in the 4DOS.INI file and can be used
to separate groups of directives. You can place comments in
the file by beginning a line with a semicolon [;]. You can
also place comments at the end of any line except one
containing a text string value. To do so, enter at least one
space or tab after the value, a semicolon, and your comment,
like this:
Environment = 2048 ;set standard environment size
If you try to place a comment at the end of a string value,
the comment will become part of the string and will probably
cause an error.
When 4DOS detects an error while processing the 4DOS.INI file,
it displays an error message, ignores the line that caused the
error, and prompts you to press a key to continue processing
the file. This allows you to note any errors before the
startup process continues. The directive in error will retain
its previous or default value. Only the most catastrophic
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errors (like a disk read failure) will cause 4DOS to ignore
all or a large part of the 4DOS.INI file. If you don't want
4DOS to pause after each error, use a "PauseOnError = No"
directive at the beginning of the file.
The 4DOS.INI file has two sections, which are identified by a
name in square brackets on a line by itself. The section
names are
[Primary]: Directives in this section will be used when
4DOS is running as the primary shell. The same values
will be passed automatically to all secondary shells,
unless overridden by a directive with the same name in
the [Secondary] section.
[Secondary]: Directives in this section are used in
secondary shells only, and override any corresponding
primary shell settings. For example, if your 4DOS.INI
file contains the lines:
ScreenRows = 25
[Secondary]
ScreenRows = 50
then 4DOS will assume that you have 25 rows on the screen
in the primary shell and 50 lines in all secondary
shells.
Lines that precede a section name are used in both primary and
secondary shells.
The SETDOS command can override several of the 4DOS.INI file
directives. For example, the number of rows on the screen can
be adjusted with SETDOS /R. The correspondence between SETDOS
options and INI file directives is noted under each directive
below, and under each option of the SETDOS command.
Secondary shells automatically inherit the configuration
settings currently in effect in the previous shell. If values
have been changed by SETDOS since 4DOS started, the new values
will be passed to the secondary shell. If the previous
shell's INI file had a [Secondary] section, it will then be
read and processed. If not, the previous shell's settings
will remain in effect. For example, if you set BatchEcho to
Yes in 4DOS.INI, do not include a [Secondary] section, and use
SETDOS /V0 to turn off batch file echoing in the primary
shell, then secondary shells will inherit the SETDOS setting,
i.e. batch files will default to no echo.
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If you want to force secondary shells to start with the same
value as the primary shell for a particular directive,
regardless of any changes made with SETDOS, repeat the
directive in the [Secondary] section of 4DOS.INI. You can
also place the directive outside any section of 4DOS.INI, then
include an empty [Secondary] section. The inclusion of a
[Secondary] section will force 4DOS to re-read 4DOS.INI, and
the directives outside any section will be reprocessed as they
apply to both primary and secondary shells. Because 4DOS.INI
is processed after values from the previous shell are
inherited, the value in 4DOS.INI will override the inherited
value. Using the BatchEcho example above, either of the
following sets of 4DOS.INI directives would work to ensure
that BatchEcho is set to Yes in secondary shells:
Same directive Empty
in both sections [Secondary]
---------------- -----------
[Primary] BatchEcho = Yes
BatchEcho = Yes ... <other
... <other directives> ... directives>
[Secondary] [Secondary]
BatchEcho = Yes <End of File>
... <other directives>
If you start a secondary shell from a task switching program
like Windows, DESQView, or Back & Forth, you can specify an
alternate location and name for 4DOS.INI by passing the
"@d:\path\inifile" option to 4DOS as a command-line parameter
(see page 111). In this case, the configuration settings in
the alternate 4DOS.INI file will supersede any settings
inherited from the previous shell. Any values which are not
explicitly set in the alternate file will retain the value
they had in the previous shell. Any [Primary] section in the
alternate file will be ignored because it is being run from a
secondary shell.
The first section below lists the different types of
directives. Subsequent sections list all the individual
directives, divided by function and then alphabetically by
directive name. At the end we have included a few examples of
how to use 4DOS.INI directives (see page 137).
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Types of Directives
There are 8 types of directives in 4DOS.INI. When you look at
the descriptions below, you can tell the directive type by the
way in which the allowable values are shown.
* Name = nnnn (1234): This directive takes a numeric
value which replaces the "nnnn." The default value is
shown in parentheses.
* Name = c (X): This directive accepts a single
character as its value. The default character is shown
in parentheses. You must type in the actual character,
you can not use a key name.
* Name = CHOICE1 | Choice2 | ... : This directive takes
a choice value. The possible choices are listed,
separated by vertical bars. The default value is shown
in all upper case letters in the directive description,
but in your file any of the choices can be entered in
upper case or lower case. The choices can be
abbreviated as long as the abbreviation is unique and
can not cause ambiguity. For example, if the choices
were shown as "YES | No" then "YES" is the default.
You could enter "Y", "N", "y", or "n" for the value.
But if the choices are shown as "YES | No | Never" then
you could not use "N" as an abbreviation because it
would be ambiguous.
* Name = color: This directive takes a color
specification in the form:
[BRIght] [BLInk] fg ON bg [BORder bc]
Where:
fg is the foreground color.
bg is the background color.
bc is the border color.
The allowable color names are:
Black Blue Green Red
Magenta Cyan Yellow White
The color names and the keywords BRIGHT, BLINK, and
BORDER can be shortened to three letters.
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* Name = Key: This directive takes a key specification
in the form:
[Prefix-]Keyname
The key prefix can be left out, or it can be any one of
the following:
Alt followed by A - Z, 0 - 9, F1 - F12, or
Bksp
Ctrl followed by A - Z, F1 - F12, Bksp, Enter,
Left, Right, Home, End, PgUp, PgDn, Ins,
or Del
Shift followed by F1 - F12 or Tab.
The possible key names are:
A - Z Enter PgDn
0 - 9 Up Home
F1 - F12 Down End
Esc Left Ins
Bksp Right Del
Tab PgUp
All key names must be spelled as shown, and can be
abbreviated as long as the abbreviation is unique and
unambiguous. Alphabetic keys can be specified in
upper-case or lower-case. You cannot specify a
punctuation key.
The prefix and key name must be separated by a dash.
For example,
AddFile = Alt-F10 ; This is okay
AddFile = Alt F10 ; The space will cause an error
If you prefer, you can use a numeric value instead of a
key name. Use the ASCII code for an ASCII, extended
ASCII, or control character. Use the scan code
preceded by an at-sign [@] for extended key codes like
F1 or the cursor keys. In general, you will find it
easier to use the names described above rather than key
numbers.
* Name = Path: This directive takes a path
specification, but not a filename. The path should
include both a drive and path (e.g., C:\4DOS) to avoid
any possible ambiguities. A trailing backslash [\] at
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the end of the path name is acceptable but not
required. Any default path is described in the text.
* Name = File: This directive takes a filename. We
recommend that you use a full filename including the
drive letter and path to avoid any possible
ambiguities. Any default filename is described in the
text.
* Name = Anything else: This directive takes a string in
the format shown. The text describes the default value
and any additional requirements for formatting the
string correctly. No comments are allowed.
4DOS contains a fixed-length area for storing strings entered
in 4DOS.INI, including file names, paths, and other strings.
This area is large and is unlikely to overflow; if it does,
you will receive an error message. If this occurs, reduce the
complexity of your 4DOS.INI file or contact our technical
support department for assistance.
Initialization Directives
The directives in this section control how 4DOS starts and
where it looks for its files.
4StartPath = Path: Sets the drive and directory where
4DOS should look for the 4START and 4EXIT batch files.
Alias = nnnn (1024): Sets the amount of memory in bytes
allocated for the alias list. The allowable range of
values is 256 to 32767 bytes.
AutoExecPath = Path: Sets the path used to find
AUTOEXEC.BAT if 4DOS is started as a primary shell with
the /P option in CONFIG.SYS (see page 111). The default
is the root directory of the boot drive.
Environment = nnnn (512): Sets the amount of memory
allocated to the environment in bytes. The allowable
range of values is 256 to 32000 bytes.
EnvFree = nnnn (128): Sets the minimum amount of memory
in bytes that will be available in the environment for
secondary shells. 4DOS will enlarge the environment for
each secondary shell, if necessary, so that there is at
least this much free environment space when the shell
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starts. The allowable range of values is 128 to 32000
bytes.
HelpOptions = [/M /Sn /X]: Sets default options for the
4DOS help system. See HELP on page 234 for a list of the
available options.
HelpPath = Path: Sets the path used to find 4HELP.EXE
when F1 is pressed or the HELP command is used. If this
directive is not used, 4DOS will search the current
directory and each of the directories in the PATH.
History = nnnn (1024): Sets the amount of memory
allocated to the history list in bytes. The allowable
range of values is 512 to 8192 bytes.
LogName = File (none): Sets the log file name and/or
path. If only a path is given, 4DOS will use the default
log file name (4DOSLOG). Using LogName does not turn
logging on, you must still use LOG ON to do so.
PauseOnError = YES | No: "Yes" tells 4DOS to pause with
the message "Error in 4DOS.INI, press any key to continue
processing" after displaying any error message related to
a specific line in the 4DOS.INI file. "No" continues
processing with no pause after an error message is
displayed.
Swapping = swap type [, swap type] ...: Sets the type of
swapping 4DOS should use. 4DOS runs in two parts, a
resident portion that is always in memory and a transient
portion that can be stored in EMS memory, in XMS memory,
on a RAM disk, or on your hard disk while application
programs are running. The resident portion uses about 3K
of memory in the primary shell and about 1.5K in
secondary shells. The transient portion uses about 88K
of memory. 4DOS will perform most quickly if the
transient portion is swapped to the fastest memory or
device available. See page 49 for explanations of XMS
and EMS memory.
Swapping for the primary shell normally requires about
96K of EMS memory, or 88K of XMS memory or disk space.
Secondary shells normally require 32K of EMS memory, or
28K of XMS memory or disk space. If you have a large
environment, alias list, or history list, more memory
will be required in both primary and secondary shells.
The EMS requirements are larger because EMS memory is
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allocated in 16K increments; 4DOS does not actually use
more memory when swapping to EMS.
The swap type may be:
EMS: 4DOS will swap to EMS expanded memory if it is
available. You must have expanded memory and an EMS
memory manager (version 3.2 or later) for this
option.
XMS: 4DOS will swap to XMS extended memory if it is
available (you must have an 80286, 386, or 486
computer for this option, and an XMS memory
manager).
d:\path: 4DOS will create a swap file in the drive
and directory specified. The file will be called
4DOSSWAP.NNN where "NNN" is the shell number. This
swap file is created as a hidden system file to
avoid accidental deletion and will not be visible
with a normal DIR command. Swapping to a RAM disk
will generally be somewhat faster than swapping to a
hard disk. Do not use a floppy disk for swapping
because its performance is likely to be unacceptably
slow.
None: No swapping. The transient portion of 4DOS
will remain in memory at all times. This option
will reduce memory available for application
programs by about 90K compared to the other swap
types, and should be used only when no other
swapping options are available.
You can specify multiple swap types and 4DOS will try
them in the order listed. Swap type "None" is always
appended to your list of possible swap types as a "last
resort", even if you don't include it explicitly. This
allows 4DOS to start even if the other swap types you
specify don't work.
For example, if your system has EMS memory and a RAM disk
set up as drive D, the directive:
Swapping = EMS, D:\, C:\SWAP
will tell 4DOS to try EMS memory first, then the RAM
disk, and finally the \SWAP directory on drive C. If all
of these options fail (because there isn't enough free
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space available), the transient portion of 4DOS will
remain in memory (swap type "None").
The default Swapping specification is:
Swapping = EMS, XMS, x:\, None
"x" is the boot drive (for the primary shell) or the
COMSPEC drive (for secondary shells). (Disk swapping
will not be included as a default if the boot drive is A:
or B:, because floppy disk swapping is too slow to be
useful on most systems.) The default is usually adequate
for most systems.
UMBEnvironment = Yes | NO: "Yes" attempts to load the
master environment into a UMB (Upper Memory Block). This
reduces 4DOS's base memory requirements but may cause
problems with some programs that try to access the master
environment directly. This option requires an 80286,
386, or 486 computer and appropriate support software.
(See pages 50 and 140 for more information on UMBs.)
UMBLoad = Yes | NO: "Yes" attempts to load the resident
portion of 4DOS into a UMB (Upper Memory Block). This
reduces the size of the resident portion in base memory
from about 3K bytes to 256 bytes, plus the environment
size (unless you have also enabled UMBEnvironment). This
option requires an 80286, 386, or 486 computer and
appropriate support software. (See pages 50 and 140 for
more information on UMBs.)
Configuration Directives
These directives control the way that 4DOS operates. Some can
be changed with the SETDOS command while 4DOS is running. Any
corresponding SETDOS command is listed in the description of
each directive; information on SETDOS is on page 294.
ANSI = AUTO | Yes | No: Tells 4DOS whether an ANSI
driver is installed and should be used for the CLS and
COLOR commands. 4DOS normally determines this itself,
but if you are using a non-standard ANSI driver or your
loading sequence is unusual, you may need to explicitly
inform 4DOS. Also see SETDOS /A.
BatchEcho = YES | No: Sets the default batch ECHO mode.
"Yes" enables echoing of all batch file commands unless
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ECHO is explicitly set off in the batch file. "No"
disables batch file echoing unless ECHO is explicitly set
on. Also see SETDOS /V.
BeepFreq = nnnn (440): Sets the default BEEP command
frequency in Hz. This is also the frequency for 4DOS
"error" beeps (if you press an illegal key, for example).
To disable all 4DOS error beeps set this or BeepLength to
0; if you do the BEEP command will still be operable,
but will not produce sound unless you explicitly specify
the frequency and duration.
BeepLength = nnnn (2): Sets the default BEEP length in
system clock ticks (approximately 1/18 of a second per
tick). BeepLength is also the default length for 4DOS
"error" beeps (if you press an illegal key, for example).
CursorIns = nnnn (100): This is the shape of the cursor
for insert mode during command line editing and all
commands which accept line input (DESCRIBE, ESET, etc.).
The size is a percentage of the total character cell
size, between 0% and 100%. Because of the way video
BIOSes map the cursor shape, you may not get a smooth
progression in cursor shapes as CursorIns and CursorOver
change. Also see SETDOS /S.
CursorOver = nnnn (10): This is the shape of the cursor
for overtype mode during command line editing and all
commands which accept line input. The size is a
percentage of the total character cell size, between 0%
and 100%. Also see SETDOS /S.
CommandSep = c (^): This is the character used to
separate multiple commands on the same line. You cannot
use any of the redirection characters (| > < ) or any of
the whitespace characters (space, tab, comma, or equal
sign). Also see SETDOS /C.
EditMode = Insert | OVERSTRIKE: This directive lets you
start the command line editor in either insert or
overstrike mode. Also see SETDOS /M.
EscapeChar = c (Ctrl-X): Sets the character used to
suppress the normal meaning of the following character.
See page 93 for a description of the escape character and
special escape sequences. You cannot use any of the
redirection characters (| > < ) or the whitespace
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characters (space, tab, comma, or equal sign) as the
escape character. Also see SETDOS /E.
HistMin = nnnn (0): Sets the minimum command line size
to save in the command history list. Any command line
whose length is less than this value will not be saved.
Legal values range from 0 (save everything) to 256
(disable all command history saves).
HistWinColor = Color: Sets the default colors for the
command line history window. If this directive is not
used the colors will be reversed from the current colors
on the screen.
HistWinHeight = nn (10): Sets the height of the command
line history window in lines, including the border.
Legal values range from 5 to the height of your screen;
any value which would cause the bottom of the window to
be off the screen will be adjusted so that the entire
window remains on the screen.
HistWinLeft = nn (50): Sets the horizontal position of
the left side of the command line history window. Legal
values range from 0 (the left edge of the screen) to the
number of columns on your screen minus 10. Any value
which would cause the right side of a minimum-width
window to be off the screen will be adjusted so that the
entire window remains on the screen.
HistWinTop = nn (0): Sets the vertical position of the
top of the command line history window. Legal values
range from 0 (the top of the screen) to the number of
rows on your screen minus 5. Any value which would cause
the bottom of a minimum-height window to be off the
screen will be adjusted so that the entire window remains
on the screen.
HistWinWidth = nn (30): Sets the width of the command
line history window in characters, including the border.
Legal values range from 10 to the width of your screen;
any value which would cause the right side of the window
to be off the screen will be adjusted so that the entire
window remains on the screen.
LineInput = Yes | NO: This directive controls how 4DOS
gets its input from the command line. "Yes" forces 4DOS
to use line input via the DOS service INT 21H 0AH "Get
Line" which is the way that COMMAND.COM gets input. This
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will disable command-line editing, history recall, and
filename completion, and is normally used only for rare
memory-resident programs (TSRs) which do not work
properly unless the command processor uses line input.
If you have a particular program that requires line
input, you can use SETDOS /L to temporarily change modes.
See APPNOTES.DOC for any specific programs which require
this option.
NoClobber = Yes | NO: If set to Yes, will prevent
standard output redirection (see page 65) from
overwriting an existing file, and will require that the
output file already exist for append redirection. Also
see SETDOS /N.
ScreenRows = nnnn: Sets the number of screen rows used
by the video display. Normally, 4DOS detects the screen
size automatically, but if you have a non-standard
display you may need to set it explicitly. This value
does not affect screen scrolling, which is controlled by
your video BIOS or ANSI driver. ScreenRows is used only
by the LIST and SELECT commands, the paged output options
of other commands (e.g., TYPE /P), and error checking in
the screen output commands. Also see SETDOS /R.
UpperCase = Yes | NO: "Yes" specifies that filenames
should be displayed in the traditional upper-case by
internal commands like COPY and DIR. "No" allows the
normal 4DOS lower-case style. Also see SETDOS /U.
Color Directives
These directives control the colors that 4DOS uses for its
displays.
ColorDir = ext1 ext2 ...:colora;ext3 ext4 ... :colorb ...
(none): Sets the directory colors. The format is the
same as that used for the COLORDIR environment variable
(see DIR on page 204 or SELECT on page 286). If you set
the COLORDIR environment variable it will override this
directive. You may find it useful to use the COLORDIR
variable for experimenting, then to set permanent
directory colors with a ColorDir directive in 4DOS.INI.
ListColors = Color: Sets the colors used by the LIST and
SELECT commands. If this directive is not used, LIST and
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SELECT will use the current default colors set by the CLS
or COLOR command or by the StdColors directive, below.
StdColors = Color: Sets the standard colors to be used
when CLS is used without a color specification, and for
LIST and SELECT if ListColors is not used. Using this
directive is equivalent to placing a COLOR command in
AUTOEXEC.BAT. StdColors takes effect once the transient
portion of 4DOS starts (i.e., when 4START is run), but
will not affect the color of error or other messages
displayed during the 4DOS loading and initialization
process. If ANSI.SYS or a compatible driver is not
loaded, the colors will not be "sticky" -- you may lose
them when you run an application.
Key Mapping Directives
The directives in this group allow you to change the keys used
for 4DOS command line editing and other internal functions.
They take effect only inside 4DOS itself and do not affect
other programs (including 4DOS's external help program,
4HELP.EXE).
The description of each directive below explains the function
of the corresponding key. Using the directive allows you to
assign a different or additional key to perform the function
described. For example, to assign function key F3 to invoke
the 4DOS HELP facility:
Help = F3
Any directive can be used multiple times to assign multiple
keys to the same function. For example:
ListFind = F ;F does a find in LIST
ListFind = F5 ;F5 also does a find in LIST
Use some care when you reassign keystrokes. If you assign a
default key to a different function, it will no longer be
available for its original use. For example, if you assign F1
to the AddFile directive (a part of filename completion), the
F1 key will no longer invoke 4DOS's HELP facility, so you will
probably want to assign a different key to HELP.
Some keys are interpreted by your system's BIOS and are not
passed on to 4DOS. For example, Ctrl-S tells the BIOS to
pause screen output temporarily, and on some systems Ctrl-P
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toggles Print Screen mode. Keys which are interpreted by the
BIOS cannot be assigned with key mapping directives, because
4DOS never receives these keystrokes and therefore cannot act
on them.
4DOS processes all command line editing key assignments before
looking for keystroke aliases. For example, if you assign
Shift-F1 to HELP and also assign Shift-F1 to a key alias, the
key alias will be ignored.
Assigning a new keystroke for a function does not deassign the
default keystroke for the same function. If you want to
deassign one of the standard 4DOS keys without assigning it to
another function, use the NormalKey directive described below
or the corresponding directive for keys in the other key
groups (NormalEditKey, NormalHWinKey, or NormalListKey).
General Input Keys
This first set of Key Mapping Directives applies to all
input. These directives are effective whenever 4DOS
requests input from the keyboard, including command line
editing and the DESCRIBE, ESET, INPUT, LIST, and SELECT
commands. (Scrolling through the command history list is
controlled by NextHist and PrevHist (see page 134), not
by the Up and Down directives below.) See page 55 for
more information about command line editing.
Backspace = Key (Bksp): Deletes the character to the
left of the cursor.
BeginLine = Key (Home): Moves the cursor to the
beginning of the line.
Del = Key (Del): Deletes the character at the cursor.
DelToBeginning = Key (Ctrl-Home): Deletes from the
cursor to the start of the line.
DelToEnd = Key (Ctrl-End): Deletes from the cursor to
the end of the line.
DelWordLeft = Key (Ctrl-L): Deletes the word to the
left of the cursor.
DelWordRight = Key (Ctrl-R, Ctrl-Bksp): Deletes the
word to the right of the cursor.
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Down = Key (Down): Scrolls the display down one line in
LIST; moves the cursor down one line in SELECT and in the
command history window.
EndLine = Key (End): Moves the cursor to the end of the
line.
EraseLine = Key (Esc): Deletes the entire line.
ExecLine = Key (Enter): Executes or accepts a line.
Ins = Key (Ins): Toggles insert / overstrike mode during
line editing.
Left = Key (Left): Moves the cursor left one character;
moves the display left 8 columns in LIST.
NormalKey = Key (none): Deassigns a general input key in
order to disable the usual meaning of the key within 4DOS
and / or make it available for keystroke aliases. This
will cause 4DOS to treat the keystroke as a "normal" key
with no special function. For example:
NormalKey = Ctrl-End
will disable Ctrl-End, which is the standard "delete to
beginning of line" key. Ctrl-End could then be assigned
to a keystroke alias. Another key could be assigned the
"delete to end of line" function with the DelToEnd
directive (above).
Right = Key (Right): Moves the cursor right one
character; scrolls the display right 8 columns in LIST.
Up = Key (Up): Scrolls the display up one line in LIST;
moves the cursor up one line in SELECT and in the command
history window.
WordLeft = Key (Ctrl-Left): Moves the cursor left one
word; scrolls the display left 40 columns in LIST.
WordRight = Key (Ctrl-Right): Moves the cursor right
one word; scrolls the display right 40 columns in LIST.
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Command Line Editing Keys
The following directives apply only to command line
editing. They are only effective at the 4DOS prompt.
AddFile = Key (F10): Keeps the current filename
completion entry and inserts the next matching name.
CommandEscape = Key (Alt-255): Allows direct entry of a
keystroke that would normally be interpreted as an editor
command.
DelHistory = Key (Ctrl-D): Deletes the displayed
history list entry and displays the previous entry.
EndHistory = Key (Ctrl-E): Displays the last entry in
the history list.
Help = Key (F1): Invokes the 4DOS HELP facility.
NextFile = Key (F9, Tab): Gets the next matching
filename.
NextHistory = Key (Down): Recalls the next command from
the command history.
NormalEditKey = Key (none): Deassigns a command line
editing key in order to disable the usual meaning of the
key while editing a command line and / or make it
available for keystroke aliases. This will cause 4DOS to
treat the keystroke as a "normal" key with no special
function. For an example see the NormalKey directive on
page 133.
PrevFile = Key (F8, Shift-Tab): Gets the previous
matching filename.
PrevHistory = Key (Up): Recalls the previous command
from the command history.
SaveHistory = Key (Ctrl-K): Saves the command line in
the history list without executing it.
History Window Keys
HistWinBegin = Key (Ctrl-PgUp): Moves to the first line
of the history when in the history window.
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HistWinEdit = Key (Ctrl-Enter): Moves a line from the
history window to the prompt for editing.
HistWinEnd = Key (Ctrl-PgDn): Moves to the last line of
the history when in the history window.
HistWinExec = Key (Enter): Executes the selected line in
the history window.
HistWinOpen = Key (PgUp): Brings up the history window
while at the command line.
NormalHWinKey = Key (none): Deassigns a history window
key in order to disable the usual meaning of the key
within the history window. This will cause 4DOS to treat
the keystroke as a "normal" key with no special function.
For an example see the NormalKey directive on page 133.
LIST Keys
The keys in the last group of Key Mapping Directives are
effective only inside the LIST command.
ListFind = Key (F): Prompts and searches for a string.
ListHighBit = Key (H): Toggles LIST's "strip high bit"
option, which can aid in displaying files from certain
word processors.
ListNext = Key (N): Finds the next matching string.
ListPrint = Key (P): Prints the file on LPT1.
ListWrap = Key (W): Toggles LIST's wrap option on and
off. The wrap option wraps text at the right margin.
NormalListKey = Key (none): Deassigns a LIST key in
order to disable the usual meaning of the key within
LIST. This will cause 4DOS to treat the keystroke as a
"normal" key with no special function. For an example
see the NormalKey directive on page 133.
Advanced Directives
These directives are used for unusual circumstances or for
diagnosing problems. They are not needed in normal use.
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CritFail = Yes | NO: This is the same as /F on the SHELL
= line in CONFIG.SYS. It intercepts all DOS critical
errors and returns a Fail to each. We do not recommend
this on a normal system, because you will not have a
chance to react to a critical error and correct the
problem that caused it. It is intended for use on
bulletin boards or other systems where unattended
operation is required without user prompts.
FineSwap = Yes | NO: "Yes" enables "fine-grained"
checksums during disk swapping. This should be used only
to diagnose unusual swapping problems.
FullINT2E = Yes | NO: Enables full support for the
COMMAND.COM "back door" (interrupt 2E) which a few
programs use to execute commands. Effective only in a
primary shell loaded via the SHELL= command in
CONFIG.SYS. See Appendix C on page 335 below for details
on using INT 2E. Also, see APPNOTES.DOC for information
on any programs known to require this option. If this
directive is not used or is set to NO, INT 2E will return
immediately to the calling program without taking any
action. Setting FullINT2E to YES adds about 100 bytes to
the resident size of the primary shell.
Inherit = YES | No: Aliases and the history list are
normally passed to secondary shells automatically. "No"
disables this feature.
MessageServer = YES | No: For compatibility with
COMMAND.COM in MS-DOS 4.x and 5.x, 4DOS includes a
"message server" that retrieves error message text for
DOS external commands like DISKCOPY and FORMAT. The
message server increases the size of the resident portion
of 4DOS by about 200 bytes. "No" disables the message
server and saves this space, but will cause more cryptic
error messages such as "Parse error 3" or "Extended error
7" from some DOS external commands. The message server
is automatically disabled by 4DOS except in the primary
4DOS shell loaded from CONFIG.SYS when running under DOS
4.x or 5.x.
Reduce = YES | No: Set to "No" to disable the smaller
swap size used by 4DOS secondary shells. For diagnosing
unusual swapping problems only.
ReserveTPA = YES | No: Set to "No" to prevent 4DOS from
reserving memory for its transient portion while at the
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command prompt. For diagnosing unusual TSR or swapping
problems only. ReserveTPA is forced to YES regardless of
any INI file setting if you are running under Windows 3
in real or standard mode. This is necessary to avoid
undesirable interactions between 4DOS and Windows.
StackSize= nnnn (3584): Set the 4DOS internal stack
size. The allowable range of values is 3584 to 8192.
You may need to increase the stack size if you are using
extremely complex combinations of batch files and nested
"prefix" commands like EXCEPT, FOR, GLOBAL, IF, and
SELECT on the same command line. Under such
circumstances 4DOS may not work properly; you should only
use this directive if you are actually experiencing
trouble under such conditions. For virtually all users
the default stack size will be sufficient. Increasing
this value also increases the size of 4DOS's transient
portion and the size of the 4DOS swap area.
SwapReopen = Yes | NO: Set to "Yes" to enable reopening
of the 4DOS swap file if it is closed by another program.
This is required when swapping 4DOS to Novell Netware
drives. In all other circumstances, it is only useful
for diagnostic purposes. Setting SwapReopen to "Yes"
also disables the reduced swapping size normally used in
4DOS secondary shells.
Examples
The following examples will give you an idea of the types of
things that can be done with the 4DOS.INI file. The comments
on each directive explain what it does.
First, a very simple example that just sets up swapping and
environment size, leaving everything else at its default
value:
Swapping = ems, c:\
;try EMS, then C: root
Environment = 1024 ;set environment size
Here's something a little fancier that changes a number of the
default settings:
Swapping = xms, h:\, c:\
;try XMS, then RAM disk,
; then C: root
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Environment = 1792 ;set env size
Alias = 6144 ;set alias size
History = 1024 ;set history size
UmbEnv=Y ;master environment in UMB
BatchEcho = No ;default is ECHO OFF
EditMode = Insert ;editor in insert mode
CursorO = 100 ;overstrike cursor 100%
CursorI = 10 ;insert cursor 10%
The final example is similar to the second, but includes key
reassignments and a [Secondary] section to vary a couple of
settings in secondary shells:
; ALL SHELLS
PauseOnError = No ;don't stop on an error
Swapping = xms, c:\
;try XMS, then C: root
Environment = 1792 ;set env size
Alias = 6144 ;set alias size
History = 1024 ;set history size
UmbEnv=Y ;master environment in UMB
BatchEcho = No ;default is ECHO OFF
EditMode = Insert ;editor in insert mode
CursorO = 100 ;overstrike cursor 100%
ListFind = F5 ;set LIST find to F5
ListNext = F6 ;find next is F6
ListPrint = F7 ;print file is F7
; PRIMARY SHELL ONLY
[Primary] ;set primaries
CursorI = 10 ;insert cursor 10%
StdColors = bri whi on blu ;set primary's colors
; SECONDARY SHELL ONLY
[Secondary] ;set secondaries
CursorI = 30 ;insert cursor 30%
StdColors = bri whi on cya ;set secondary's colors
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CHAPTER 7 / USING 4DOS WITH YOUR HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE
This section of the manual explains how to get the most from 4DOS
with your particular system. A few general techniques and concepts
are explained here, but if you have questions about how to make
4DOS run most efficiently with a particular hardware setup or a
specific application, you should also see the file called
APPNOTES.DOC which comes with 4DOS.
If you have questions about some of the terms and concepts here,
see Chapter 4 / General Concepts on page 41, the Glossary on page
342, and the Index.
This section begins with a discussion of hardware considerations
and includes some tips for installing 4DOS most effectively to run
with several types of software, as well as certain popular
programs. It concludes with some techniques for resolving
unintended interactions between programs, even if those
interactions do not include 4DOS itself.
Hardware
The CPU
The CPU or "Central Processing Unit" is the chip which
performs or directs all of the work done by your computer.
All PC CPU chips are part of or compatible with Intel's
"80x86" family. These include the 8088, 8086, 80188, 80186,
80286, 386, 486, NEC V20, and NEC V30, plus "SX" versions and
other variations of some of those chips. 4DOS is compatible
with and will run equally well on all of these chips.
Some systems have a numeric coprocessor as a companion to the
CPU. The numeric coprocessor performs many arithmetic
calculations faster than the CPU. 4DOS does not use or access
the numeric coprocessor in any way.
You can determine which CPU chip your system has by using
4DOS's _CPU internal variable:
c:\> echo %_cpu
Similarly, you can find out if you have a numeric coprocessor
with _NDP:
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c:\> echo %_ndp
See page 82 for details about _CPU and _NDP.
Memory
4DOS does its best to detect and properly access all types of
memory that your computer can have: Base memory, Expanded
(EMS) Memory, Extended (XMS) Memory, and Upper Memory Blocks
(UMBs). 4DOS always uses standard, documented methods to use
the memory that you have installed.
4DOS uses base memory (the area from 0 to 640K on most
machines, which is sometimes called "low memory" or "DOS
memory") for its resident portion and the master environment,
and to hold its transient portion while your system is at the
command prompt or executing a 4DOS command or batch file.
4DOS may use EMS memory or an XMS Extended Memory Block (EMB)
to swap its transient portion, according to the Swapping
directive in your 4DOS.INI file (see page 125).
4DOS uses UMBs for several purposes:
* to move the 4DOS resident portion out of base memory,
if you specify "UMBLoad = Yes" in your 4DOS.INI file.
* to move the master environment out of base memory, if
you specify "UMBEnvironment = Yes" in your 4DOS.INI
file.
* to load memory-resident programs (TSRs) "high" using
the LOADHIGH or LH command under MS-DOS 5.0.
To load 4DOS or the master environment into a UMB, you must be
using a memory manager or XMS driver which provides both the
ability to remap memory into the area between 640K and 1MB (to
create the UMBs) and XMS or DOS 5.0 UMB support (to manage the
UMBs). These are generally the same requirements which must
be met to load TSRs "high."
To give 4DOS access to UMBs, you need hardware and software
combinations like the following:
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386 and 486 systems (including 386SX computers):
Hardware: Sufficient installed RAM.
Software: Qualitas' 386MAX or Blue Max, Quarterdeck's
QEMM 5.0 or later, DOS 5.0's EMM386.SYS, or a similar 386
memory manager. HIMEM.SYS alone is not sufficient.
80286 systems:
Hardware: Chips and Technologies NEAT chip set, or an
EMS 4.0 or EEMS memory board, plus sufficient installed
RAM.
Software: Qualitas' MOVE-EM 1.02 or later with
Microsoft's HIMEM.SYS, or Quarterdeck's QRAM and QEXT.
Other memory-management software may also work. The lists
above are examples only. On the 386 systems here at JP
Software, we use 386MAX almost exclusively, but we also have
had good results with QEMM. Look for specific information
about your memory management program in APPNOTES.DOC.
If you want to use the 4DOS LOADHIGH command as well as put
4DOS and the master environment in high memory, you must also
be running MS-DOS 5.0 or above.
4DOS never accesses extended memory directly. It always uses
an XMS driver like HIMEM.SYS, EMM386.SYS, 386MAX, QEXT, or
QEMM. 4DOS can also access any RAM disk you create in
extended memory by using a program like VDISK.SYS or
RAMDRIVE.SYS. 4DOS does not use the XMS "High Memory Area"
(HMA), a 64K byte area just above 1 MB on 80286, 386, and 486
systems.
If you want to know whether 4DOS sees your system's memory
accurately, check the output of the MEMORY command. It should
correspond to your computer's memory configuration.
The MEMORY command's output depends to some extent on your
memory manager. If you are using Quarterdeck's QEMM, the
report may not be the same as you expect. Because QEMM turns
your extended memory into either XMS or EMS memory as
required, the same memory is shown both ways in the MEMORY
report. If 1 MB of extended memory managed by QEMM is
available, MEMORY will report 1 MB of free XMS memory and 1 MB
of free EMS memory as well, even though it is all the same
memory. This is not a bug but a result of QEMM's flexibility.
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Memory-related problems with 4DOS are usually due to programs
which overwrite the extended memory block (EMB) that 4DOS uses
for swapping its transient portion. When you exit from such a
program, your system will hang, because 4DOS tried to swap
itself back into base memory but its code and data in XMS have
been destroyed by the program. The same problem can occur
with EMS swapping but is less common because EMS memory is
generally better defended against wayward programs. You can
diagnose this kind of problem easily by changing to disk
swapping with the 4DOS.INI Swapping directive, and rebooting.
If the problem goes away with disk swapping, then the program
in question is probably destroying 4DOS's swap area in XMS or
EMS memory.
4DOS EMS swapping sometimes has difficulty with EMS drivers
which do not fully meet the EMS 3.2 specification (4DOS
supports, but does not require, EMS 4.0 drivers). If you have
trouble accessing EMS for swapping, check APPNOTES.DOC to see
if there are any known problems with your EMS board or the
associated driver software.
Video
4DOS is compatible with most display adapters and monitors.
Although 4DOS can normally detect your video parameters
automatically, you may have to configure it to use the system
most efficiently.
4DOS uses two methods of displaying text on the screen:
* 4DOS calls DOS to write the text of prompts and normal
messages. If you use an ANSI driver, DOS will transmit
the calls to it. Otherwise, DOS will use your BIOS to
display text on the screen. DOS text display calls
will work on all DOS systems, regardless of video type.
* The DRAWBOX, DRAWHLINE, DRAWVLINE, LIST, SELECT,
SCRPUT, and VSCRPUT commands bypass DOS, the BIOS, and
any ANSI driver. They write directly to video memory.
These commands will only work on systems with 100% IBM-
compatible video systems. On other computers, results
will be unpredictable at best. If you have such a
system you probably know it already, because most
application programs have similar problems.
EGA and VGA systems can display text in standard 25-line mode,
plus modes with 43, 50, or more lines. 4DOS normally detects
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the number of lines automatically. If it doesn't, you can use
the 4DOS.INI ScreenRows directive or the SETDOS /R command to
set the 4DOS screen length. 4DOS uses ScreenRows or SETDOS
/R to set the display length that it uses for the LIST and
SELECT command, as well as commands that have a "pause" option
(TYPE /P, DIR /P, etc.).
4DOS never attempts to manipulate your video hardware in order
to set the number of rows actually displayed on the screen
(the "video mode"); to do so, you must use the software that
came with your video board or other software tailored to your
system.
4DOS does not handle display scrolling at the command prompt.
If you put the screen in 43-line or 50-line mode and find that
it still scrolls at the 25th line, your ANSI driver is
probably not properly supporting your extended screen length.
This is not a bug in 4DOS.
The video cursor shape that 4DOS uses is defined as a
percentage of a character cell height. You can set the height
independently for insert and overstrike mode with the
CursorIns and CursorOver directives in 4DOS.INI or with the
SETDOS /S command. If you don't use either, 4DOS sets the
height to 10% of the character cell height for overstrike mode
and 100% (a block cursor) for insert mode.
If you have trouble with the cursor, use SETDOS /S to find the
values that work for your system. Some video boards may not
give a "smooth" response to varying SETDOS /S values. For
example, a value of 20% may generate a very small cursor while
a value of 30% may generate a half-height cursor. 4DOS can't
do anything about this behavior, so you will have to
experiment to find the cursor values that you want to use.
If the cursor disappears and you can't fix it with SETDOS /S,
you probably have a screen color problem. The cursor is shown
in the color of the underlying character cell. If that cell
has (for example) the color attribute of black on black, the
cursor will be invisible. If you are using an ANSI driver,
you can fix this problem easily by clearing the screen to a
known color with the CLS command. If the cursor still doesn't
reappear, you will have to determine what is setting your
screen attributes to an invisible color. For example, you
might be using an ANSI driver that assumes a 25-line video
mode on an EGA/VGA system running in 43-line or 50-line mode.
This can cause the driver to set portions of the screen to an
invisible color when the screen is cleared.
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If you are using an EGA or VGA adapter, we encourage you to
try UltraVision from Personics Corp. It gives you excellent
control over your video system, includes a wide variety of
text-mode screen fonts, has its own ANSI driver, and works
superbly with 4DOS. We use it and wouldn't be without it. A
special version for laptop and notebook computers dramatically
improves the readability of their smaller displays.
Most versions of DOS include a copy of ANSI.SYS, a device
driver that is normally installed with a DEVICE= line in your
CONFIG.SYS file. There are a number of more powerful and
faster versions available as public-domain, shareware, and
retail products. We use PC Magazine's free utility ANSI.COM
because it can be enabled, disabled, loaded, and unloaded
without rebooting, and because it is small and fast and works
well inside windows of multitasking systems. It is available
on most bulletin boards and online systems. Another excellent
choice is ANSI-UV.SYS which is included with UltraVision.
4DOS normally detects automatically whether an ANSI driver is
installed. If you have an ANSI driver installed and 4DOS
doesn't recognize it, try the command SETDOS /A1 which forces
4DOS to use ANSI commands. Use SETDOS /A2 to tell 4DOS you do
not have an ANSI driver installed. These options can also be
set with the ANSI directive in 4DOS.INI.
Hard Drives and Floppy Disks
4DOS uses your disks for a wide variety of purposes, and many
4DOS commands are designed to help you create, move, delete,
view, and otherwise manage disk files. 4DOS never tries to
manipulate the structure of your hard disk directly. It never
modifies the FAT, root directory, or other system areas of the
disk directly, and it doesn't read or write data on your disk
itself. It always calls on DOS to perform these actions, just
like most application programs do. As a result, 4DOS is
compatible with all disk sizes, formats, and structures that
your DOS version supports.
The most common question that we're asked about 4DOS and disks
is whether 4DOS will handle a hard disk larger than 32
Megabytes. The answer depends on how your system is
configured. Early versions of DOS do not support hard disks
over 32 Megabytes unless a disk partitioning driver like
SpeedStor, Vfeature Deluxe, or Disk Manager is used. Later
versions of DOS support large hard disks directly, without a
partitioning driver. If your system supports large hard
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disks, either directly through DOS or with a partitioning
driver, 4DOS will support them also. If your system doesn't
support large hard disks, neither will 4DOS.
4DOS will generally access your disk very quickly, but the
speed depends on what you are trying to do. If you find that
4DOS is slower at performing a particular function than you
are used to, you may have asked it to do more than you ask of
traditional DOS commands. In particular, if you use file
descriptions, remember that 4DOS has to access the description
file as well as the actual files that you are manipulating.
Some users notice that the common commands DEL and DIR appear
slower with 4DOS under certain circumstances. With DEL, this
slowdown may be because 4DOS uses a newer method of file
deletion instead of an older method that is no longer
recommended (but commonly used). The new method is necessary
to enable 4DOS to display the names of the files you are
deleting, and to support 4DOS's "extended wildcards" (see page
71). You can force 4DOS to use the older method with DEL's /Q
option as long as you don't use extended wildcards.
For DIR, any perceived speed decrease is because of 4DOS's
directory sorting. 4DOS must read all filenames before it can
display any of them. The sort itself is quite fast, but DOS
is relatively slow at retrieving the entire list of file names
and passing them on to 4DOS. Once the 4DOS DIR display
starts, it should go as fast as or faster than the traditional
DIR display.
Laptop and Notebook Computers
4DOS makes a great addition to any laptop or notebook
computer, but some of these systems have unusual
characteristics which you must consider when you install 4DOS
or make any change to your CONFIG.SYS file.
Many of these computers boot from a floppy drive or a hard
disk just like a desktop computer. On these machines, you can
generally install 4DOS just as you would on any other
computer. However, some laptop and notebook computers,
including many Tandy laptops, boot from ROM ("Read Only
Memory" chips inside the computer). You need to take some
precautions with these machines.
First, systems which boot from ROM often can be configured to
use either the ROM boot feature or a standard floppy or hard
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drive boot up. The following comments only apply when you use
the ROM boot feature.
! If your system allows you to boot from ROM but load CONFIG.SYS
and AUTOEXEC.BAT from a hard disk or floppy, you need to be
cautious. If you make a mistake in a hard-disk based
CONFIG.SYS that keeps your system from booting, there may be
no way to tell the ROM boot program to ignore the bad
CONFIG.SYS file. You may have to take drastic measures like
opening the case and disconnecting the hard drive to get the
system to ignore your mistaken CONFIG.SYS and boot properly.
If you have a system that boots from ROM and reads CONFIG.SYS
from the hard disk, we strongly recommend that you change the
configuration to boot from the hard disk or a floppy before
you make any change to your CONFIG.SYS file, whether it is
related to 4DOS or not. This will allow you to boot from a
boot-up floppy disk if you make an error in the CONFIG.SYS on
your hard drive. Once you are satisfied that everything is
working properly, you can switch back to ROM bootup.
The second, and related, issue with systems that boot from ROM
is that they may consider the ROM to be a disk drive of sorts.
A system with drive C as the hard disk may view the ROM as
drive D. When you boot from ROM, the ROM drive is the current
drive, and that is where 4DOS will look for the 4START and
AUTOEXEC.BAT files. But they will be on your hard drive or
floppy diskette, and 4DOS won't be able to find them. (This
doesn't happen with COMMAND.COM on these systems because the
manufacturer has modified it to get around the problem.)
If you run into this problem, you can fix it easily with some
changes to your CONFIG.SYS and 4DOS.INI files. First, modify
the SHELL= line in CONFIG.SYS so that it tells 4DOS where to
find 4DOS.INI. You can do this by placing the full path to
4DOS.INI on the line, like this (see page 111 for more
details):
shell=c:\4dos\4dos.com @c:\4dos.ini /p
(change the drive and path shown if 4DOS.COM is not in the
directory C:\4DOS on your system). This tells 4DOS to look
for 4DOS.INI on drive C, even though the boot drive might be
(for example) drive D. Then add two lines to the 4DOS.INI
file (see page 124 for details on these directives):
4StartPath=c:\
AutoExecPath=c:\
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These tell 4DOS to look for 4START and AUTOEXEC.BAT in the
root directory of drive C, even though the boot drive may be
different.
If you have a system like this, 4DOS may set the COMSPEC to
the ROM drive. You can avoid this by setting the COMSPEC
yourself on the SHELL= line in CONFIG.SYS (see page 110). For
example, the SHELL= line above could be modified to read:
shell=c:\4dos\4dos.com c:\4dos @c:\4dos.ini /p
The second "C:\4DOS" tells 4DOS to use this directory as the
COMSPEC path.
Finally, if you have a laptop or notebook computer with a
color (CGA, EGA, or VGA) video board and a monochrome screen,
you may need to use the HELP /M option, the HelpOptions
directive in 4DOS.INI, or run HELPCFG to adjust the HELP
colors.
Critical Errors
A "critical" error is an error that gives you the "Abort,
Retry, Fail" message. With 4DOS running, this message appears
as follows:
[Error message]
R(etry), I(gnore), F(ail), or A(bort)?
The error message on the first line explains the error that
has occurred, and the device on which it occurred. The second
line prompts for your choice of action (the Fail choice will
not be displayed under DOS 2).
A critical error usually indicates a hardware malfunction.
The error may be that the device doesn't exist, there is no
disk in the drive, the network has gone down, or a data error
occurred. In most cases you will choose R to retry the
operation, or A to abort the operation.
! Choosing I(gnore) can be risky: it will cause 4DOS to proceed
as if the error had not occurred. This can produce additional
errors, and may lead the command which generated the original
error to perform its functions improperly.
F(ail) will tell 4DOS that the operation it was attempting has
failed, which will generally produce another error message.
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For example, if you attempt to do a directory on drive A with
no disk in the drive, and answer F to the resulting critical
error, you will get an additional error message, "Invalid
drive A".
Many programs install their own critical error handlers. If
you get a critical error message within an application and the
second line does not read as shown above, the message did not
come from 4DOS. Any problem in handling your response
properly is due to the application, not to 4DOS.
Choosing A(bort) within an application may abort the entire
application and not just the operation being performed. The
specific action depends on which critical error handler is in
use (4DOS's or the application's), and how the application's
critical error handler (if any) is designed.
If you are using 4DOS on a system that must run unattended
(for example, a bulletin board), you can use the /F startup
option in CONFIG.SYS or the CritFail directive in 4DOS.INI
(see pages 110 and 135) to provide an automatic F(ail)
response to all critical errors. However, we do not recommend
this on a normal system, because you will not have a chance to
react to a critical error and correct the problem that caused
it.
Software
You should find that 4DOS is compatible with all your PC
software. We have designed it carefully so that it uses only
standard, documented methods to do its job. It works properly
with application software, utilities, networks, multitaskers
and task switchers, memory-resident (TSR) programs, and system
software like disk caches, memory managers, and device
drivers. We test 4DOS regularly with hundreds of popular
software products in order to catch and correct compatibility
problems before you encounter them.
The following sections discuss using 4DOS with two major kinds
of software: multitasking and task switching programs, and
networks. For specific information about any individual
software package, including the latest information about
products mentioned here, see the APPNOTES.DOC file distributed
with 4DOS. It contains the latest information we have
available when your copy of 4DOS was shipped.
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If you need to diagnose a problem that isn't covered below or
in APPNOTES.DOC, see page 7.
4DOS and DOS
4DOS is compatible with all versions of MS-DOS and PC-DOS from
2.0 through 5.0 and above, and with DR-DOS 3.4, 5.0, and
above. For MS-DOS and PC-DOS users, we recommend the use of
DOS 3.1 or above. Some specific considerations for DR-DOS
users are discussed in APPNOTES.DOC. MS-DOS users using the
APPEND command may need to set up some aliases to invoke
APPEND; see APPNOTES.DOC for details.
If you use the FORMAT /S command from MS-DOS or PC-DOS,
version 4.0 or above, FORMAT will copy the file pointed to by
the COMSPEC environment variable (see page 115) and name it
COMMAND.COM. In most cases this means that 4DOS.COM will be
copied to the floppy disk, but with the name COMMAND.COM.
Such a disk should boot properly and start 4DOS, but its
contents is sure to be confusing to others. If you use FORMAT
/S with MS-DOS or PC-DOS 4.0 or above, we recommend that you
copy COMMAND.COM manually to the floppy disk (you can use an
alias or batch file if you format bootable disks frequently),
or rename the file that FORMAT copies to 4DOS.COM and place a
proper CONFIG.SYS file for 4DOS on the floppy disk.
Using 4DOS with Task Switchers and Multitaskers
Task switchers are programs that allow you to switch quickly
among multiple applications, with one application running at a
time. Multitaskers are more complex programs which run
multiple applications at the same time, with one or more
programs executing "in the background" while you work with
another program on the screen.
For convenience, in the text below we will refer to both
multitaskers and task switchers as "multitaskers," and to each
window or partition they use as a "window," even though some
do not have windowed displays.
4DOS works well as both the primary shell (loaded when your
system boots) and the secondary shell (loaded in a window)
with most multitaskers.
Most multitaskers have a pre-configured "DOS" window. In some
programs, this window always runs COMMAND.COM. Others run
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whatever program COMSPEC points to, which means they will run
4DOS if you boot up with 4DOS. We recommend that you always
set up a 4DOS window explicitly, with the configuration you
want, rather that relying on the multitasker's generic "DOS"
window.
Many multitaskers also run the command processor when you
start certain kinds of windows, such as windows that run a
.BAT file. In general, this use of the command processor is
transparent. The multitasker will run 4DOS for you
automatically when it needs to, and you won't need to do
anything about it.
If you find that your multitasker is running COMMAND.COM when
you meant to run 4DOS, check the COMSPEC setting that is in
effect when you start the multitasker. You may also need to
check the way a particular window is configured.
When you set up a 4DOS window, be sure to specify the full
path to 4DOS.COM, and any command-line options you want (see
page 113 for information on command line options). To set
parameters (swapping, alias space, etc.) to be used by all
4DOS secondary shells run by your multitasker, use the
[Secondary] section in 4DOS.INI (see page 120). To set these
parameters separately for a specific window, create a copy of
4DOS.INI just for that window and use the @d:\path\inifile
option on your command line for the window to tell 4DOS where
to find 4DOS.INI. To change the configuration of a specific
window without creating a separate copy of 4DOS.INI, use the
//iniline option on your command line for the window (see
example below).
4DOS allows you to place a command to be executed as the last
parameter on your 4DOS command line. This command is executed
before 4DOS displays its first prompt. You can use this
feature to run a batch file (or any other command) each time a
4DOS window is started by your multitasker. For example, if
you are setting up 4DOS to run as a DOS application under
Windows 3.0, your command line might look this:
c:\4dos\4dos.com //swapping=f:\ c:\winstart.btm
This tells Windows to load 4DOS, includes a 4DOS.INI directive
to tell 4DOS to swap to drive F, and passes 4DOS the command
C:\WINSTART.BTM. You can place commands in C:\WINSTART.BTM to
be executed whenever such a window is started (for example, to
change your PROMPT to show that you're in a window, or to load
a TSR for just that window). The command to be executed
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(C:\WINSTART.BTM in this example), must be the last thing on
the 4DOS command line; no 4DOS switches or options can be
placed after it because anything after the command will be
interpreted as parameters for the command.
This command feature is similar to what's provided by the
4START batch file, but 4START is executed every time 4DOS
loads, whereas a file like WINSTART will be executed only when
a 4DOS window is started from your multitasker. A batch file
started this way will be run after 4START.
If you use KEYSTACK inside a window of a multitasker, and the
KSTACK.COM program has been loaded before the multitasker, you
may find that stacked keystrokes "bleed through" from one
window to another. You can solve this problem by loading
KSTACK.COM in a startup batch file (see above) for each window
where it is needed. If KSTACK is loaded before the
multitasker as well, include a /I on the command line when
loading KSTACK inside the window. If you don't, KSTACK will
detect that it is already installed and will not install
again.
Multitasking and Disk Swapping
When 4DOS is loaded as the primary shell, it acts as a
"traffic cop" for copies of the transient portion of 4DOS
swapped to disk. Each secondary shell is assigned a unique
shell number, which is used as the extension of its disk swap
file (4DOSSWAP.001, 4DOSSWAP.002, etc.). These shell numbers
avoid file name conflicts between multiple copies of 4DOS
running in different windows but creating swap files in the
same disk directory.
However, if 4DOS is not loaded before the multitasker, this
capability will not be available. In this case, the copy of
4DOS in each window will use a swap file called 4DOSSWAP.000.
To avoid a conflict in this situation, you must force every
copy of 4DOS to place its swap file in its own unique
directory by using the "Swapping=d:\path" directive in
4DOS.INI. If you don't follow this rule, your system will
hang when you switch windows or when you exit from an
application.
This problem will occur only in those rare situations where
4DOS is loaded within a window but is not loaded as your
primary shell, and if 4DOS disk swapping is used in more than
one window at a time. The problem will not occur if 4DOS is
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loaded as the primary shell (the usual case), or if 4DOS can
use EMS or XMS swapping for all simultaneous shells. Note
that since the default swapping option uses disk swapping if
insufficient EMS or XMS memory is available, you can be
invoking disk swapping in your multitasker's windows without
specifically requesting it.
4DOS and Microsoft Windows 3.0
4DOS works well as both the primary shell, loaded before
Windows 3, and as a secondary shell loaded inside any window.
It works in any Windows mode (Real, Standard, or Enhanced).
The previous general information about multitaskers applies to
Windows as well. You should read it before continuing with
this section.
To run 4DOS as a secondary shell from within Windows, you will
need to create a Program Manager icon to run 4DOS. The
generic "DOS" icon supplied by Microsoft will only run
COMMAND.COM. You can set up a 4DOS icon from the Program
Manager's File / New menu selection.
First, create a new program item and set the command line to
"C:\4DOS\4DOS.COM" (use the appropriate drive and path for
your system). As discussed above, you can put the name of a
batch file at the end of the command line.
To install a special 4DOS icon, use the Program Manager's File
/ Properties menu selection. Click on the Change Icon button
and type in the full path name of your new 4DOS icon file. We
supply two Windows icons with 4DOS: 4DOS.ICO for color
displays, and 4DOSM.ICO for monochrome displays. Of course,
you can create your own with any icon editor.
For more flexibility, you can use the Windows PIF editor to
create a 4DOS.PIF file. We have included a sample .PIF file
on the distribution diskette. You must edit this file and
make it correspond to your system before you use it to run
4DOS.
If you run Windows in 386 Enhanced mode, 4DOS will work
properly in either a full-screen or a windowed session. The
.PIF file determines the mode that 4DOS will start in. If you
don't use a .PIF file, 4DOS will always start in full-screen
mode.
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Your batch files can determine whether they are running in a
secondary shell under Windows, and the current Windows mode,
with the 4DOS _WIN environment variable (see page 84).
You can easily set up the Windows File Manager so that it will
consider .BTM files to be "executable". Open your WIN.INI
file with any editor and find the section labeled
"[extensions]". Add the following line to the end of the
section:
btm=c:\4dos\4dos.com /c ^.btm
(adjust this to show the proper path for 4DOS.COM on your
system). It is not possible to execute .BTM files from the
Program Manager by modifying the Programs= setting in WIN.INI;
if you try to do so, the system will hang when you attempt to
actually invoke a BTM file.
4DOS and DESQView
4DOS works well as both the primary shell loaded before
DESQView, and as the secondary shell loaded inside any
DESQView window. The previous general information about
multitaskers applies to DESQView as well. You should read it
before continuing with this section.
To use 4DOS as a secondary shell with DESQview, you must add
it to your DESQview "Open Window" menu. To do this, select
the Add a Program option, then press the "O" key (for Other
Program). Press Enter and you will get an Add a Program
window. You'll need to modify settings on the standard first
screen, and on the second "advanced options" screen. Set the
Program Name to C:\4DOS\4DOS.COM (adjust the drive and path
for your own computer). Set the Parameters to whatever 4DOS
startup options you want, but do not use /C or /P. For other
DESQView parameters, the defaults are workable with the
following changes:
To run 4DOS in a full-screen window:
Writes Text Directly to Screen: Y (screen 1)
Virtualize Text / Graphics: N (screen 1)
Close on Exit to DOS: Y (screen 2)
Uses its Own Colors: Y (screen 2)
To run 4DOS in a window smaller than the full screen:
Writes Text Directly to Screen: N (screen 1)
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Virtualize Text / Graphics: Y/T (screen 1)
Close on Exit to DOS: Y (screen 2)
Uses its Own Colors: Y (screen 2)
4DOS is written to be "DESQView-aware", and will not "bleed
through" to other windows when running full-screen commands
such as HELP, LIST, or SELECT.
If you use 4DOS commands that work with an ANSI driver (CLS,
COLOR, and the COLORDIR environment variable), you will need
to load the ANSI driver in your 4DOS window. Drivers like PC
Magazine's ANSI.COM may work in full-screen windows, but we've
found that the only ANSI driver which works properly in a
window smaller than the full screen is Quarterdeck's
DVANSI.COM.
You can set up a startup batch file to load your ANSI driver
or take other actions when a DESQView 4DOS window is opened,
as discussed in the general section on multitaskers above.
Just place the batch file name (with drive and path if
necessary) as the last thing on the Parameters line.
DESQView will work properly with the UMBLoad and
UMBEnvironment directives set to Yes for the primary shell in
4DOS.INI, but may not work properly if these directives are
also active in secondary shells. 4DOS will turn these
directives off by default when loading a secondary shell under
DESQView, but you can override this default action with any
directives you explicitly place in 4DOS.INI. If you have
trouble with secondary shells and are using either of these
directives, try placing the following lines in the [Secondary]
section of 4DOS.INI:
UMBLoad = No
UMBEnvironment = No
If you want to use DESQView's DOS Services program, check
APPNOTES.DOC for the details on how to set it up for use with
4DOS.
Using 4DOS on a Network
4DOS works well with DOS-compatible networks. This section
will give you some tips on using 4DOS properly on a network,
and on the locations to use for 4DOS files on a network.
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In general, you'll find that you can load and run your network
software normally under 4DOS. Network drives will be
accessible as normal drives once the network is loaded, and
files on the network will be accessible just as if they were
on a local hard disk.
Some networks support file and directory names beginning with
a double backslash, or with a server name followed by a colon,
to identify files by their location on the network. 4DOS
detects such names and passes them through to the network
unaltered, allowing the network software to process them
properly.
In rare situations, you may have trouble loading network
software under 4DOS. To the best of our knowledge, all DOS-
compatible networks do work with 4DOS. If yours doesn't, our
experience suggests that the most common cause is a network
bug, an old version of your network software, or a conflict in
the way 4DOS and your network are configured. Most bugs have
now been corrected by network vendors, and should not appear
on your system. If you have any questions about compatibility
with your particular network, first check for a listing in
APPNOTES.DOC; then of course feel free to contact our
technical support department for assistance.
If you need to boot a diskless workstation from a network
drive, you must have the network drive accessible at boot
time. If this condition is satisfied (so 4DOS can find its
files on the network drives), the normal approach can be used
to start 4DOS from the network.
Some networks with large server disk drives (256 MB or more)
may report values that are too small if the FREEcommand and
the %@DISKFREE, %@DISKTOTAL, and %@DISKUSED variable functions
are used for the server drive. If this occurs, it is because
the network software does not provide a way to return larger
values to 4DOS.
! When you use 4DOS on a network, pay attention to where files
are stored in order to ensure that two 4DOS users do not
attempt to access the same 4DOS file at the same time. You
will need to pay particular attention to disk swapping and
pipes.
If 4DOS uses disk swapping (either because of an explicit
directive in 4DOS.INI or because default swapping is used and
no EMS or XMS memory is available), you should be sure that
two users don't use the same directory simultaneously for
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their disk swap files. If they do, the filenames
(4DOSSWAP.000, 4DOSSWAP.001, etc.) will conflict and each user
will write over the other's files, possibly causing one or
both systems to hang. To take care of this, use the Swapping
directive in 4DOS.INI to assign each user's swap files to a
different directory on the network drive.
Pipes are a method of passing information from one program to
another, and are invoked with the pipe symbol [|] on the
command line (see page 65). Pipes work by taking the output
from one program, storing it in a temporary file, then telling
a second program to obtain its input from that file. The
temporary files, with names like P1.$00 and P2.$00, are placed
by default in the root directory of the boot drive, but can be
placed on a different drive and directory by setting the TEMP
or TEMP4DOS environment variable (see page 115).
The same cautions given for disk swapping must be followed for
pipe temporary files; that is, you must ensure that each
user's temporary pipe files go to a separate directory. To do
this, just be sure that each network user running 4DOS has
TEMP or TEMP4DOS set to a unique directory. If you boot 4DOS
from a local hard disk, the pipe temporary files will go to
that disk and the environment variable setting will not be
necessary.
Solving Software Compatibility Problems
Any DOS program running on your computer can potentially
interact with any other program running at the same time. Of
course, most program interactions are ones you want: your
print spooler intercepts printer output and saves it to print
later, or your disk cache intercepts disk requests and speeds
them up by retrieving data from memory.
If you've used the PC for any length of time, however, you'll
know that you can also get interactions you don't want. If
you load just the wrong combination of TSRs and device
drivers, your system may slow to a crawl. Perhaps you can't
load your favorite Personal Information Manager with Windows
running. And so on.
As publishers of a product that replaces part of the operating
system, we're very familiar with these issues -- not because
4DOS is more likely to cause problems, but because it
sometimes gets blamed first when a problem appears. Our
technical support department has developed a set of reliable
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techniques for finding out what's causing an apparent
compatibility problem with 4DOS and other software.
We are presenting these techniques here as a series of things
to try when there seems to be a compatibility problem. Some
may not make sense for the particular problem you're
investigating. Others may not yield useful results. But as a
group, they'll help you resolve many of the common software
interactions that do appear, whether with 4DOS or anything
else.
Some of our suggestions help you figure out what's going on,
but aren't intended to help you fix it. For example, when we
suggest that you remove all your TSRs to look for the problem,
we aren't suggesting that as a permanent solution, but only as
a diagnostic test. Before you get started, be sure to check
APPNOTES.DOC to see if we've already solved the problem you're
facing.
The first thing to consider is whether the particular
combination of software that's not working used to work
together. If so, think carefully about what you have changed
and see if reversing the change solves the problem. If it
does, then you can narrow your search, using the following
techniques to find out what it is about that specific change
that is causing the problem.
Second, make sure that your problem can be reproduced
relatively easily, and make sure you know exactly what
sequence of commands or other steps reproduces it. Most
interactions are very easy to reproduce, but if you think
there's an interaction and it occurs once every 10 days, it's
going to be difficult to know when you have fixed it. Also,
the process of carefully documenting how to reproduce a
problem often helps you realize what the problem is without
further effort.
Third, if you have a problem with a specific application
hanging or working improperly, try cleaning up the
"atmosphere" in which that program runs. This is the single
most useful tool we know for finding compatibility problems.
By "cleaning up the atmosphere" we mean all of the following,
and any other similar things you may be able to think of about
your particular system after reading our suggestions below:
Check the length of your PATH variable. 4DOS lets you
make it longer than the standard limit of 123 characters.
Some programs can't handle long PATHs and may behave
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strangely. If your PATH is over the normal limit, reduce
its size using the PATH or ESET command and see if the
application starts working. If so, use a batch file or
alias to set up an alternate path for running that one
program, for example:
setlocal
path d:\myprog
d:\myprog\myprog.exe
endlocal
The SETLOCAL / ENDLOCAL pair saves and restores the
environment; when you're done, the old PATH will be
restored automatically (see page 298).
Next, check how much environment space is in use in your
system. The 4DOS MEMORY command reports the total
environment space and the amount free; a simple
subtraction tells you how much is in use. Some programs
use outdated techniques and simply don't work right if
there's a lot of information in the environment (these
programs don't usually care how big the total environment
space is, only how much of it is actually in use). In
most cases, these problems show up when the amount of
space in use gets up to around 1K (1024) bytes or so, but
they can occur at any point. To test for this, use the
following simple batch file:
setlocal
unset var1 var2 var3 ...
[command to run the program in question]
endlocal
where VAR1, VAR2, etc. are variables you can remove from
the environment to decrease the space in use before
running the program. If reducing the environment space
in use makes things work, contact the program's
manufacturer and report the problem. You have found a
legitimate bug. DOS allows an environment of up to 32K
and all programs should be able to work with an
environment that large. Until the manufacturer fixes the
bug, use the batch file above as a workaround.
Next, look for a multi-program interaction. Remove all
the device drivers and TSRs you possibly can and still
have enough software present to demonstrate the problem.
For example, you can't look for a network problem if you
don't load the network, but you probably can check it
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without your disk cache running. When you do this, and
any time you modify your boot configuration, be sure you
have a bootable floppy disk handy.
If you run a partitioning disk driver like SpeedStor,
Vfeature, or Disk Manager, you probably can't remove it
for diagnostic purposes without temporarily losing access
to some or all of your hard disk. The same may be true
of disk compression programs like Stacker, depending on
the mode in which they are installed. Most other device
drivers and TSRs can be removed without causing trouble.
Check your system and software manuals if you are unsure
of which programs can safely be removed.
Once you know what you can take out, don't skimp or guess
where the interaction might be. Take out everything you
possibly can from CONFIG.SYS, 4START, and AUTOEXEC.BAT
that loads or accesses another program . In CONFIG.SYS,
remove all possible DEVICE and INSTALL statements. In
AUTOEXEC.BAT, remove all the lines you can that load
memory-resident programs (and remember that some DOS
utilities, like MODE, can be memory-resident). Of
course, save copies of your configuration files before
you delete anything. Better yet, use the REM command to
remove lines temporarily without deleting them. REM can
be used on any line in AUTOEXEC.BAT, in 4START, and in
CONFIG.SYS if you are running DOS 4.0 or above. In
earlier versions, REM will work in CONFIG.SYS but will
also generate a harmless "unrecognized command" error
message during bootup. If you want to remove everything
in AUTOEXEC.BAT you can simply rename it to any other
name, and rename it back when you are done testing.
Clean out your configuration files all at once, not one
line at a time. If that solves the problem, you're on
the right track, and you can put the lines back one at a
time until you find the culprit. If it doesn't solve the
problem, you won't waste time removing lines one by one.
If you do find a suspect program, first try booting your
system with COMMAND.COM, without changing anything else
about your configuration. If the problem remains, then
it's not related to an interaction with 4DOS.
If the problem isn't there under COMMAND.COM, try
fiddling with the program's configuration. If you were
loading it high, try loading it low. If you can change
the way it uses memory, try doing so. If it's a driver
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that's used by other programs (like your mouse driver)
and is quite old, consider obtaining an update from the
manufacturer. All of these techniques will help you
narrow down what it is about the program that's causing a
problem. Once you have done that, you may have a simple
workaround. If not, contact our technical support crew
and we'll try to verify the problem, then resolve it with
the manufacturer of the other software.
Rarely, some problems can be resolved by modifying the
order in which you load drivers and TSRs. If you've
found a problem with a particular driver or TSR, try
loading it earlier or later than you were and see if the
problem goes away.
Next, try modifying the atmosphere in another way: change the
way 4DOS is configured. In particular, try changing the 4DOS
swapping type using the Swapping directive in 4DOS.INI (see
page 125). This technique is especially appropriate if the
system hangs every time you exit a particular application. If
that solves the problem, there's probably a memory conflict.
Another program is trying to use the same memory space 4DOS
uses for swapping. See if you can control the other program's
memory usage.
If you can configure 4DOS and the other program to work
together, you're all set. If they work together only in a
useless combination (for example, with 4DOS swapping turned
off), contact us. We'll try to figure out what the other
program is doing to damage 4DOS's swap space and get the
manufacturer to take care of the problem.
You can also change the UMB-related configuration settings
(UMBLoad and UMBEnvironment) to help diagnose compatibility
problems. Problems with these directives are rare, but if
you're at an impasse, try setting both of these values to "No"
in 4DOS.INI.
Some of the advanced directives in 4DOS.INI (see page 135) may
help solve very rare configuration problems, but unless you
are an experienced DOS user and understand the side effects of
each directive, they should be used only as diagnostic tools,
and not as a workaround or fix. Any of the following can be
tried:
Inherit = No
LineInput = Yes (or SETDOS /L1)
Reduce = No
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StackSize = nnnn (increase value to 4096 or more)
If you've tried all these techniques and haven't found the
problem, contact our technical support department (see page
7). We have more tricks up our sleeve, and a very high
success rate at resolving software interactions.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE
The following pages are a complete guide and reference to the 4DOS
commands that are available from the command line, in aliases, and
in batch files. Nearly all of these commands are internal 4DOS
commands, which means that 4DOS performs the activity you have
requested without running another program. External commands
require loading and running a separate program, either an
executable (.EXE or .COM) program or a batch (.BTM or .BAT)
program. DOS is shipped with a number of external utility programs
(such as FORMAT and DISKCOPY), and any program or application you
install on your system becomes a new external command.
The advantage of internal commands is that they run almost
instantly. When you give 4DOS an internal command, it interprets
the command line and carries out the necessary activities without
having to look for, load, and run another program.
The advantage of external commands is that they can be large,
varied, and complex without taking space inside the system command
processor. External commands can also be renamed or replaced
easily. If you want to rename the external DOS command XCOPY to
MYCOPY, for example, all you need to do is find the file called
XCOPY.EXE on your DOS disk or directory and change its name to
MYCOPY.EXE. If you want to replace XCOPY with a more efficient
program, you can do so. 4DOS adds this flexibility to internal
commands. You can rename or replace any internal command by using
an ALIAS, and you can enable or disable internal commands whenever
you wish.
4DOS Commands
4DOS has over 80 internal commands, many more than any version
of DOS. 4DOS neither replaces nor interferes with external
DOS commands like ASSIGN, BACKUP, CHKDSK, DISKCOPY, SUBST, or
XCOPY. Once 4DOS is installed, you can continue to use those
utilities like you always have. Also, 4DOS has been designed
so that it is compatible with virtually all traditional
internal commands, even though it enhances many of those
commands with additional options and capabilities. Once you
have installed 4DOS, you can continue using the commands that
you already know and get the same results.
A few of the 4DOS commands are the same as traditional
commands, some are enhanced with new features, and many are
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unique to 4DOS. The best way to learn the 4DOS commands is to
use them and experiment with them. The following lists
categorize the available commands by topic and will help you
find the ones that you need. Most of this chapter is an
alphabetic list of the commands and how to use each one. We
urge you to browse through this chapter occasionally and look
for commands that might help simplify your computing life.
In the following summary lists, commands that are unique to
4DOS are marked with a number sign [#]. Those which are
enhanced traditional commands are marked with an asterisk [*].
And those which are identical to traditional commands have no
marks at all.
System Configuration Commands:
BREAK CHCP CTTY DATE
FREE # LH / LOADHIGH MEMORY # PROMPT *
REBOOT # SETDOS # SWAPPING # TIME
VER VERIFY VOL *
File and directory management:
ATTRIB * COPY * DEL / ERASE * DESCRIBE #
MOVE # REN / RENAME * TRUENAME #
Subdirectory management:
CD / CHDIR * CDD # DIR * DIRS #
MD / MKDIR * POPD # PUSHD # RD / RMDIR *
Commands normally used in batch files and aliases (many are
also useful at the command line):
ALIAS # BEEP # CALL CANCEL #
COLOR # DELAY # DRAWBOX # DRAWHLINE #
DRAWVLINE # ECHO * ECHOS # ENDLOCAL #
GOSUB # GOTO * FOR * IF *
IFF # INKEY # INPUT # KEYSTACK #
LOADBTM # PAUSE * QUIT # REM *
RETURN # SCREEN # SCRPUT # SETLOCAL #
SHIFT * TEXT # TIMER # UNALIAS #
VSCRPUT #
Other commands:
? # CLS * ESET # EXCEPT #
EXIT * GLOBAL # HELP # HISTORY #
LIST # LOG # PATH * SELECT #
SET * TEE # TYPE * UNSET #
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Y #
As you can see, most 4DOS commands are either enhanced
traditional commands or are entirely new. If you are
comfortable using traditional commands, you can switch to 4DOS
without making any changes in your habits. But you will be
missing a lot of the power of 4DOS's enhancements and new
commands unless you take a few minutes to see what's available
here. Make sure you don't skip a section of this reference
just because you already know how to use a traditional command
with the same name.
We have made no attempt to document external DOS commands in
this reference, partly because they are explained in your DOS
manual, and partly because the number and name of DOS external
commands, and the options available with each command, vary
widely from one version of DOS to another and from one
computer manufacturer to another. The 4DOS HELP system does
include information on standard DOS external commands.
If you come across terms or concepts in this chapter that you
are unsure about, please refer to Chapter 4 / General
Concepts, the Glossary on page 342, or the Index.
How to Use the Command Descriptions
Each of the 4DOS commands is described in detail on the
following pages. The descriptions are arranged
alphabetically, and each includes examples that will help you
learn to use the commands.
Each description begins with the name of the command on the
left side of the page and a word in parentheses on the right
side. The commands marked "New" are unique to 4DOS. Those
marked "Enhanced" are similar to traditional commands but add
new features and options. The commands marked "Compatible"
follow the syntax and features of the traditional command with
the same name.
The name is followed by a sentence or two that briefly
describes the command's purpose or major function. That
sentence should help you determine quickly whether you have
found the command you are seeking.
The next part of each description shows the command's format
or syntax. The format line uses certain conventions to
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describe how the command should be entered and to create
reference points for the text describing the command:
Words in UPPER CASE must be spelled exactly as they are
shown (although you can type them in using either upper
or lower case, or a combination). If a word is shown
partly in upper case (for example BLInk), only the upper
case portion is required, the rest is optional.
Words shown in italics (for example source or filename)
are meant to be replaced by other words or values. Each
of these words is explained directly beneath the format
line, and discussed in more detail in the text
description of the command. When the word stands for a
file name, the name may be a simple file name like
MYFILE.TXT or it may include a drive letter and/or a full
path, like C:\MYDIR1\MYDIR2\MYFILE.TXT. If the command
can work on multiple files, you can use the 4DOS
wildcards, multiple file names, or an include list (see
pages 71, 73, and 74).
Anything followed by an ellipsis (three periods [...])
may be repeated as often as you wish.
Text shown in [square brackets] is optional. Text
outside of square brackets must be entered literally (if
it is capitalized) or replaced by other words or values
(if it is in italics).
Vertical bars | represent a choice; you can pick one
option or another but not both. For example, the
following format shows that the command may be followed
by the word ON or the word OFF, but not both:
COMMAND [ ON | OFF ]
A slash followed by a letter, like [/X], is an "option"
or "switch" which controls the effect of a command. Many
commands have several switches, and you are usually free
to use none, one, or several to make a command behave as
you wish. If you use a single switch, you must precede
it with a slash. If you use several switches, in most
cases you can put them together with one slash or use
separate slashes. For example, if you wanted to use
switches X, Y, and Z for a command, you could type them
three different ways:
command /x /y /z
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command /x/y/z
command /xyz
A few switches, particularly in the DIR and SELECT
commands, use two or more characters. If you need to
follow a multi-letter switch with another switch, the
second switch must have its own slash to avoid ambiguity.
Included in the format section is an explanation of each
replaceable argument and a one or two word explanation of each
switch. Many descriptions also list related commands to help
you find the exact command you want.
After the command format, you'll find a description of the
command's usage. This description normally starts with the
basic functions of a command and gradually adds more details.
We've also included many examples to help you see the command
in action. In the examples, characters in bold type represent
input from the user. Characters in normal type represent 4DOS
prompts or responses, or lines in a batch file.
The last part of each description is a detailed explanation of
the options or switches available for each command, in
alphabetical order. Occasionally, we've included more
examples in this section to demonstrate how a switch is used
or how multiple switches interact.
Pay careful attention to the information about switch
placement. Some switches have different effects based on
where they appear in the command line. The effects of
switches occasionally vary from one command to another in
order to retain compatibility with traditional commands.
In the Usage and Options sections you may see the symbol## .
This indicates a more in-depth discussion or an advanced topic
which you can skip if you are new to the command; come back to
this topic later for more details, or if you're having trouble
with the command. In most cases the remainder of the section
after such a symbol is devoted to similar information.
The ## doesn't mean that only advanced users will need the
information -- you may find it useful even if you're
relatively new to computers or to 4DOS. But it does mean that
you can skip the marked section and still understand and use
the basic features of the command. If a ## appears before the
"Usage" heading, it indicates that the entire command is
generally used only in unusual situations or by more advanced
users.
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When you see a ## in the list of options, remember that the
options are listed alphabetically, so there may be more basic
options discussed later in the list, after a more complex or
advanced option marked with## . Don't stop reading the option
list the first time you see the mark.
A ! to the left of a paragraph means that paragraph contains a
caution or warning you may need to observe when using the
feature it discusses.
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? (New)
Purpose: Display a list of 4DOS commands.
Format: ?
Usage: ? displays a list of 4DOS internal commands. For help
with these commands, and with external DOS commands,
see the HELP command.
When you use the ? command, you will see a display like
this:
c:\> ?
? ALIAS ATTRIB BEEP
BREAK CALL CANCEL CD
CDD CHCP CHDIR CLS
COLOR COPY CTTY DATE
DEL DELAY DESCRIBE DIR
DIRS DRAWBOX DRAWHLINE DRAWVLINE
ECHO ECHOS ENDLOCAL ERASE
ESET EXCEPT EXIT FOR
FREE GLOBAL GOSUB GOTO
HELP HISTORY IF IFF
INKEY INPUT KEYSTACK LH
LIST LOADBTM LOADHIGH LOG
MD MEMORY MKDIR MOVE
PATH PAUSE POPD PROMPT
PUSHD QUIT RD REBOOT
REM REN RENAME RETURN
RMDIR SCREEN SCRPUT SELECT
SET SETDOS SETLOCAL SHIFT
SWAPPING TEE TEXT TIME
TIMER TRUENAME TYPE UNALIAS
UNSET VER VERIFY VOL
VSCRPUT Y
If you have disabled a command with the SETDOS /I
command, it will not appear in the list.
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ALIAS (New)
Purpose: Create new command names that execute one or more
commands or redefine default options for existing
commands; assign commands to keystrokes; load or
display the list of defined alias names.
Format: ALIAS [/P /R file...] [name[=][value]]
file: One or more files to read for alias definitions.
name: Name for an alias, or the key to execute the
alias.
value: Text (commands, etc.) to be substituted for the
alias name.
/P(ause) /R(ead file)
See also: UNALIAS and page 96.
Usage: The ALIAS command lets you create new command names or
redefine the 4DOS internal commands. It also lets you
assign one or more commands to a single keystroke. An
alias is often used to execute a complex series of
commands with a few keystrokes or to create "in memory
batch files" that run much faster than disk-based batch
files.
For example, if you would rather type D instead of DIR
/W you would use the command:
c:\> alias d = `dir /w`
Now when you type a single d as a command, 4DOS will
translate it into a DIR /W command. The marks around
DIR /W in the ALIAS command are back-quotes, below the
tilde [~] on most PC keyboards. They are NOT single
quotes ['].
An alias can represent more than one command. For
example:
c:\> alias letters = `cd \letters ^ text`
creates a new command called LETTERS. The command
first uses CD to change to a subdirectory called
\LETTERS and then runs a program called TEXT. The
caret [^] is the 4DOS command separator and tells 4DOS
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that the two commands are distinct and should be
executed sequentially.
When you type alias commands at the command line or in
a batch file, you MUST use back quotes around the
definition if it contains multiple commands or any
replaceable parameters (which are discussed below), to
prevent premature expansion of the arguments. You MAY
use back quotes [`] around other definitions, but they
are not required. To avoid confusion, we recommend
that you always use back quotes around alias
definitions you type at the command line or enter in a
batch file.
Aliases may invoke internal 4DOS commands, external
commands, or other aliases. (However, an alias may not
invoke itself, except in special cases where an IF or
IFF command is used to prevent an infinite loop.) The
two aliases below demonstrate alias nesting (one alias
invoking another). The first line defines an alias
which runs a program called WP.EXE that is in the
E:\WP51\ subdirectory. The second alias changes
directories with the PUSHD command, runs the WP alias,
and then returns to the original directory with the
POPD command:
c:\> alias wp = `e:\wp51\wp.exe`
c:\> alias w = `pushd c:\wp ^ wp ^ popd`
The second alias above could have included the full
path and name of the WP.EXE program instead of calling
the WP alias. However, writing two aliases makes the
second one easier to read and understand, and makes the
first alias available for independent use. If you
rename the WP.EXE program or move it to a new
directory, only the first alias needs to rewritten.
If you put an asterisk [*] immediately before a command
in the value of an alias definition (the part after the
equal sign), it tells 4DOS not to attempt to interpret
that command as another (nested) alias. An asterisk
used this way must be preceded by a space or caret [^]
and followed immediately by an internal or external
command name. The asterisk is used to make sure that
4DOS interprets the following word as the name of an
internal or external command instead of as an alias
which may have the same name. It also allows two
popular uses of aliases.
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By using an asterisk, you can redefine the default
options for any 4DOS command. For example, suppose
that you always want to use the DIR command with the /2
(two column) and /P (pause at the end of each page)
options. The following line will do just that:
c:\> alias dir = `*dir /2/p`
If you didn't include the asterisk, 4DOS would
interpret the second DIR on the line as the name of the
alias itself and attempt to repeatedly re-invoke the
DIR alias, rather than running the DIR command. This
would cause an "Alias loop" or "Command line too long"
error. The asterisk tells 4DOS to interpret the second
DIR as a command but not as an alias.
An asterisk also helps you keep the names of internal
4DOS commands from conflicting with the names of
external programs. For example, suppose you have a
program called LIST.COM. Normally, the 4DOS internal
command will run anytime you type LIST. But two simple
aliases will give you access to both the LIST.COM
program and the LIST command:
c:\> alias list = `c:\util\list.com`
c:\> alias display = `*list`
The first line above defines LIST as an alias for the
LIST.COM program. If you stopped there, the external
program would run every time you typed LIST and you
would not have easy access to the internal 4DOS LIST
command. The second line renames the internal LIST
command as DISPLAY. The asterisk is needed in the
second command to tell 4DOS that the following word
means the internal command LIST, not the LIST alias
which runs your external program.
Another way to understand the asterisk is to remember
that when 4DOS processes a command it always checks for
an alias first, then looks for an internal or external
command, or a batch file (see page 43). The asterisk
at the beginning of a command name simply tells 4DOS to
skip over the usual check for aliases when processing
that command, and go straight to checking for an
internal command, external command, or batch file.
You can also use an asterisk before a command that you
enter at the command line or in a batch file. If you
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do, 4DOS won't try to interpret that command as an
alias. This can be useful when you want to be sure you
are running the true, original command and not an alias
with the same name, or temporarily defeat the purpose
of an alias which changes the meaning or behavior of a
command. For example, above we defined an alias for
DIR which made directories display in 2-column paged
mode by default. If you wanted to see a directory
display in the normal single-column, non-paged mode,
you could enter the command *DIR and the alias would be
ignored during that one command.
You can also use an asterisk in the name of an alias.
When you do, the characters following the asterisk are
optional when you invoke the alias command. (Use of an
asterisk in the alias name is unrelated to the use of
an asterisk in the alias value discussed above.) For
example, with this alias:
c:\> alias wher*eis = `dir /sp`
the new command, WHEREIS, can be invoked as WHER,
WHERE, WHEREI, or WHEREIS. Now if you type:
c:\> where myfile.txt
4DOS will expand the WHEREIS alias and process the
command:
dir /sp myfile.txt
If you want to assign an alias to a keystroke, use the
keyname on the left side of the equal sign, preceded by
an at-sign [@]. For example, to assign the command DIR
/W to the F5 key, type
c:\> alias @F5 = `dir /w`
Keynames must be in the form
[Prefix-]Keyname
The key prefix can be any one of the following:
No prefix followed by F1 - F12
Alt followed by A - Z, 0 - 9, F1 - F12, or
Bksp
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Ctrl followed by A - Z, F1 - F12, Bksp, Enter,
Left, Right, Home, End, PgUp, PgDn, Ins,
or Del
The possible key names are:
A - Z Enter PgDn
0 - 9 Up Home
F1 - F12 Down End
Esc Left Ins
Bksp Right Del
Tab PgUp
All key names must be spelled as shown, and can be
abbreviated as long as the abbreviation is unique and
unambiguous. Alphabetic keys can be specified in
upper-case or lower-case. You cannot specify a
punctuation key.
The prefix and key name must be separated by a dash.
You can also define a keystroke alias by using "@" plus
a scan code for one of the permissible keys (see
Appendix B on page 325 for a list of scan codes).
When you define keystroke aliases, the assignments will
only be in effect at the 4DOS command line, not inside
application programs. Be careful not to assign aliases
to keys that are already used at the command-line (like
F1 for Help). The command-line meanings take
precedence and the keystroke alias will never be
invoked. If you want to use one of the command-line
keys for an alias instead of its normal meaning, you
must first disable its regular use with the NormalKey
or NormalEditKey directive in your 4DOS.INI file. See
page 132 for instructions.
If you define a keystroke alias like this:
c:\> @f5 = `dir /w`
then, when you press the F5 key, 4DOS will enter the
value, "dir /w" on the command line for you. You can
type additional parameters if you wish and then press
Enter to execute the command. With this particular
alias, you can define the files that you want to
display after pressing F5 and before pressing Enter to
execute the command.
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If you want the keystroke alias to take action
automatically without waiting for you to edit the
command line or press Enter, you must end the value
with a carriage return. To enter the carriage return
into your alias use the 4DOS escape character (normally
Ctrl-X, shown here as "^X") twice, followed by an "r."
For example, this command will assign an alias to the
F6 key that uses the CDD command to take you back to
the previous default directory:
c:\> alias @f6 = `cdd -^X^Xr`
If you define a keystroke alias in an ALIAS /R file and
you want an the alias to start automatically, use a
single ^X character before the "r" at the end of the
line. The double ^X is only required when the alias is
defined on the command line or in a batch file.
If you want to see a list of all current ALIAS
commands, type
c:\> alias
You can also view the definition of a single alias. If
you want to see the definition of the alias LIST, you
can type
c:\> alias list
You can save the list to a file called ALIAS.LST this
way:
c:\> alias > alias.lst
You can then reload all the alias definitions in the
file the next time you boot up with the command
c:\> alias /r alias.lst
This is much faster than defining each alias
individually in a batch file. If you keep your alias
definitions in a separate file which you load from
AUTOEXEC.BAT, you can edit them with a text editor,
reload the edited file with the ALIAS /R command, and
know that the same alias list will be loaded the next
time you boot your computer.
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When you define aliases in a file that will be read
with the ALIAS /R command, you should NOT use back
quotes around the value, even if back-quotes would
normally be required when defining the same alias at
the command line or in a batch file.
To remove an alias, use the UNALIAS command.
## Alias commands can use command-line arguments or
replaceable parameters like those in batch files. 4DOS
numbers the command line arguments from %1 to %127. It
is up to the alias to determine the meaning of each
argument. Arguments that are referred to in an alias,
but which are missing on the command line, appear as
empty strings inside the alias.
The parameter %n& has a special meaning. 4DOS
interprets it to mean "the entire command line, from
argument n to the end." If n is not specified, it has
a default value of 1, so %& means "the entire command
line after the alias name." The special parameter %#
contains the number of command line arguments. Aliases
do not have access to %0, which is used only in batch
files.
For example, the following alias will change
directories, perform a command, and return to the
original directory:
c:\> alias in `pushd %1 ^ %2& ^ popd`
When this alias is invoked as:
c:\> in c:\comm mycomm /xmodem /2400
the first replaceable parameter, %1, has the value
"c:\comm." %2 is "mycomm," %3 is "/xmodem," and %4 is
"/2400". 4DOS expands the command line into these
three separate commands:
pushd c:\comm
mycomm /xmodem /2400
popd
## This next example uses the IFF command to redefine the
defaults for SET only if no other options are entered
on the command line. This ALIAS command should be
entered on one line:
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c:\> alias set = `iff %#==0 then ^ *set /p ^
else ^ *set %& ^ endiff`
This example modifies the SET command so that if SET is
entered with no arguments, it is replaced by SET /P
(pause after displaying each page), but if SET is
followed by an argument, it behaves normally. Note the
use of asterisks (*set) to prevent alias loops.
## If an alias uses replaceable parameters, 4DOS will
delete command line arguments up to and including the
highest referenced argument. For example, if you have
an alias which refers only to %1 and %4, then the first
and fourth arguments passed to the alias will be used,
the second and third arguments will be discarded, and
any additional arguments beyond the fourth will be
appended to the end of the expanded command after the
value portion of the alias. If an alias uses no
replaceable parameters, all of the command line
arguments will be appended to the expanded command.
## Aliases also have full access to all variables in the
environment, 4DOS's internal variables, and 4DOS's
variable functions. For example, you can create a
simple command-line calculator this way (enter this on
one line):
c:\> alias calc = `echo The answer is:
%@eval[%&]`
Now, if you enter
c:\> calc 5 * 6
4DOS will display
The answer is: 30
## Aliases created in the primary shell will be inherited
automatically in a secondary shell. However, an alias
created in a secondary shell will not be passed back to
a primary or parent shell.
Options: /P(ause): This option is only effective when ALIAS is
used to display existing definitions. It pauses the
display after each page and waits for a keystroke
before continuing.
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/R(ead file): This option loads an alias list from a
file. The format of the file is the same as that of
the ALIAS display:
name=value
where name is the name of the alias and value is its
value. You can use an equal sign [=] or space to
separate the name and value. Back-quotes should NOT be
used around the value. You can add comments to the
file by starting each comment line with a colon [:].
You can load multiple files with one ALIAS /R command
by placing the names one after another on the command
line, separated by spaces:
c:\> alias /r alias1.lst alias2.lst
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / ATTRIB
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ATTRIB (New)
Purpose: Change or view file and subdirectory attributes.
Format: ATTRIB [/D /Q /S] [+|-[AHRS]] files
files: A file, directory, or list of files or
directories, on which to operate.
/D(irectories) /S(ubdirectories)
/Q(uiet)
Attribute flags:
+A Set the archive attribute
-A Clear the archive attribute
+H Set the hidden attribute
-H Clear the hidden attribute
+R Set the read-only attribute
-R Clear the read-only attribute
+S Set the system attribute
-S Clear the system attribute
Usage: Every file and subdirectory has 4 attributes that can
be turned on (set) or turned off (cleared): Archive,
Hidden, Read-only, and System. DOS sets the Archive
attribute every time a file is updated or changed.
Backup utilities often use this attribute to find files
that have changed since the last general backup. DOS
prevents programs from altering or erasing files that
have the Read-only attribute set (but applications can
change the attribute first and then update or erase the
file). Files with Hidden and/or System attributes are
normally not visible in directory listings.
The ATTRIB command lets you set or clear any
attribute(s) for any file, group of files, or
subdirectory. You can view file attributes by entering
ATTRIB without specifying new attributes (i.e. without
the [+|-[AHRS]] part of the format), or with the DIR /T
command.
For example, you can set the read-only and hidden
attributes for the file MEMO:
c:\> attrib +rh memo
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Attribute options apply to the file(s) that follow the
options on the ATTRIB command line. The example below
shows how to set different attributes on different
files with a single command. It sets the archive
attribute for all .TXT files, and changes TEST.COM to
system and not modified:
c:\> attrib +a *.txt +s -a test.com
## You may know that DOS also supports "D" (subdirectory)
and "V" (volume label) attributes. These attributes
cannot be altered with ATTRIB; they are designed to be
controlled only by DOS itself.
Options: /D(irectories): If you don't use this option, ATTRIB
will only modify file attributes. If you use the /D
option, ATTRIB will also modify the attributes of
subdirectories (yes, you can have a hidden
subdirectory):
c:\> attrib /d +h c:\mydir
/Q(uiet): This option turns off ATTRIB's normal screen
output. It is most useful in batch files.
/S(ubdirectories): If you use the /S option, the
ATTRIB command will be applied to all matching files in
the current or named directory and all of its
subdirectories.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / BEEP
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BEEP (New)
Purpose: Beep the speaker or play simple music.
Format: BEEP [frequency duration ...]
frequency is in Hertz (cycles per second).
duration is in 1/18th second intervals
Usage: BEEP generates a sound through your computer's speaker.
It is normally used in batch files to signal that an
operation has been completed, or that the computer
needs attention.
Because BEEP allows you to specify the frequency and
duration of the sound, you can also use it to play
simple music or to create different kinds of signals
for the user.
You can include as many frequency and duration pairs as
you wish. No sound will be generated for frequencies
less than 20 Hz, allowing you to insert short delays.
The default value for frequency is 440 Hz; the default
value for duration is 2.
This batch file fragment runs a program called DEMO,
then plays a few notes and waits for you to press a
key:
demo ^ beep 440 4 600 2 1040 6
pause Finished with the demo - hit a key...
The following table gives the frequency values for a
five octave range (middle C is 523 Hz):
C 131 262 523 1046 2093
C#/Db 139 277 554 1108 2217
D 147 294 587 1174 2349
D#/Eb 156 311 622 1244 2489
E 165 330 659 1318 2637
F 175 349 698 1397 2794
F#/Gb 185 370 740 1480 2960
G 196 392 784 1568 3136
G#/Ab 208 415 831 1662 3322
A 220 440 880 1760 3520
A#/Bb 233 466 932 1864 3729
B 248 494 988 1976 3951
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / BREAK
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BREAK (Compatible)
Purpose: Display, enable, or disable Ctrl-C and Ctrl-BREAK
checking.
Format: BREAK [ON | OFF]
Usage: The Ctrl-C and Ctrl-Break keys are used by many
programs (including 4DOS) as a signal to interrupt the
current operation. BREAK controls how often DOS checks
to see if you've entered one of these keystrokes.
Normally, BREAK is turned off, and DOS only checks for
Ctrl-C and Ctrl-Break keystrokes during normal DOS
input or output operations involving the screen,
keyboard, serial port, and printer. However many
programs don't use DOS for these operations, and it can
be difficult to interrupt them.
When BREAK is turned ON, DOS checks for Ctrl-C and
Ctrl-Break every time a program calls DOS. Since most
programs use DOS to access files and perform other
functions, turning BREAK on makes it much more likely
that a Ctrl-C or Ctrl-Break will be noticed. If you
turn BREAK on, programs will run slightly slower than
normal (the difference is not usually noticeable), but
you will be able to break out of some programs more
easily.
Turning BREAK on or off only affects when DOS detects
Ctrl-C and Ctrl-Break and notifies the program you're
running. Any program can choose to ignore these
signals, in which case the BREAK setting won't affect
that program's behavior. Also, any external program
can change the BREAK setting on its own.
Type BREAK by itself to display the current BREAK
status:
c:\> break
BREAK is OFF
Type BREAK plus ON or OFF to set the BREAK status:
c:\> break on
BREAK is off by default. You can change the default by
adding the following line to your CONFIG.SYS file:
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / BREAK
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break=on
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / CALL
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CALL (Compatible)
Purpose: Execute one batch file from within another.
Format: CALL file
file: The batch file to execute.
See also CANCEL and QUIT.
Usage: CALL allows batch files to call other batch files
(batch file nesting) without starting a secondary copy
of the command processor. The calling batch file is
suspended while the called (second) batch file runs.
When the second batch file finishes, the original batch
file resumes execution at the next command. If you
execute a batch file from inside another batch file
without using CALL, the first batch file is terminated
before the second one starts.
The following batch file fragment compares an input
line to "wp" and calls another batch file if it
matches:
input Enter your choice: %%option
if "%option" == "wp" call wp.bat
4DOS supports batch file nesting up to ten levels deep.
The current ECHO state will be inherited by a called
batch file.
## A called batch file will return to the calling file
after processing the last line in the called file, or
when a QUIT command is executed. A called batch file
should always return in this way, or terminate all
batch files with CANCEL. Restarting (or CALLing) the
original batch file from within a called file will
prevent 4DOS from detecting that you've left the second
file, and it may cause an infinite loop or a stack
overflow.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / CANCEL
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CANCEL (New)
Purpose: Terminate batch file processing.
Format: CANCEL
See also: CALL and QUIT.
Usage: The CANCEL command ends all batch file processing,
regardless of the batch file nesting level. Use QUIT
to end a nested batch file and return to the previous
batch file.
You can CANCEL at any point in a batch file.
The following batch file fragment compares an input
line to "end" and terminates all batch file processing
if it matches:
input Enter your choice: %%option
if "%option" == "end" cancel
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / CD / CHDIR
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CD / CHDIR (Enhanced)
Purpose: Display or change the current directory.
Format: CD [ path | - ]
or
CHDIR [ path | - ]
path: The directory to change to, including an optional
drive name.
See also: CDD, MD, PUSHD, RD, and CDPATH on page 116.
Usage: CD and CHDIR are synonyms. You can use either one.
CD lets you navigate through the DOS subdirectory
structure by changing the current working directory.
If you enter CD and a directory name, the named
directory becomes the new current directory. For
example, to change to the subdirectory
C:\FINANCE\MYFILES:
c:\> cd \finance\myfiles
c:\finance\myfiles>
Every disk drive on the system has its own current
directory. Specifying both a drive and a directory in
the CD command will change the current directory on the
specified drive, but will not change the default drive.
For example, to change the default directory on drive
A:
c:\> cd a:\utility
c:\>
Notice that this command does not change to drive A:.
Use the CDD command to change both the drive and
directory together.
You can change to the parent directory with CD ..; you
can also go up one additional directory level with each
additional [.]. For example, CD .... will go up three
levels in the directory tree. You can move to a
sibling directory -- one that branches from the same
parent directory as the current subdirectory -- with
the command CD ..\newdir.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / CD / CHDIR
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If you enter CD with no argument or with only a disk
drive name, it will display the current directory on
the default or named drive.
CD saves the current directory before changing to a new
directory. You can switch back to the previous
directory by entering CD -. (There must be a space
between the CD command and the hyphen.) You can switch
back and forth between two directories by repeatedly
entering CD -. The saved directory is the same for
both the CD and CDD commands.
## CD never changes the default drive. If you change
directories on one drive, switch to another drive, and
then enter CD -, the directory will be restored on the
first drive but the default drive and directory (on the
second drive) will not be changed.
## If CD can't change to the specified directory, it will
look for the CDPATH environment variable. CD will
append the specified directory name to each directory
in CDPATH and attempt to change to that directory,
until the first match or the end of the CDPATH
argument. This lets you use CDPATH as a quick way to
find commonly used subdirectories which have unique
names. For example, if you are currently in the
directory C:\WP\LETTERS\JANUARY and you'd like to
change to C:\FINANCE\REPORTS, you could enter the
command:
c:\wp\letters\january> cd \finance\reports
However if the C:\FINANCE directory is listed in your
CDPATH variable, and is the first directory in the list
with a REPORTS subdirectory, you can simply enter the
command:
c:\wp\letters\january> cd reports
and 4DOS will change to C:\FINANCE\REPORTS.
## DOS will not accept directory names longer than 64
characters. You must be sure that the complete
directory name from the root to your deepest
subdirectory fits within the 64 character restriction.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / CDD
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CDD (New)
Purpose: Change the current disk drive and directory.
Format: CDD path
path: The name of the directory (or drive and
directory) to change to.
See also: CD, MD, PUSHD, RD, and CDPATH on page 116.
Usage: CDD is similar to the CD command, except that it also
changes the default disk drive if one is specified.
CDD will change to the directory and drive you name.
To change from the root directory on drive A to the
subdirectory C:\WP:
a:\> cdd c:\wp
c:\wp>
You can change to the parent directory with CDD ..; you
can also go up one additional directory level with each
additional [.]. For example, CDD .... will go up three
levels in the directory tree.
CDD saves the current drive and directory before
changing to a new directory. You can switch back to
the previous drive and directory by entering CDD -.
(There must be a space between the CDD command and the
hyphen.) You can switch back and forth between two
drives and directories by repeatedly entering CDD -.
The saved directory is the same for both the CD and CDD
commands.
## If CDD can't change to the specified directory, it will
look for the CDPATH environment variable. CDD will
append the specified directory name to each directory
in CDPATH and attempt to change to that drive and
directory, until the first match or the end of the
CDPATH argument. This allows you to use CDPATH as a
quick way to find commonly used subdirectories which
have unique names. For example, if you are currently
in the directory C:\WP\LETTERS\JANUARY and you'd like
to change to D:\SOFTWARE\UTIL, you could enter the
command:
c:\wp\letters\january> cdd d:\software\util
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / CDD
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However if the D:\SOFTWARE directory is listed in your
CDPATH variable, and is the first directory in the list
with a UTIL subdirectory, you can simply enter the
command:
c:\wp\letters\january> cdd util
and 4DOS will change to D:\SOFTWARE\UTIL.
## DOS will not accept directory names longer than 64
characters. You must be sure that the complete
directory name from the root to your deepest
subdirectory fits within the 64 character restriction.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / CHCP
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CHCP (Compatible)
Purpose: Display or change the current system code page.
Format: CHCP [n]
n: A system code page number.
## Usage: Code page switching allows you to select
different character sets for language support. To use
code page switching, you must have an EGA or VGA
display and MS-DOS or PC-DOS 3.3 or above.
If you enter CHCP without a number, the current code
page is displayed.
c:\> chcp
Active code page: 437
If you enter CHCP plus a code page number, the system
code page is changed. For example, to set the code
page to multilingual:
c:\> chcp 850
Before using CHCP, you must first load the device
drivers (in CONFIG.SYS); make sure the information file
(COUNTRY.SYS) is available; load national language
support (using the NLSFUNC command); and prepare the
specified code page for the devices (using the MODE
command with the CODEPAGE PREPARE option).
CHCP accepts one of the two prepared system code pages.
An error message is displayed if a code page is
selected that has not been prepared for the system.
See your DOS manual for more information on CHCP.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / CLS
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CLS (Enhanced)
Purpose: Clear the video display and move the cursor to the
upper left corner; optionally change the default
display and border colors.
Format: CLS [[BRIght] [BLInk] fg ON bg] [BORder bc]
fg: The new foreground color
bg: The new background color
bc: The new border color
The available colors are:
Black Blue Green Red
Magenta Cyan Yellow White
See also: COLOR.
Usage: CLS can be used to clear the screen without changing
colors, or to clear the screen and change the screen
colors simultaneously. These three examples show how
to clear the screen to the default colors, to bright
white letters on a blue background, and to bright
yellow letters on a magenta background with a blue
border:
c:\> cls
c:\> cls bright white on blue
c:\> cls bri yel on mag bor blu
As shown in the last example, color names plus the
words BRIGHT, BLINK, and BORDER may be shortened to the
first 3 letters.
If you use BRIGHT and/or BLINK, 4DOS will apply the
appropriate attribute to the foreground characters (PC
displays do not allow a bright or blinking background).
CLS is often used in batch files to clear the screen
before displaying text.
## If ANSI.SYS or a compatible driver is not loaded, the
colors will not be "sticky" -- you may lose them after
you run an application. If 4DOS thinks you have an
ANSI driver loaded, it first tries an ANSI clear
screen. If that doesn't work, 4DOS will call the BIOS
to clear the screen. You can force 4DOS to recognize
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the ANSI state with the SETDOS /A option (see page 294)
or the ANSI directive in 4DOS.INI (see page 127).
If your display accommodates more than 25 rows by 80
columns and CLS doesn't clear the whole screen, your
ANSI driver probably does not support the large display
size properly.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / COLOR
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COLOR (New)
Purpose: Change the default display colors.
Format: COLOR [BRIght] [BLInk] fg ON bg [BORder bc]
fg: The new foreground color
bg: The new background color
bc: The new border color
The available colors are:
Black Blue Green Red
Magenta Cyan Yellow White
See also: CLS.
Usage: COLOR is normally used in batch files before displaying
text. To set screen colors to bright white on blue,
you can use either of these commands:
c:\> color bright white on blue
c:\> color bri whi on blu
As the examples show, you may shorten color names plus
the words BRIGHT, BLINK, and BORDER to the first 3
letters.
If you have an ANSI driver (such as ANSI.SYS)
installed, COLOR will not change anything on the
screen. It will only set the default colors for
subsequent screen displays.
If you are not using an ANSI driver, COLOR will change
the display colors of every character on the screen.
However, the colors will not be "sticky" -- you may
lose them after you run an application.
## If you see odd characters like "[44;37m" when you try
to set the screen colors, 4DOS probably thinks you have
an ANSI driver loaded when you don't. Use SETDOS /A2,
or ANSI = No in 4DOS.INI, to tell 4DOS you have no ANSI
driver.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / COPY
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COPY (Enhanced)
Purpose: Copy data between disks, directories, files, or
physical hardware devices (such as your printer or
serial port).
Format: COPY [/C /H /M /N/ /P /Q /S /R /U /V] source[+] ...
[/A /B] destination [/A /B]
source: A file or list of files or a device to copy
from.
destination: A file, directory, or device to copy to.
/A(SCII) /P(rompt)
/B(inary) /Q(uiet)
/C(hanged) /R(eplace)
/H(idden) /S(ubdirectories)
/M(odified) /U(pdate)
/N(othing) /V(erify)
See also: ATTRIB, MOVE, and REN.
Usage: The 4DOS COPY command accepts all traditional syntax
and options and adds several new features.
The simplest use of COPY is to make a copy of a file,
like this example which makes a copy of a file called
file1.abc:
c:\> copy file1.abc file2.def
You can also copy a file to another drive and/or
directory. The following command copies file1 to the
\MYDIR directory on drive E:
c:\> copy file1 e:\mydir
You can copy several files at once by using wildcards:
c:\> copy *.txt e:\mydir
(See page 71 for an explanation of how 4DOS interprets
the wildcard characters [*] and [?].)
4DOS also lets you copy several files at one time. The
following command copies 3 files from the current
directory to the \MYDIR directory on drive E:
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c:\> copy file1 file2 file3 e:\mydir
The way COPY interprets your command line depends on
how many arguments (file, directory, or device names)
are on the line, and whether the arguments are
separated with [+] signs or spaces.
If there is only one argument on the line, COPY assumes
it is the source, and uses the current drive and
directory as the destination. For example, the
following command copies all the .DAT files on drive A
to the current directory on drive C:
c:\> copy a:*.dat
If there are two or more arguments on the line and [+]
signs are not used, then COPY assumes that the last
argument is the destination and copies all source files
to this new location. If the destination is a drive,
directory, or device name then the source files are
copied individually to the new location. If the
destination is a file name, the first source file is
copied to the destination, and any additional source
files are then appended to the new destination file.
For example, the first of these commands copies the
.DAT files from the current directory on drive A
individually to C:\MYDIR (which must already exist as a
directory); the second appends all the .DAT files
together into one large file called C:\DATA (assuming
C:\DATA is not a directory):
c:>\ copy a:*.dat c:\mydir\
c:>\ copy a:*.dat c:\data
When you copy to a directory, if you add a backslash
[\] to the end of the name as shown in the first
example above, COPY will display an error message if
the name does not refer to an existing directory. You
can use this feature to keep COPY from treating a
mistyped destination directory name as a file name and
attempting to append all your source files to a
destination file, when you really meant to copy them
individually to a destination directory.
## A plus [+] tells COPY to append two or more files to a
single destination file. If you list several source
files separated with [+] and don't specify a
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destination, COPY will use the name of the first source
file as the destination, and append each subsequent
file to the first file. For example, the following
command will append the contents of MEMO2 and MEMO3 to
MEMO1 and leave the combined contents in the file named
MEMO1:
c:\> copy memo1+memo2+memo3
To append the same three files but store the result in
BIGMEMO:
c:\> copy memo1+memo2+memo3 bigmemo
## You cannot append files to a device (such as a
printer); if you try to do so, COPY will ignore the
[+] signs and copy the files individually. If you
attempt to append several source files to a destination
directory or disk, COPY will append the files and place
the copy in the new location with the same name as the
first source file.
## If your destination has wildcards in it, COPY will
attempt to match them with the source names. For
example, this command copies the .DAT files from drive
A to C:\MYDIR and gives the new copies the extension
.DX:
c:\> copy a:*.dat c:\mydir\*.dx
This feature can give you unexpected results if you use
it with multiple source file names. For example,
suppose that drive A contains XYZ.DAT and XYZ.TXT. The
command
c:\> copy a:\*.dat a:\*.txt c:\mydir\*.dx
will copy A:XYZ.DAT to C:\MYDIR\XYZ.DX. Then it will
copy A:XYZ.TXT to C:\MYDIR\XYZ.DX, overwriting the
first file it copied.
## COPY also understands include lists (see page 74), so
you can specify several different kinds of files in the
same command. This command copies the .TXT, .DOC, and
.BAT files from the E:\MYDIR directory to the root
directory of drive A:
c:\> copy e:\mydir\*.txt;*.doc;*.bat a:\
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## COPY does not change a file's attributes. The
destination file will have the same attributes as the
source file.
Options: The /A(SCII) and /B(inary) options apply to the
preceding filename and to all subsequent filenames on
the command line until another /A or /B is entered.
The other options (/C, /H, /M, /N, /P, /Q, /R, /S, /U,
/V) apply to all filenames on the command line, no
matter where you put them. For example, either of the
following commands could be used to copy a font file to
the printer in binary mode:
c:\> copy /b myfont.dat prn
c:\> copy myfont.dat /b prn
Some options do not make sense in certain contexts, in
which case COPY will ignore them. For example, you
cannot prompt before replacing an existing file when
the destination is a device such as the printer --
there's no such thing as an "existing file" on the
printer. If you use conflicting output options, like
/Q and /P, 4DOS will take a "conservative" approach and
give priority to the option which generates more
prompts or more information.
Options used in less common situations have been marked
with ## below. Remember that the options are in
alphabetical order, so more basic options are
interspersed with those marked with## .
## /A(SCII): If you use /A with a source filename, 4DOS
will copy the file up to, but not including, the first
Ctrl-Z (Control-Z or ASCII 26) character in the file.
If you use /A with a destination filename, 4DOS will
add a Ctrl-Z to the end of the file (some application
programs use the Ctrl-Z to mark the end of a file).
4DOS defaults to /A when appending files.
## /B(inary): If you use /B with a source filename, 4DOS
will copy the entire file. Using /B with a destination
filename prevents 4DOS from adding a Ctrl-Z to the end
of the destination file. 4DOS defaults to /B for
normal file copies.
/C(hanged files): Copy files only if the destination
file exists and is older than the source (see also /U).
This option is useful for updating the files in one
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directory from those in another without copying any
newly created files.
## /H(idden): Copy all matching files including those
with the hidden and/or system attribute set (see
ATTRIB).
/M(odified): Copy only those files with the archive
bit set (see ATTRIB), i.e. those which have been
modified since the last backup. The archive bit will
NOT be cleared after copying.
## /N(othing): Do everything except actually perform the
copy. This option is most useful for testing what the
result of a complex COPY command will be.
/P(rompt): Ask the user to confirm each source file by
pressing Y or N. An N response will skip that
particular file and continue with the rest of the
command.
/Q(uiet): Turn off the display of the files copied.
This option is most often used in batch files.
/R(eplace): Prompt the user before overwriting an
existing file.
/S(ubdirectories): Copy the subdirectory tree starting
with the files in the source directory plus each
subdirectory below that. The destination must be a
directory; if it doesn't exist, COPY will attempt to
create it. COPY will also attempt to create needed
subdirectories on the tree below the destination,
including empty source directories.
/U(pdate): Copy each source file only if it is newer
than a matching destination file or if a matching
destination file does not exist (see also /C). This
option is useful for keeping one directory matched with
another with a minimum of copying.
## /V(erify): Verify each disk write. This is the same
as executing the VERIFY ON command, but is only active
during the COPY. /V does not read back the file and
compare its contents with what was written; it only
verifies that the data written to disk is physically
readable.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / CTTY
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CTTY (Compatible)
Purpose: Change the default console device.
Format: CTTY device
device: The new console device.
## Usage: Normally, 4DOS uses the keyboard as the standard input
device and the display as the standard output device.
Together, the keyboard and display are known as the
console or CON. The CTTY command allows you to
substitute another device that can perform standard
character I/O for the console.
For example to change the console to the first serial
port:
c:\> ctty com1
Change the console back to the standard keyboard and
display:
c:\> ctty con
CTTY works only for programs and commands that use
standard DOS input and output functions. This includes
all 4DOS internal commands except DRAWBOX, DRAWHLINE,
DRAWVLINE, LIST, SCREEN, SCRPUT, SELECT, and VSCRPUT.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / DATE
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DATE (Compatible)
Purpose: Display and optionally change the system date.
Format: DATE [mm-dd-yy]
mm: The month (01 - 12)
dd: The day (01 - 31)
yy: The year (80 - 199 = 1980 to 2099)
See also: TIME.
Usage: If you simply type DATE without any parameters, 4DOS
will display the current system date and time, and
prompt you for a new date. Press ENTER if you don't
wish to change the date. If you type a new date, it
will become the current system date, which is included
in the directory entry of each file as it is created or
altered:
c:\> date
Mon Sep 16, 1991 9:30:06
Enter new date (mm-dd-yy):
You can also enter a new system date by typing the DATE
command plus the new date on the command line:
c:\> date 9/16/91
You can use hyphens, slashes, or periods to separate
the month, day, and year entries. A full 4-digit year
can be entered if you wish.
The format for the date entry depends on the country
code defined in the CONFIG.SYS file or by the CHCP
command. The default format is U.S. (mm-dd-yy). The
European format is dd-mm-yy; the Japanese is yy-mm-dd.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / DEL / ERASE
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DEL / ERASE (Enhanced)
Purpose: Erase one file, a group of files, or entire
subdirectories.
Format: DEL [/N /P /Q /S /X /Y /Z] file...
or
ERASE [/N /P /Q /S /X /Y /Z] file...
file: The file, subdirectory, or list of files or
subdirectories to erase.
/N(othing) /X (remove empty subdirectories)
/P(rompt) /Y(es to all prompts)
/Q(uiet) /Z(ap hidden and read-only files)
/S(ubdirectories)
Usage: DEL and ERASE are synonyms, you can use either one.
Use the DEL and ERASE commands with caution; the files
and subdirectories that you erase may be impossible to
recover without specialized utilities and a lot of
work.
To erase a single file, simply enter the file name:
c:\> del letters.txt
Like all 4DOS file processing commands, DEL accepts
multiple file names, wildcards (see page 71), and
include lists (see page 74). For example, to erase all
the files in the current directory with a .BAK or .PRN
extension:
c:\> del *.bak *.prn
If you enter a subdirectory name, or a filename
composed only of wildcards (* and/or ?), DEL asks for
confirmation (Y or N) unless you specified the /Y
option. If you respond with a Y, DEL will delete all
the files in that subdirectory (except hidden, system,
and read-only files, unless you have used the /Z
option).
Options:## /N(othing): Do everything except actually delete the
file(s). This is useful for testing what the result of
a DEL would be.
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/P(rompt): Ask the user to confirm each erasure by
pressing Y or N. An N response will skip that
particular erasure.
/Q(uiet): Don't display filenames as they are deleted.
DEL will run fastest if you specify the /Q option and
the filename doesn't use the extended 4DOS wildcards.
/S(ubdirectories): Delete the specified files in this
directory and all of its subdirectories. This is like
a GLOBAL DEL, and can be used to delete all the files
in a subdirectory tree or even a whole disk. It should
be used with caution!
## /X (remove empty subdirectories): Remove empty
subdirectories after deleting (only useful when used
with /S).
! ## /Y(es): The reverse of /P -- it assumes a Y response
to everything, including deleting an entire
subdirectory tree. 4DOS normally prompts before
deleting files when the name consists only of wildcards
or a subdirectory name (see above); /Y overrides this
protection, and should be used with extreme caution!
! ## /Z(ap): Delete read-only, hidden, and system files as
well as normal files. Files with the read-only,
hidden, or system attribute set are normally protected
from deletion; /Z overrides this protection, and should
be used with extreme caution. Because EXCEPT works by
hiding files, /Z will override an EXCEPT command.
For example, to delete the entire subdirectory tree
starting with C:\UTIL, including hidden and read-only
files, without prompting (use this command with
CAUTION!):
c:\> del /s/x/y/z c:\util\
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / DELAY
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DELAY (New)
Purpose: Pause for a specified length of time.
Format: DELAY [seconds]
seconds: the number of seconds to delay.
Usage: DELAY is useful in batch file loops while waiting for
something to occur. To wait for 10 seconds:
delay 10
A simple loop could make a tone with the BEEP command
to get the operator's attention and then DELAY for 60
seconds while it waits for the user to respond.
## For delays shorter than one second, use the BEEP
command with an inaudible frequency (below 20 Hz).
You can cancel a delay by pressing Ctrl-C or Ctrl-
Break.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / DESCRIBE
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DESCRIBE (New)
Purpose: Create, modify, or delete file and subdirectory
descriptions.
Format: DESCRIBE file ["description"] ...
file: The file or files to operate on.
"description": The description to attach to the file.
Usage: DESCRIBE adds descriptions to DOS files and
subdirectories. The descriptions are displayed by DIR
in single-column mode and by SELECT. Each description
can be up to 40 characters long. Descriptions let you
identify your files in much more meaningful ways than
DOS allows in an eight-character filename.
You enter a description on the command line by typing
the DESCRIBE command, the filename, and the description
in quotation marks, like this:
c:\> describe memo.txt "Memo to Bob about party"
If you don't put a description on the command line,
DESCRIBE will prompt you for it:
c:\> describe memo.txt
Describe "memo.txt" : Memo to Bob about party
If you use wildcards or multiple filenames with the
DESCRIBE command and don't include the description
itself, you will be prompted to enter a description for
each file. If you do include the description on the
command line, all matching files will be given the same
description.
4DOS stores the descriptions in each directory in a
hidden file called DESCRIPT.ION. Use the ATTRIB
command to "unhide" this file if you need to copy or
delete it.
The description file is modified appropriately whenever
you perform an internal command which affects it (such
as COPY, MOVE, DEL, or RENAME), but not if you use an
external program (such as XCOPY) or a visual shell.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / DIR
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DIR (Enhanced)
Purpose: Display information about files and subdirectories.
Format: DIR [/1 /2 /4 /A[[:][-]rhsda] /B /C /D /F /J /K /L /M
/N /O[[:][-]deginsu] /P /S /T /U /V /W] [file...]
file: The file, directory, or list of files or
directories to display.
/1 (one column) /L(ower case)
/2 (two columns) /M (suppress footer)
/4 (four columns) /N (reset DIR options)
/A(ttribute select) /O (sort order )
/B(are) /P(ause)
/C(ase -- use upper case) /S(ubdirectories)
/D(isable colorization) /T (aTtribute display)
/F(ull path) /U (sUmmary information)
/J(ustify names) /V(ertical sort)
/K (suppress header) /W(ide)
See also: ATTRIB, DESCRIBE, SELECT, and SETDOS.
Usage: DIR can be used to display information about files from
one or more of your disk directories, in a wide range
of formats. Depending on the options chosen, you can
display the file name, attributes, and size; the time
and date of the last change to the file; and the file
description. You can also display information in 1, 2,
4, or 5 columns, sort the files several different ways,
use color to distinguish file types, and pause after
each full screen.
The various DIR displays are controlled through options
or switches. The best way to learn how to use the many
options available with the DIR command is to
experiment. You will soon know which options you want
to use regularly. You can select those options
permanently by using the ALIAS command. You may want
to mix several options. For example, to display all
the files in the current directory, in 2 columns,
sorted vertically (down one column then down the next),
and with a pause at the end of each page:
c:\> dir /2/p/v
To set up this format as the default, using an alias:
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c:\> alias dir=`*dir /2/p/v`
This example displays all the files on all directories
of drive C, including hidden and system files, pausing
after each page:
c:\> dir /s/h/p c:\
DIR allows wildcard characters (* and ?) in the
filename. If you don't specify a filename, DIR
defaults to *.* (display all non-hidden files and
subdirectories in the current directory). To display
all of the .WKS files in the current directory:
c:\> dir *.wks
If you link two or more filenames together with spaces,
DIR will display all of the files that match the first
name and then all of the files that match the second
name. You may use a different drive and path for each
filename. This example lists all of the .WKS and then
all of the .WK1 files in the current directory:
c:\> dir *.wks *.wk1
If you link multiple filenames with a semi-colon [;]
(an "include list", see page 74), DIR will display the
matching filenames in a single listing. Only the first
filename in an include list can have a path; the other
files must be in the same path. This example displays
the same files as the previous example, but the .WKS
and .WK1 files are intermixed:
c:\> dir *.wks;*.wk1
If you have an ANSI driver loaded, you can display the
file and subdirectory names in color by setting the
COLORDIR environment variable. The format for COLORDIR
is:
ext ... :[BRIght][BLInk] fg [ON bg]; ...
where "ext" is a file extension (1 to 3 characters) or
one of the following file types:
DIRS - directories
RDONLY - read-only files
HIDDEN - hidden files
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / DIR
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SYSTEM - system files
ARCHIVE - files modified since the last backup
For example, to display the .COM and .EXE files in red,
the .C and .ASM files in bright cyan, and the read-only
files in blinking green (this should be entered on one
line):
c:\> set colordir=com exe:red; c asm:bright cyan;
rdonly:blink green
If you don't specify a background color, DIR will use
the current screen background color. COLORDIR will not
work properly unless you have an ANSI driver loaded.
If you have COLORDIR set and attempt to redirect the
output of DIR to a character device, such as a serial
port or the printer, non-colorized file names will be
displayed on the device but colorized names will still
be displayed on the screen. This will not occur if the
output of DIR is redirected to a disk file. To avoid
this problem, use the /D switch to disable directory
colorization when redirecting the output of DIR to a
character device.
## Extended wildcards (for example "BA[KXC]" for .BAK,
.BAX, and .BAC files) can be used in directory color
specifications. See page 71 for more information on
extended wildcards.
## When sorting file names and extensions, 4DOS normally
assumes that sequences of digits should be sorted
numerically (for example, the file DRAW2 would come
before DRAW03 because 2 is numerically larger than 03),
rather than strictly alphabetically (where DRAW2 would
come second because "2" is more than "0"). You can
defeat this behavior and force a strict alphabetic sort
with the /O:a option.
## If a country code was defined in the CONFIG.SYS file or
by the CHCP command, DIR will display the date in the
format for that country. The default date format is
U.S. (mm-dd-yy). The separator character in the file
time will also be affected by the country code.
## DIR can handle directories of any size, limited only by
available memory. Each filename requires 32 bytes of
free base memory plus the size of the description (if
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / DIR
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any); a system with 128K of free base memory can
display up to 4,000 files per directory.
## Options on the command line apply only to the filenames
which follow the option, and options at the end of the
line apply to the preceding filename only. This allows
you to specify different options for different groups
of files, yet retains compatibility with the
traditional DIR command when a single filename is
specified.
Options: /1: Single column display -- display the filename,
size, date, time, and description. This is the
default.
/2: Two column display -- display the filename, size,
date, and time.
/4: Four column display -- display the filename and
size, in K (kilobytes) or M (megabytes).
## /A(ttributes): Display only those files that have the
specified attribute(s) set. Preceding the attribute
character with a hyphen [-] will display those files
that DON'T have that attribute set. The attributes
are:
R Read-only D Subdirectory
H Hidden A Archive
S System
If attributes are combined, all the specified
attributes must match for a file to be included in the
listing. For example, /A:RHS will display only those
files with all three attributes set. See page 178 for
more information on file attributes.
## /B(are): Suppress the header and summary lines, and
display file or subdirectory names only, in a single
column. This option is most useful when you want to
redirect a list of names to a file or another program.
/C(ase): Display filenames in the traditional upper
case; also see SETDOS /U (page 294) and the UpperCase
directive in 4DOS.INI (page 130).
## /D(isable colorization): Temporarily disable directory
colorization. Required when COLORDIR is set and DIR
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / DIR
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output is redirected to a character device like the
printer (e.g. PRN or LPT1) or serial port (e.g. COM1 or
COM2).
## /F(ull path): Display each filename with its drive
letter and path in a single column, without other
information.
/J(ustify): Justify (align) filename extensions and
display them in the traditional format.
## /K: Suppress the header (disk and directory name)
display.
/L(ower case): Display filenames in lower case; also
see SETDOS /U (page 294) and the UpperCase directive in
4DOS.INI (page 130).
## /M: Suppress the footer (file and byte count total)
display.
/N: Reset the DIR options to the default values. This
is useful when you want to display some files in one
format, and then change back to the defaults for
another set of files.
/O(rder): Set the sorting order. You may use any
combination of the following sorting options; if
multiple options are used the listing will be sorted
with the first sort option as the primary key, the next
as the secondary key, and so on:
- Reverse the sort order for the next option
a Sort names and extensions in standard ASCII
order, rather than sorting numerically when
digits are included in the name or extension
d Sort by date and time (oldest first)
e Sort by extension
g Group subdirectories together
i Sort by the file description
n Sort by filename (this is the default)
r Reverse the sort order for all options
s Sort by size
u Unsorted
/P(ause): Wait for a key to be pressed after each
screen page before continuing the display.
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/S(ubdirectories): Display file information from the
current directory and all of its subdirectories. DIR
will only display headers and summaries for those
directories with files that match the filename(s) and
attributes (if /A is used) that you specify on the
command line.
## /T (aTtributes): Display the filenames and attributes
only. The attributes are displayed in the format RHSA,
where:
R Read-only
H Hidden
S System
A Archive
/U (sUmmary information): Only display the number of
files, the total file size, and the total amount of
disk space used.
/V(ertical sort): Display the filenames sorted
vertically rather than horizontally (used with the /2,
/4 or /W options).
/W(ide): Display filenames only, horizontally across
the screen (5 columns on an 80-character wide display).
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / DIRS
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DIRS (New)
Purpose: Display the current directory stack.
Format: DIRS
See also: PUSHD and POPD.
Usage: The PUSHD command adds the current default drive and
directory to the directory stack, a list that 4DOS
maintains in memory. The POPD command removes the top
entry of the directory stack and makes that drive and
directory the new default. The DIRS command displays
the contents of the directory stack, with the most
recent entries on top (i.e., the next POPD will
retrieve the first entry that DIRS displays).
For example, to change directories and then display the
directory stack:
c:\> pushd c:\database
c:\database> pushd d:\wordp\memos
d:\wordp\memos> dirs
c:\database
c:\
The directory stack holds 255 characters, enough for
about 10 to 20 typical drive and directory entires.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / DRAWBOX
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DRAWBOX (New)
Purpose: Draw a box on the screen.
Format: DRAWBOX ulrow ulcol lrrow lrcol style [BRIght] [BLInk]
fg ON bg [FILl bgfill] [SHAdow]
ulrow: Row for upper left corner
ulcol: Column for upper left corner
lrrow: Row for lower right corner
lrcol: Column for lower right corner
style: Box drawing style:
0 No lines (box is drawn with blanks)
1 Single line
2 Double line
3 Single on top and bottom, double on sides
4 Double on top and bottom, single on sides
fg: Foreground character color
bg: Background character color
bgfill: Background fill color (for the inside of the
box)
The available colors are:
Black Blue Green Red
Magenta Cyan Yellow White
See also: DRAWHLINE and DRAWVLINE.
Usage: DRAWBOX is useful for creating attractive screen
displays in batch files. DRAWBOX detects other lines
and boxes on the display, and creates the appropriate
connector characters when possible (not all types of
lines can be connected with the available characters).
For example, to draw a box around the entire screen
with bright white lines on a blue background (enter
this on one line):
drawbox 0 0 24 79 1 bri whi on blu fill blu
Only the first three characters of the color name and
the keywords BRIGHT, BLINK, FILL, and SHADOW are
required.
If you use SHADOW, a drop shadow is created by changing
the characters in the row under the box and the 2
columns to the right of the box to normal intensity
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / DRAWBOX
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text with a black background (this will make characters
displayed in black disappear entirely).
The row and column values are zero-based, so on a
standard 25 line by 80 column display, valid rows are 0
- 24 and valid columns are 0 - 79.
DRAWBOX checks for valid row and column values, and
displays a "Usage" error message if any values are out
of range.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / DRAWHLINE
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DRAWHLINE (New)
Purpose: Draw a horizontal line on the screen.
Format: DRAWHLINE row column len style [BRIght] [BLInk]
fg ON bg
row: Starting row
column: Starting column
len: Length of line
style: Line drawing style:
1 Single line
2 Double line
fg: Foreground character color
bg: Background character color
The available colors are:
Black Blue Green Red
Magenta Cyan Yellow White
See also: DRAWBOX and DRAWVLINE.
Usage: DRAWHLINE is useful for creating attractive screen
displays in batch files. It detects other lines and
boxes on the display, and creates the appropriate
connector characters when possible (not all types of
lines can be connected with the available characters).
For example, the following command draws a double line
along the top row of the display with green characters
on a blue background:
drawhline 0 0 80 2 green on blue
Only the first three characters of the color name and
the attributes BRIGHT and BLINK are required.
The row and column values are zero-based, so on a
standard 25 line by 80 column display, valid rows are 0
- 24 and valid columns are 0 - 79.
DRAWHLINE checks for a valid row and column, and
displays a "Usage" error message if either value is out
of range.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / DRAWVLINE
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DRAWVLINE (New)
Purpose: Draw a vertical line on the screen.
Format: DRAWVLINE row column len style [BRIght][BLInk]
fg ON bg
row: Starting row
column: Starting column
len: Length of line
style: Line drawing style:
1 Single line
2 Double line
fg: Foreground character color
bg: Background character color
The available colors are:
Black Blue Green Red
Magenta Cyan Yellow White
See also: DRAWBOX and DRAWHLINE.
Usage: DRAWVLINE is useful for creating attractive screen
displays in batch files. It detects other lines and
boxes on the display, and creates the appropriate
connector characters when possible (not all types of
lines can be connected with the available characters).
For example, to draw a double width line along the left
margin of the display with bright red characters on a
black background:
drawvline 0 0 25 2 bright red on black
Only the first three characters of the color name and
the attributes BRIGHT and BLINK are required.
The row and column values are zero-based, so on a
standard 25 line by 80 column display, valid rows are 0
- 24 and valid columns are 0 - 79.
DRAWVLINE checks for a valid row and column, and
displays a "Usage" error message if either value is out
of range.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / ECHO
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ECHO (Enhanced)
Purpose: Display a message, enable or disable batch file or
command line echoing, or display the echo status.
Format: ECHO [ON | OFF | message]
message: Text to display.
See also: ECHOS, SCREEN, SCRPUT, SETDOS and TEXT.
Usage: 4DOS has a separate echo capability for batch files and
for the command line.
In a batch file, if you turn ECHO on, each line of the
file is displayed before it is executed. If you turn
ECHO off, each line is executed without being
displayed. ECHO can also be used in a batch file to
display a message on the screen. Regardless of the
ECHO state, a batch file line that begins with the [@]
character will not be displayed. To turn off batch
file echoing, without displaying the ECHO command, use
this line:
@echo off
ECHO commands in a batch file will send messages to the
screen while the batch file executes, even if ECHO is
set OFF. For example, this line will display a message
in a batch file:
echo Processing your print files...
If you want to echo a blank line from within a batch
file, enter:
echo.
You cannot use the command separator character [^] or
the 4DOS redirection symbols (| > <) in an ECHO
message, unless you enclose them in quotes or precede
them with the escape character (see page 93).
4DOS defaults to ECHO ON in batch files. The current
ECHO state is inherited by called batch files. You can
change the default setting to ECHO OFF with the SETDOS
/V0 command or the BatchEcho directive in 4DOS.INI (see
page 127).
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / ECHO
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If you turn the command line ECHO on, 4DOS will display
each command before it is executed. This will let you
see the command line after 4DOS has expanded all
aliases and variables. The command line ECHO is most
useful when you are learning how to use the advanced
features of 4DOS. This example will turn command line
echoing on:
c:\> echo on
4DOS defaults to ECHO OFF during keyboard input. The
keyboard ECHO state is independent of the batch file
ECHO state; changing ECHO in a batch file has no
effect on the display at the command prompt, and vice
versa.
To see the current echo state, use the ECHO command
with no arguments. This displays either the batch file
or command line echo state, depending on where the ECHO
command is performed.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / ECHOS
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ECHOS (New)
Purpose: Display a message without a trailing carriage return
and line feed.
Format: ECHOS message
See also: ECHO, SCREEN, SCRPUT, TEXT, and VSCRPUT.
Usage: ECHOS is useful for outputting text when you don't want
4DOS to add a carriage return / linefeed pair. For
example, you can use ECHOS when you need to redirect
control sequences to your printer (the "^X" represents
the 4DOS escape character, which is normally Ctrl-X):
c:\> echos ^XeP > lpt1:
You cannot use the command separator character [^] or
the 4DOS redirection symbols (|><) in an ECHOS message,
unless you enclose them in quotes or preceded them with
the escape character (see page 93).
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / ENDLOCAL
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ENDLOCAL (New)
Purpose: Restore the saved disk drive, directory, environment,
and alias list.
Format: ENDLOCAL
See also: SETLOCAL.
## Usage: The SETLOCAL command in a batch file saves the current
disk drive, default directory, all environment
variables, and the alias list. ENDLOCAL restores
everything that was saved by the previous SETLOCAL
command.
For example, this batch file fragment saves the drive,
current working directory, and environment variables,
changes the drive and directory, sets some environment
variables, runs the program TEST1, and then restores
the original values:
setlocal
cdd d:\test
set path=c:\;c:\dos;c:\util
set lib=d:\lib
test1
endlocal
SETLOCAL and ENDLOCAL can only be used in batch files,
not in aliases or from the command line.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / ESET
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ESET (New)
Purpose: Edit environment variables and aliases.
Format: ESET [/M] variable name...
variable name: The name of an environment variable or
alias to edit.
/M(aster environment)
See also: ALIAS, UNALIAS, SET, and UNSET.
Usage: ESET allows you to edit environment variables and
aliases using the 4DOS line editing commands (see page
55).
For example, to edit the executable file search path:
c:\> eset path
path=c:\;c:\dos;c:\util
To create and then edit an alias:
c:\> alias d dir /d/j/p
c:\> eset d
d=dir /d/j/p
ESET will search for environment variables first and
then aliases. If you have an environment variable and
an alias with the same name, ESET will only be able to
edit the environment variable.
4DOS limits environment variable and alias names to 80
characters, and their arguments to 255 characters.
Option: ## /M(aster environment): Edit an environment variable in
the master environment rather than the local
environment. This option is only useful from a
secondary command shell (for example, when an
application has "shelled to DOS").
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / EXCEPT
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EXCEPT (New)
Purpose: Perform a command on all available files except those
specified.
Format: EXCEPT (file) command
file: The file or files to exclude from the command.
command: The command to execute, including all
appropriate arguments and switches.
See also: ATTRIB.
Usage: EXCEPT provides a means of executing a command on a
group of files and/or subdirectories, and excluding a
subgroup from the operation. The command can be a 4DOS
internal command or alias, an external command, or a
batch file.
You may use wildcards to specify the files to exclude
from the command. The first example erases all the
files in the current directory except those beginning
with MEMO and those ending in .WKS. The second example
copies all the files and subdirectories on drive C to
drive D except those in C:\MSC and C:\DOS, using the
COPY command:
c:\> except (memo*.* *.wks) erase *.*
c:\> except (c:\msc c:\dos) copy c:\*.* d:\ /s
## If you use EXCEPT with filename completion (see page
59) to get the filenames inside the parentheses, type a
space after the open parenthesis before entering a
partial filename or pressing Tab. Otherwise, the
command line editor will treat the open parenthesis as
the first character of the filename to be completed.
## EXCEPT prevents operations on the specified file(s) by
setting the hidden attribute, performing the command,
and then clearing the hidden attribute. If the command
is aborted in an unusual way, you may need to use the
ATTRIB command to "unhide" (-H) the file(s).
## EXCEPT will not work with programs or commands that
ignore the hidden attribute or which work explicitly
with hidden files, including DEL /Z and the /H (process
hidden files) switch available in some 4DOS file
processing commands.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / EXCEPT
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## You can use command grouping (see page 91) to execute
multiple commands with a single EXCEPT. For example,
the following command copies all files in the current
directory whose extensions begin with .DA, except the
.DAT files, to the D:\SAVE directory, then changes the
first two characters of the extension of the copied
files to .SA. This example should be entered on one
line:
c:\data> except (*.dat) (copy *.da* d:\save ^
ren *.da* *.sa*)
## You may need to increase 4DOS's internal stack size
using the StackSize directive in 4DOS.INI if you use
extremely complex combinations of commands like EXCEPT,
FOR, GLOBAL, IF, and SELECT on the same command line,
or use complex combinations of these commands in nested
batch files or nested GOSUBs. See the StackSize
directive on page 137 for more information.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / EXIT
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EXIT (Enhanced)
Purpose: Return from a secondary command processor.
Format: EXIT [value]
value: The exit code to return (0 - 255).
Usage: Some application programs will start a secondary copy
of the command processor to allow you to execute DOS
commands. To return to the application again, type:
c:\> exit
## If you specify a value, EXIT will return that value to
the program that started 4DOS. For example:
c:\> exit 255
## The value is a number you can use to inform the program
of some result, such as the success or failure of a
batch file. This feature is most useful for systems
which use batch files to automate their operation, such
as bulletin boards, or custom application programs like
databases that shell to 4DOS to perform certain tasks.
## You cannot EXIT from the primary command processor
unless you are running inside an OS/2 2.0 DOS
compatibility box.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / FOR
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FOR (Enhanced)
Purpose: Repeat a command for several values of a variable.
Format: FOR [/A[:][-]rhsda] %var IN ([@]set) [DO] command ...
%var: The variable to be used in the command ("FOR
variable").
set: A set of values for the variable.
command: A command or group of commands to be executed
for each value of the variable.
/A(ttribute select)
Usage: 4DOS begins the FOR command by creating a set. It then
executes a command for every member of the set. The
command can be a 4DOS internal command or alias, an
external command, or a batch file.
Normally, the set is a list of files specified with
wildcards. For example, if you use this line in a
batch file:
for %x in (*.txt) do list %x
4DOS will create a list of all files in the current
directory with the extension .TXT. It sets the FOR
variable %x equal to each of the file names in turn,
and executes the LIST command for each of the files.
The set can include multiple files or an include list,
like this:
for %x in (d:\*.txt;*.doc;*.asc) do type %x
The set can also be made up of text instead of file
names. For example, to display the free space on
drives C:, D:, and E:, you could use:
for %drive in (c d e) do free %drive:
## You can also set the FOR variable equal to each line in
a file by placing an [@] in front of the file name. If
you have a file called DRIVES.TXT that contains a list
of drives on your computer, one drive name per line
(with a ":" after each drive letter), you can print the
free space on each drive this way:
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / FOR
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for %d in (@drives.txt) do free %d > prn
## Because the [@] is also a valid filename character, FOR
first checks to see if the file exists with the [@] in
its name (e.g., @DRIVES.TXT). If so, the filename is
treated as a normal argument. If it doesn't exist, FOR
uses the filename (without the [@]) as the file from
which to retrieve text.
## 4DOS will accept either % or %% in front of the
variable name. You can use either form whether the FOR
command is typed from the command line or is part of an
alias or batch file. The variable name can be up to 80
characters long. The word DO is optional.
## If you use a single-character FOR variable name 4DOS
will give that name priority over any environment
variable which starts with the same letter, in order to
maintain compatibility with the traditional FOR
command. For example, the following command tries to
add a: and b: to the end of the PATH, but will not work
as intended:
c:\> for %p in (a: b:) do path %path;%p
The "%p" in "%path" will be interpreted as the FOR
variable %p followed by the text "ath", which is not
what was intended. To get around this, use a different
letter or a longer name for the FOR variable, or use
square brackets around the variable name (see page 78).
## The following example uses FOR with variable functions
to delete the .BAK files for which a corresponding .TXT
file exists in the current directory (this should be
entered on one line):
c:\docs> for %file in (*.txt) do if exist
%@name[%file].txt del %@name[%file].bak
## You can use command grouping (see page 91) to execute
multiple commands for each element in the list. For
example, the following command copies each .WKQ file in
the current directory to the D:\WKSAVE directory, and
then changes the extension of each file in the current
directory to .SAV. This example should be entered on
one line:
c:\text> for %file in (*.wkq) do (copy %file
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / FOR
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d:\wksave\ ^ ren %file *.sav)
## One unusual use of FOR is to execute a collection of
batch files or other commands with the same parameter.
For example, you might want to have three batch files
all operate on the same data file. The FOR command
could look like this (this should all be entered on one
line):
c:\> for %x in (filetest fileform fileprnt)
do %x datafile
4DOS will expand this to three separate commands:
filetest datafile
fileform datafile
fileprnt datafile
## The variable that FOR uses (the %X in the example
above) is created in the environment and then erased
when the FOR command is done. Because of this, you
must be careful not to use the name of one of your
environment variables as a FOR variable. For example,
a command that begins
c:\> for %path in (...
will write over your current path setting and then
erase the path variable completely.
## FOR statements can be nested. The permissible nesting
level depends on the amount of free space in 4DOS's
internal stack.
## You may need to increase 4DOS's internal stack size
using the StackSize directive in 4DOS.INI if you use
extremely complex combinations of commands like EXCEPT,
FOR, GLOBAL, IF, and SELECT on the same command line,
or use complex combinations of these commands in nested
batch files or nested GOSUBs. See the StackSize
directive on page 137 for more information.
Options: ## /A(ttributes): Process only those files that have the
specified attribute(s). /A will be used only when
processing wildcard file names in the set. It will be
ignored for filenames without wildcards or other items
in the set. Preceding the attribute character with a
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / FOR
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hyphen [-] will process those files that DON'T have
that attribute set. The attributes are:
R Read-only D Subdirectory
H Hidden A Archive
S System
For example, to process only those files with the
archive attribute:
for /a:a %%f in (*.*) echo %%f needs a backup!
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / FREE
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FREE (New)
Purpose: Display the total disk space, total bytes used, and
total bytes free on the specified (or default)
drive(s).
Format: FREE [drive: ...]
drive: One or more drives to include in the report.
See also: MEMORY.
Usage: FREE provides the same disk information as the external
DOS command CHKDSK, but without the wait, since it does
not check the integrity of the file and directory
structure of the disk.
A colon [:] is required after each drive letter. This
example displays the status of drives A and C:
c:\> free a: c:
Volume in drive A: is unlabeled
1,213,952 bytes total disk space
1,115,136 bytes used
98,816 bytes free
Volume in drive C: is DEVELOPMENT
42,496,000 bytes total disk space
36,851,712 bytes used
5,644,288 bytes free
If you are using DOS 4.0 or later, the disk serial
number will appear after the drive label or name.
Some networks with large server disk drives (256 MB or
more) may report disk space values that are too small
when FREE is used. If this occurs, it is because the
network software does not provide a way to return
larger values to 4DOS.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / GLOBAL
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GLOBAL (New)
Purpose: Execute a command in the current directory and its
subdirectories.
Format: GLOBAL [/H /I /Q] command
command: The command to execute, including arguments
and switches.
/H(idden directories) /Q(uiet)
/I(gnore exit codes)
Usage: GLOBAL performs the command first in the current
directory and then in every subdirectory under the
current directory. The command can be a 4DOS internal
command or alias, an external command, or a batch file.
The first example erases all the files with a .BAK
extension in every directory on C. The second example
copies the files in every directory on drive A to the
directory C:\TEMP:
c:\> global erase *.bak
a:\> global copy *.* c:\temp
## You can use command grouping (see page 91) to execute
multiple commands in each subdirectory. For example,
the following command copies each .TXT file in the
current directory and all of its subdirectories to
drive A. It then changes the extension of each of the
copied files to .SAV:
c:\> global (copy *.txt a: ^ ren *.txt *.sav)
## You may need to increase 4DOS's internal stack size
using the StackSize directive in 4DOS.INI if you use
extremely complex combinations of commands like EXCEPT,
FOR, GLOBAL, IF, and SELECT on the same command line,
or use complex combinations of these commands in nested
batch files or nested GOSUBs. See the StackSize
directive on page 137 for more information.
Options:## /H(idden directories): Forces GLOBAL to look for
hidden directories. If you don't use this switch,
hidden directories are ignored.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / GLOBAL
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## /I(gnore exit codes): If this option is not specified,
GLOBAL will terminate if the command returns a non-zero
exit code. Use /I if you want command to continue in
additional subdirectories even if it returns an error
in a previous subdirectory.
/Q(uiet): Do not display the directory names as each
directory is processed.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / GOSUB
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GOSUB (New)
Purpose: Execute a subroutine in the current batch file.
Format: GOSUB label
label: The batch file line label at the beginning of
the subroutine.
See also: CALL, GOTO and RETURN.
## Usage: 4DOS allows subroutines in batch files. A subroutine
begins with a label (a colon followed by a word) and
ends with a RETURN command. The subroutine is invoked
with a GOSUB command from another part of the batch
file. The RETURN command ends a subroutine; execution
of the batch file will continue with the command
following the original GOSUB. GOSUB allows you to
create subroutines within a batch file (to call other
batch files, see CALL.)
The subroutine must start with a label that begins with
a colon [:] and which appears on a line by itself.
4DOS ignores case differences when matching labels.
The subroutine must end with a RETURN statement. After
the RETURN, 4DOS will continue processing the batch
file with the command following the GOSUB command.
The following batch file fragment calls a subroutine
which displays the directory and returns:
echo Calling a subroutine
gosub subr1
echo Returned from the subroutine
quit
:subr1
dir /a/w
return
If the label doesn't exist, the batch file is
terminated with the error message "Label not found."
GOSUB saves the IFF state, so IFF statements inside a
subroutine won't interfere with IFF statements in the
part of the batch file from which the subroutine was
called.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / GOSUB
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Subroutines can be nested. The permissible nesting
level depends on the amount of free space in 4DOS's
internal stack.
## You may need to increase 4DOS's internal stack size
using the StackSize directive in 4DOS.INI if you use
extremely complex combinations of commands like EXCEPT,
FOR, GLOBAL, IF, and SELECT on the same command line,
or use complex combinations of these commands in nested
batch files or nested GOSUBs. See the StackSize
directive on page 137 for more information.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / GOTO
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GOTO (Compatible)
Purpose: Branch to a specified line inside the current batch
file.
Format: GOTO [/I] label
label: The batch file line label to branch to.
/I(FF continues)
See also: GOSUB.
Usage: After a GOTO command in a batch file, the next line to
be executed will be the one immediately after the
label. The label must begin with a colon [:] and
appear on a line by itself. 4DOS ignores case
differences when matching labels.
This batch file fragment checks for the existence of
the file CONFIG.SYS. If the file exists, 4DOS jumps to
C_EXISTS and copies all the files from the current
directory to the root directory on A:. Otherwise, 4DOS
prints an error message and exits.
if exist config.sys goto C_EXISTS
echo CONFIG.SYS doesn't exist - exiting.
quit
:C_EXISTS
copy *.* a:\
If the label doesn't exist, the batch file is
terminated with the error message "Label not found."
To avoid errors in the processing of nested IFF
statements, if /I is not used GOTO cancels all active
IFF statements. This means that a normal GOTO (without
/I) inside an IFF statement must branch outside all IFF
statements, and may not branch to any label that is
between an IFF and the corresponding ENDIFF. This
includes branches inside the current IFF statement.
Options:## /I(FF continues): Prevents GOTO from cancelling IFF
statements. Use this option only if you are absolutely
certain that your GOTO command is branching entirely
within the current active IFF statement, and not into
another IFF statement or a different IFF nesting level.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / GOTO
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Using /I under any other conditions will cause an error
later in your batch file.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / HELP
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HELP (New, External command)
Purpose: Display help for 4DOS and DOS commands.
Format: HELP [/M /Sn /X] [topic]
topic: A help topic, 4DOS internal command, or DOS
external command.
/M(onochrome) /X (disable mouse)
/Sn (set mouse speed)
Usage: HELP displays a brief description and the proper syntax
of both 4DOS and DOS commands. If you simply type
c:\> help
you will see a list of all help topics. You can select
a topic by using the cursor keys and then pressing
Enter.
If you want to avoid the opening list, use a topic or
command name. For example, if you want help with the
4DOS COPY command, type
c:\> help copy
You can also start HELP by pressing F1 at the 4DOS
prompt (see page 62).
4HELP.EXE and 4DOS.HLP must be in the current directory
or one of the directories specified in the current PATH
setting. If you keep the help files in a directory
which is not on your PATH, you must set the full path
for the help program with the HelpPath directive in
4DOS.INI (see page 125). If you use the HelpPath
directive, the HELP command will generally respond more
quickly, because 4DOS won't have to search the
directories in your PATH setting to find the help
files.
The HELPCFG program included with 4DOS allows you to
customize the HELP colors. To use it, just change to
your 4DOS directory, run HELPCFG, and follow the
instructions it displays. To force HELPCFG to adjust
the monochrome HELP colors, even when running on a
color system, use the command HELPCFG /M.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / HELP
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If you use another program named HELP, you can use two
alias commands to rename the 4DOS help command as
4HELP:
c:\> alias 4help=`*help`
c:\> alias help=`c:\util\help.exe`
You can set options for HELP when your system boots
with the HelpOptions directive in 4DOS.INI (see page
125).
If you want to customize the help text (for example, to
add help for your own commands or aliases), you will
need the 4DOS Utility Disk which contains the source
text and hypertext compiler.
Options: /M(onochrome): forces HELP to use a monochrome display
mode on color systems. This is useful on any system
where HELP may be "fooled" into thinking you have a
color display when you don't, including portable
computers with LCD screens.
/Sn (Speed): sets the HELP mouse movement speed. /S0
sets the speed to one half the default speed, /S2 sets
it to twice the default, and /S4 sets it to four times
the default. The larger values may be useful if you
normally use a screen size larger than the standard 80
x 25.
/X (disable mouse): Completely disables the mouse in
HELP. If you have a Microsoft serial or PS/2 mouse and
are experiencing long delays when HELP starts, you can
use this option to disable the mouse if you wish. (The
delay is caused by the extended time required by the
Microsoft Mouse driver to initialize these mice.)
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / HISTORY
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HISTORY (New)
Purpose: Display, add to, clear, or read the history list.
Format: HISTORY [/A command /F /P /R filename]
/A(dd) /P(ause)
/F(ree) /R(ead)
See also: LOG
Usage: 4DOS keeps a list of the commands you have entered on
the command line. See page 56 for information on
command recall, which allows you to use the history
list to repeat or edit commands you have typed.
The HISTORY command lets you view and manipulate the
command history list directly. If no parameters are
entered, HISTORY will display the current command
history list:
c:\> history
With the options explained below, you can add new
commands to the list without executing them, save the
list in a file, or read a new list from a file.
The number of commands saved in the history list
depends on the length of each command line. The
history list size can be specified at startup from 256
to 8192 characters (see page 125). The default size is
1024 characters.
## You can use the HISTORY command as an aid in writing
batch files. Any time you have executed a series of
commands that you'd like to save as the basis for a
batch file, simply redirect the output of HISTORY to a
file:
c:\> history > newbatch
Then edit the output file to contain only the commands
you want in the batch file, and save it under the
appropriate name. If you know you're going to use
HISTORY this way, you may want to use the /F switch to
clear the history first, so that your output file isn't
cluttered with too many extraneous commands.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / HISTORY
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## You can disable the history list or specify a minimum
command line length to save with the HistMin directive
in the 4DOS.INI file.
Options:## /A(dd): Add a command to the history list. This
performs the same function as the Ctrl-K key at the
command line (see page 56).
/F(ree): Erase all entries in the command history
list.
/P(rompt): Wait for a key after displaying each page
of the list.
## /R(ead): Read the command history from the specified
file and append it to the history list currently held
in memory. You can save the history list by
redirecting the output of HISTORY to a file. This
example saves the command history to a file called
HISTFLE and reads it back again immediately. If you
leave out the second line, 4DOS will append the
contents of the file to the current history list
instead of replacing the current history list with the
file copy:
c:\> history > histfile
c:\> history /f
c:\> history /r histfile
If you need to save your history at the end of each
day's work, you might use commands like this in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file:
if exist c:\histfile history /r c:\histfile
alias shut*down `history > c:\histfile`
This restores the previous history list if it exists,
then defines an alias which will save the history
before shutting off the system.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / IF
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IF (Enhanced)
Purpose: Execute a command if a condition or set of conditions
is true.
Format: IF [NOT] condition [.AND. | .OR. | .XOR. [NOT]
condition ...] command
condition: A test to determine if the command should
be executed.
command: The command to execute if the condition is
true.
See also: IFF.
Usage: IF is normally used only in aliases and batch files.
It is always followed by one or more conditions and
then a command. 4DOS first evaluates the conditions.
If they are true, 4DOS executes the command.
Otherwise, the command is ignored. If you add a NOT
before a condition, the command is executed only when
the condition is false.
You can link conditions with .AND., .OR., or .XOR., and
you can nest IF statements. The conditions can test
strings, numbers, the existence of a file or
subdirectory, the errorlevel returned from the
preceding external command, and the existence of alias
names and internal commands.
The command can be an alias, a 4DOS internal command,
an external command, or a batch file. The entire IF
statement, including all conditions and the command,
must fit on one line.
## You can use command grouping (see page 91) to execute
multiple commands if the condition is true. For
example, the following command tests if any .TXT files
exist. If they do, they are copied to drive A: and
their extensions are changed to .TXO:
if exist *.txt (copy *.txt a: ^ ren *.txt *.txo)
(The IFF command provides a more structured method of
executing multiple commands if a condition or set of
conditions is true.)
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / IF
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## You may need to increase 4DOS's internal stack size
using the StackSize directive in 4DOS.INI if you use
extremely complex combinations of commands like EXCEPT,
FOR, GLOBAL, IF, and SELECT on the same command line,
or use complex combinations of these commands in nested
batch files or nested GOSUBs. See the StackSize
directive on page 137 for more information.
Conditions: The following conditional tests are available in both
the IF and IFF commands. They fit into three
categories: string tests, numeric tests, and system
tests. The tests can use environment variables, 4DOS
internal-variables and variable functions (see pages 81
and 85), file names, and literal text and values as
their arguments.
If you use one of the string or numeric tests like ==
or GE, 4DOS decides whether to compare the values as
numbers or as strings by examining the first character
of each value. If both values begin with a digit, 4DOS
performs a numeric comparison. If either value does
not begin with a digit, a string comparison is done.
To force a string comparison, use double quotes around
the values you are testing.
The difference between numeric and string comparisons
is best explained by looking at the way values with and
without blanks are tested. For example, consider
comparing the values 2 and 19. Numerically, 2 is
smaller, but as a string it is "larger" because its
first digit is larger than the first digit of 19. So
the first of these conditions will be true, and the
second will be false:
if 2 lt 19 ...
if "2" lt "19" ...
String Tests:
For the string tests, 4DOS ignores case differences.
When you compare strings, you should always enclose
the arguments in double quotes in order to avoid
syntax errors which may occur if one of the argument
values is empty.
string1 == string2
string1 EQ string2
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If string1 is equal to string2, then the
condition is true.
string1 != string2
string1 NE string2
If string1 is not equal to string 2, then the
condition is true.
string1 LT string2
If string1 is less than string2, then the
condition is true.
string1 LE string2
If string1 is less than or equal to string2, then
the condition is true.
string1 GT string2
If string1 is greater than string2, then the
condition is true.
string1 GE string2
If string1 is greater than or equal to string2,
then the condition is true.
This first batch file fragment runs a program called
MONOPROG if a monochrome monitor is attached to the
system:
if "%_monitor" == "mono" monoprog
The second batch file fragment tests for a string
value:
input "Enter your selection : " %%cmd
if "%cmd" == "WP" goto wordproc
if "%cmd" NE "GRAPHICS" goto badentry
This example calls GO.BTM if the first two
characters of the file MYFILE contain the string
"GO" (enter this example on one line):
if "%@substr[%@line[myfile,0],0,2]"=="GO"
call go.btm
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Numeric Tests:
The numeric tests available are exactly the same as
the string tests (==, EQ, !=, NE, LT, LE, GT, and
GE), but compare values as numbers instead of
strings. Both values must begin with a digit or
4DOS will perform a string test instead.
The first example below tests whether there is more
than 500 KBytes of free base memory; the second
tests for more than 2 MBytes of free EMS memory:
c:\> if %@dosmem[k] gt 500 echo Over 500K free
c:\> if %@ems[m] gt 2 echo Over 2 MB EMS free
This example shows how to implement a simple loop
inside a batch file. The lines between the labels
:loop and :loopdone will be executed 100 times:
set limit=100
set counter=1
:loop
if %counter gt %limit goto loopdone
rem DO SOME WORK HERE
set counter=%@eval[%counter + 1]
goto loop
:loopdone
System Tests:
The final conditions test the system status. You
can also use 4DOS pseudo-variables and variable
functions to test other parts of the system status.
ERRORLEVEL [condition] n
This test retrieves the exit code of the
preceding external program. By convention,
programs return an exit code of 0 when they are
successful and a number between 1 and 255 to
indicate an error. The condition can be any of
the numeric operators listed above (EQ, !=, GT,
etc.). If no relational operator is specified,
the default is GE. The comparison between the
exit code and n is done numerically.
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Not all programs return an explicit exit code.
For programs which do not, the behavior of
ERRORLEVEL is undefined and may be erratic.
EXIST filename
If the file exists, the condition is true. You
can use wildcards in the filename, in which case
the condition is true if any file matching the
wildcards exists.
ISALIAS aliasname
If the specified name is an alias, the condition
is true.
ISDIR path
If the subdirectory exists, the condition is
true.
ISINTERNAL command
If the specified command is an active, internal
4DOS command, the condition is true. Commands
can be activated and deactivated with the SETDOS
/I command.
The first batch file fragment below tests for the
existence of A:\JAN.DOC before copying it to drive
C.
if exist a:\jan.doc copy a:\jan.doc c:\
This example tests the exit code of the previous
program and stops batch file processing if an error
occurred:
if errorlevel==0 goto success
echo "External Error -- Batch File Ends!"
cancel
Combining Tests:
You can negate the result of any test with NOT, and
combine tests of any sort with .AND., .OR., and
.XOR. Test conditions are always scanned from left
to right -- there is no implied order of precedence,
as there is in some programming languages.
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When two tests are combined with .AND., the result
is true if both of the individual tests are true.
When two tests are combined with .OR., the result is
true if either (or both) of the individual tests are
true. When two tests are combined with .XOR., the
result is true only if one of the tests is true and
the other is false.
This example runs a program called HIGHRES if either
an EGA or VGA video adapter is in use:
if "%_video"=="EGA" .or. "%_video"==vga highres
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / IFF
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IFF (New)
Purpose: Allow IF / THEN / ELSE conditional execution of
commands.
Format: IFF [NOT] condition [.AND. | .OR. | .XOR. [NOT]
condition ...] THEN ^ commands
[ELSEIFF condition THEN ^ commands ] ...
[ELSE ^ commands ]
^ ENDIFF
condition: A test to determine if the command(s)
should be executed.
commands: One or more commands to execute if the
condition(s) is true. If you use multiple commands,
they must be separated by carets or be placed on
separate lines of a batch file.
See also: IF
Usage: IFF is similar to the IF command, except that it can
perform one set of commands when a condition or set of
conditions is true and different commands when the
conditions are false.
IFF can execute multiple commands when the conditions
are true or false; IF normally executes only one
command. IFF imposes no limit on the number of
commands and is generally a "cleaner" and more
structured command than IF.
IFF is always followed by one or more conditions, which
4DOS evaluates. If they are true, 4DOS executes the
commands that follow the word THEN. Additional
conditions can be tested with ELSEIFF. If none of
these conditions are true, 4DOS executes the commands
that follow the word ELSE. In both cases, after the
selected commands are executed, processing continues
after the word ENDIFF.
If you add a NOT before the condition, the THEN
commands are executed only when the condition is false
and the ELSE commands are executed only when the
condition is true.
You can link conditions with .AND., .OR., or .XOR., and
you can nest IFF statements up to 15 deep. The
conditions can test strings or numbers, the existence
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / IFF
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of a file or subdirectory, the errorlevel returned from
the preceding external command, and the existence of
alias names and internal commands.
See the IF command for a list of the possible
conditions.
The commands can include any 4DOS internal command or
alias, external command, or batch file.
The following batch file fragment tests the monitor
type (monochrome or color), and sets the appropriate
colors and prompt (enter the "prompt" lines on one line
of the batch file):
iff "%_monitor" == "color" then
color bright white on blue ^ cls
prompt=$e[s$e[1;1f$e[41;1;37m$e[K Path:
$p$e[u$e[44;37m$n$g
else
prompt=$e[s$e[1;1f$e[0;7m$e[K Path:
$p$e[u$e[0m$n$g
endiff
The alias in this second example checks to see if the
argument is a subdirectory. If so, the alias deletes
the subdirectory's files and removes it (enter this on
one line):
c:\> alias prune `iff isdir %1 then ^
del /sxz %1 ^ rd %1 ^ else ^
echo Not a directory!^endiff`
## If you do a GOTO inside an IFF, 4DOS normally assumes
you are jumping outside of all active IFF statements.
If you attempt to GOTO another part of the same IFF,
the middle of another IFF, or a different IFF nesting
level, you will eventually receive an "unknown command"
error on a subsequent ELSE, ELSEIFF, or ENDIFF
statement. You can override this restriction with GOTO
/I, but do so only if you are absolutely certain that
your GOTO command is branching entirely within the
current active IFF statement. Using /I under any other
conditions will cause an error later in your batch
file.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / INKEY
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INKEY (New)
Purpose: Get a single keystroke from the user and store it in an
environment variable.
Format: INKEY [/K"keys" /Wn] [prompt] %%varname
prompt: Optional text that is displayed as a prompt.
varname: The variable that will hold the user's
keystroke.
/K (valid keystrokes) /W(ait)
See also: INPUT and KEYSTACK.
Usage: INKEY optionally displays a prompt for user input.
Then it waits for a specified time or indefinitely for
a keystroke, and places the keystroke into an
environment variable. It is normally used in batch
files and aliases to get a menu choice or other single-
key input from the user. Along with the INPUT command,
INKEY allows great flexibility in reading user input
from within a batch file or alias.
If prompt text is included in an INKEY command, it is
displayed while INKEY waits for input.
The following batch file fragment prompts for a
character and stores it in the variable NUM:
inkey Enter a number from 1 to 9: %%num
INKEY reads standard input for the keystroke, so it
will accept keystrokes from a redirected file or from
the KEYSTACK. You can supply a list of valid
keystrokes with the /K option.
Standard keystrokes with ASCII values between 1 and 255
are stored directly in the environment variable.
Extended keystrokes (for example, function keys and
cursor keys) are stored as a string in decimal format,
with a leading @ (for example, the F1 key is @59). See
Appendix B (page 325) for a list of the ASCII and
extended key codes.
If you press Ctrl-C or Ctrl-BREAK while INKEY is
waiting for a key, execution of an alias will be
terminated, and execution of a batch file will be
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / INKEY
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suspended while you are asked whether to cancel the
batch job.
Options: /K: Specify the permissible keystrokes. The list of
valid keystrokes should be enclosed in double quotes
["keys"]. For alphabetic keys the validity test is not
case-sensitive. You can specify extended keys by
enclosing their names in square brackets (within the
quotes), for example:
inkey /k"ab[Alt-F10]" Enter A, B, or Alt-F10
%%var
If an invalid keystroke is entered 4DOS will echo the
keystroke if possible, beep, move the cursor back one
character, and wait for another keystroke.
Key names within square brackets are entered in the
form:
Prefix-Keyname
The key prefix is optional, and can be any one of the
following:
Alt followed by A - Z, 0 - 9, F1 - F12, or
Bksp
Ctrl followed by A - Z, F1 - F12, Bksp, Enter,
Left, Right, Home, End, PgUp, PgDn, Ins,
or Del
Shift followed by F1 - F12 or Tab.
The possible key names are:
A - Z Enter PgDn
0 - 9 Up Home
F1 - F12 Down End
Esc Left Ins
Bksp Right Del
Tab PgUp
All key names must be spelled as shown, and can be
abbreviated as long as the abbreviation is unique and
unambiguous. The prefix must be separated from the key
name with a dash.
/W(ait): Timeout period, in seconds, to wait for a
response. If no keystroke is entered by the end of the
timeout period, INKEY returns with the variable
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unchanged. You can specify /W0 to return immediately
if there are no keys waiting in the keyboard buffer.
For example, the following batch file fragment waits up
to 10 seconds for a character, then tests to see if a
"Y" was entered:
set net=N
inkey /K"YN" /w10 Load the network (Y/N)? %%net
iff "%net" == "Y" then
rem Commands to load the network go here
endiff
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / INPUT
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INPUT (New)
Purpose: Get a string from the keyboard and save it in an
environment variable.
Format: INPUT [/Wn] [prompt] %%varname
prompt: Optional text that is displayed as a prompt.
varname: The variable that will hold the user's input.
/W(ait)
See also: INKEY and KEYSTACK.
Usage: INPUT optionally displays a prompt for user input.
Then it waits for a specified time or indefinitely for
the user's entry. It places any characters typed by
the user into an environment variable. INPUT is
normally used in batch files and aliases to get multi-
key input from the user. Along with the INKEY command,
INPUT allows great flexibility in reading user input
from within a batch file or alias.
If prompt text is included in an INPUT command, it is
displayed while INPUT waits for input. Standard 4DOS
command line editing keys may be used to edit the input
string as it is entered.
All characters entered up to, but not including, the
carriage return are stored in the variable.
The following batch file fragment prompts for a string
and stores it in the variable FNAME:
input Enter the file name: %%fname
INPUT reads standard input, so it will accept text from
a re-directed file or from the KEYSTACK.
Option: /W(ait): Timeout period, in seconds, to wait for a
response. If no keystroke is entered by the end of the
timeout period, INPUT returns with the variable
unchanged. If you enter a key before the timeout
period, INPUT will wait indefinitely for the remainder
of the line. You can specify /W0 to return immediately
if there are no keys waiting in the keyboard buffer.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / KEYSTACK
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KEYSTACK (New)
Purpose: Feed keystrokes to a program or command automatically.
Format: KEYSTACK [/Wn] ["abc"] [keyname] [!] ...
"abc": Literal characters to be placed in the
Keystack.
keyname: Name or code for a key to be placed in the
Keystack.
!: Signal to clear the Keystack and the keyboard
buffer.
/W(ait)
Usage: KEYSTACK takes a series of keystrokes and feeds them to
a program or command as if they were typed at the
keyboard. When the program has used all of the
keystrokes in the keystack buffer, it will begin to
read the keyboard for input, as it normally would.
KEYSTACK will only work if the memory-resident program
KSTACK.COM has been loaded. KSTACK is usually loaded
from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file (see page 114). It can also
be loaded with an INSTALL= directive in CONFIG.SYS if
you wish and your version of DOS supports INSTALL= (see
your DOS manual for details). If KSTACK is not loaded
the KEYSTACK command will display an error message. If
you are using a multitasking system such as DESQView or
Windows, see page 151 for information on loading KSTACK
within a window.
Characters entered within double quotes ("abc") will be
stored "as is" in the keyboard buffer. The only items
allowed outside double quotes are key names, key codes,
and the /W option.
Key names are entered in the form:
[Prefix-]Keyname
The key prefix can be left out, in which case any of
the key names can be used except A - Z or 0 - 9. If
the key prefix is used it can be any one of the
following:
Alt followed by A - Z, 0 - 9, F1 - F12, or
Bksp
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Ctrl followed by A - Z, F1 - F12, Bksp, Enter,
Left, Right, Home, End, PgUp, PgDn, Ins,
or Del
Shift followed by F1 - F12 or Tab.
The possible key names are:
A - Z Enter PgDn
0 - 9 Up Home
F1 - F12 Down End
Esc Left Ins
Bksp Right Del
Tab PgUp
All key names must be spelled as shown, and can be
abbreviated as long as the abbreviation is unique and
unambiguous.
The prefix and key name must be separated by a dash.
For example,
Alt-F10 This is okay
Alt F10 The space will cause an error
If you prefer, you can use a numeric value instead of a
key name. Use the ASCII code for an ASCII, extended
ASCII, or control character. Use the scan code
preceded by an at-sign [@] for extended key codes like
F1 or the cursor keys. In general, you will find it
easier to use the names described above rather than key
numbers. See Appendix B (page 325) for an explanation
and list of keyboard codes.
An exclamation mark [!] will clear all pending
keystrokes, both in the KEYSTACK buffer and in the
keyboard buffer.
For example, to start ProComm Plus and skip the opening
screen you could use the command:
c:\comm> keystack 32 ^ pcplus
This places a space (ASCII code 32) in the buffer, then
runs ProComm Plus. When ProComm looks for a keystroke
to end the display of the opening screen the keystroke
is already in the buffer, so the opening screen is
removed immediately.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / KEYSTACK
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The KEYSTACK command must be executed before running
the program which is going to receive the stacked
keystrokes. This places the keystrokes into the buffer
first, so the program can find them when it runs.
You can store a maximum of 255 characters in the
KEYSTACK buffer. Each time the KEYSTACK command is
executed, it will clear any remaining keystrokes stored
by a previous KEYSTACK command.
You may need to experiment with your programs and
insert delays (see the /W option) to find a keystroke
sequence that works for any particular program.
Programs that bypass DOS and the BIOS for keyboard
input cannot read keystrokes entered with KEYSTACK. If
you use KEYSTACK then run such a program, the
keystrokes will not appear in the program, but may
appear at the prompt when you exit the program and
return to 4DOS.
## KEYSTACK treats the number 0 as a special case; it is
used with programs that flush the keyboard buffer.
When KEYSTACK processes a key value of 0, it tells the
program the buffer is clear, so subsequent keystrokes
will be accepted normally. Some programs will require
several "0"s before they will accept input; you may
need to experiment to determine the correct number.
For example, the following batch file starts Lotus 1-2-
3 and loads the file specified on the command line when
the batch file is invoked (the KEYSTACK command should
be entered on one line):
pushd c:\123
keystack 0 Enter 0 Enter 0 Enter 0 Enter 0 Enter
"/FR" 0 "%1" Enter
123
popd
The sequence of "0 Enter" pairs tells 1-2-3 that the
keyboard buffer is empty, then passes 1-2-3 a carriage
return, repeating this sequence five times. This gets
1-2-3 to a point where an empty spreadsheet is
displayed. The rest of the KEYSTACK line issues a File
Retrieve command (/FR), simulates an empty keyboard
buffer once more, enters the file name passed on the
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batch command line (%1), and finally enters a carriage
return to end the file name.
## Here's the same command defined as an alias (enter this
on one line):
alias 321 `pushd c:\123 ^ keystack 0 Enter 0
Enter 0 Enter 0 Enter 0 Enter "/FR" 0 "%1" 13 ^
123 ^ popd`
## Some programs require both the keyboard "scan code" and
the ASCII value to be stacked. To stack both codes,
calculate the value ((256 * scan code) + ASCII code)
and enter that numeric value as an argument for
KEYSTACK. For example, for the Enter key, the scan
code is 28 and the ASCII code is 13, so to stack both
values use ((256 * 28) + 13) or KEYSTACK 7181. Try
this approach if a "normal" KEYSTACK command does not
work (for example, if you use KEYSTACK 13 for the Enter
key and the program doesn't see the correct character).
To stack combined key codes you must use the numeric
value, not the key name (see Appendix B on page 325 for
keyboard codes).
Options:## /W(ait): Delay the next keystroke in the KEYSTACK
buffer by a specified number of clock "ticks". A clock
tick is approximately 1/18 second. The number of clock
ticks to delay should be placed immediately after the
W, and must be between 1 and 65535 (65535 ticks is
about 1 hour). You can use the /W option as many times
as desired and at any point in the string of keystrokes
except within double quotes. Some programs may need
the delays provided by /W in order to receive
keystrokes properly from KEYSTACK. The only way to
determine what delay is needed is to experiment.
Sometimes a combination of a delay and an "empty
buffer" signal (a 0) are required. For example, to
start the program CADX and send it an F7, a delay of
one second, an indication that the keyboard buffer is
empty, and a carriage return:
c:\> keystack F7 /W18 0 Enter ^ cadx
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / LH / LOADHIGH
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LH / LOADHIGH (Compatible)
Purpose: Load a memory resident program into an Upper Memory
Block (UMB).
Format: LH filename
or
LOADHIGH filename
filename: The name of the program to load into high
memory.
Usage: LH and LOADHIGH are synonyms. You can use either one.
LOADHIGH requires MS-DOS 5.0 or above.
If you load memory-resident programs into UMBs, you
will have more room in base memory for application
programs. If your system has no UMBs, or if the
program is larger than the largest UMB, then LOADHIGH
will load the program into conventional base memory.
For example, to load the program C:\UTIL\CACHE.EXE into
high memory:
c:\> loadhigh c:\util\cache.exe
In addition to MS-DOS 5.0 or above, LOADHIGH requires
the DOS=UMB command in your CONFIG.SYS file. It can
only be used to load programs into UMBs managed by MS-
DOS 5.0 and above.
If you use a memory manager like 386MAX or QEMM to
manage your UMBs, rather than the MS-DOS DOS=UMB
directive, then LOADHIGH will not work, and you must
use the equivalent command supplied with your memory
manager in order to load programs high.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / LIST
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LIST (New)
Purpose: Display a file, with forward and backward paging and
scrolling.
Format: LIST [/H /S /W] file...
file: A file or list of files to display.
/H(igh bit off) /W(rap)
/S(tandard input)
See also: TYPE.
Usage: LIST provides a much faster and more flexible way to
view a file than TYPE, without the overhead of loading
and using a text editor.
LIST is normally used for displaying ASCII text files.
Most other files contain non-alphabetic characters and
may be unreadable.
For example, to display a file called MEMO.DOC:
c:\> list memo.doc
LIST uses the cursor pad to scroll through the file.
The following keys have special meanings:
Home Display the first page of the
file.
End Display the last page of the
file.
Esc Exit the current file.
Ctrl-C Quit LIST.
Up Arrow Scroll up one line.
Down Arrow Scroll down one line.
Left Arrow Scroll left 8 columns.
Right Arrow Scroll right 8 columns.
Ctrl- Left Arrow Scroll left 40 columns.
Ctrl-Right Arrow Scroll right 40 columns.
F1 Call the 4DOS online help
F Prompt and search for a string
(case is ignored).
H Toggle the "strip high bit" (/H)
option.
N Find next matching string (case
is ignored).
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / LIST
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P Print the entire file on LPT1.
W Toggle the "line wrap" (/W)
option.
LIST saves the search string used by F and N, so you
can LIST multiple files and search for the same string
simply by pressing N in each file, or repeat your
search the next time you use LIST.
## Most of the LIST keystrokes can be reassigned with
4DOS.INI file directives (see pages 131 and 135).
## You can set the default colors used by LIST (and
SELECT) using the ListColors directive in 4DOS.INI. If
ListColors is not used the LIST display will use the
current screen colors.
Options:## /H(igh bit off): Strip the high bit from each
character before displaying. This is useful when
displaying files created by some word processors that
turn on the high bit for formatting purposes. If you
are displaying a word processor text file and see
unusual characters mixed in with the text, try this
option.
/S(tandard input): Read from the standard input rather
than a file. This allows you to redirect command
output and view it with LIST. For example, to use LIST
to display the output of DIR:
c:\> dir | list /s
To redefine the DIR command to always display its
output via LIST, use this alias:
c:\> alias dir `*dir %& | list /s`
/W(rap): Wrap the text at the right margin. This
option is useful when displaying files that don't have
a carriage return at the end of each line. The
horizontal scrolling keys are intended for use when the
display is not wrapped. If you wrap the display with
/W (or with the W key from within LIST), then use the
scrolling keys, the wrapping will change as each line
is scrolled. This may produce an unusual display,
depending on the structure of the file you are viewing.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / LOADBTM
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LOADBTM (New)
Purpose: Switch a batch file to or from BTM mode.
Format: LOADBTM [ON | OFF]
Usage: 4DOS recognizes two kinds of batch files: .BAT and
.BTM. Batch files executing in BTM mode run two to
five times faster than in BAT mode. However, BTM mode
should not be used to load memory-resident programs,
nor should BTM mode be used for self-modifying batch
files. Batch files automatically start in the mode
indicated by their file extension, .BAT or .BTM.
The LOADBTM command turns BTM mode on and off. It can
be used to switch modes in either a .BAT or .BTM file.
It can also be used to display the current batch mode
from inside a batch file when it is used with no
argument.
LOADBTM can only be used within a .BAT or .BTM file.
It is most often used to switch a .BAT file into BTM
mode after memory-resident programs are loaded, to
convert a .BAT file to BTM mode without changing its
extension, or to switch a .BTM file into BAT mode in
order to load memory-resident programs.
Using LOADBTM to repeatedly switch modes within a .BAT
or .BTM file is not efficient. In most cases, the
speed gained by running some parts of the file in BTM
mode will be more than offset by the speed lost through
repeated loading of the file each time BTM mode is
invoked.
The following .BAT file fragment loads some memory
resident programs (TSRs), and then switches to BTM
mode:
rem Because this file has a .BAT extension,
rem the initial default state is LOADBTM OFF
rem Loading TSRs...
ansi.com
mouse.com
rem Switch to high-speed (BTM) mode now that
rem TSRs are loaded
loadbtm on
path c:\;c:\util;c:\dos
alias /r c:\aliases
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / LOADBTM
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For more information on .BTM and .BAT files, see page
99.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / LOG
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LOG (New)
Purpose: Save a log of commands to a disk file.
Format: LOG [/W file] [ON | OFF | text]
file: The name of the file to hold the log.
text: An optional message that will be added to the
log.
/W(rite to).
See also: HISTORY.
Usage: LOG keeps a record of all internal and external
commands you use. Each entry includes the current
system date and time, along with the actual command
after any alias or variable expansion. You can use the
log file as a record of your daily activities.
By default, LOG writes commands to the file 4DOSLOG in
the root directory of the drive specified in your
COMSPEC environment variable (see page 115).
Entering LOG with no parameters displays the log status
(ON or OFF):
c:\> log
LOG is OFF
To enable or disable logging, add the word "ON" or
"OFF" after the LOG command:
c:\> log on
Entering LOG with text writes a message to the log
file, even if LOG is set OFF. This allows you to enter
headers in the log file:
c:\> log "Started work on the database system"
The LOG file format looks like this:
[mm-dd-yy hh:mm:ss] command
The LOG output can be used as the basis for writing
batch files, but you will probably find HISTORY more
effective for this purpose.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / LOG
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Options: /W(rite): This switch specifies a different filename
for the LOG output. It also automatically performs a
LOG ON command. For example, to turn logging on and
write the log to C:\LOG\LOGFILE:
c:\> log /w c:\log\logfile
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / MD / MKDIR
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MD / MKDIR (Compatible)
Purpose: Create a subdirectory.
Format: MD pathname...
or
MKDIR pathname...
pathname: The name of one or more directories to
create.
See also: RD.
Usage: MD and MKDIR are synonyms. You can use either one.
MD creates a subdirectory anywhere in the directory
tree. To create a subdirectory from the root, start
the pathname with a backslash [\]. For example, this
command creates a subdirectory called MYDIR in the root
directory:
c:\> md \mydir
If no path is given, the new subdirectory is created in
the current directory. This example creates a
subdirectory called DIRTWO in the current directory:
c:\mydir> md dirtwo
To create a directory from the parent of the current
directory (that is, to create a sibling of the current
directory), start the pathname with two periods and a
backslash [..\].
MD creates one directory at a time. If you need to
create the directory C:\ONE\TWO\THREE and none of the
named directories exist, you must create each directory
separately. However, because MD accepts multiple
arguments, you can still create all three directories
in sequence with one command:
c:\> md \one \one\two \one\two\three
## DOS will not accept directory names longer than 64
characters. You must be sure that the complete
directory name from the root to your deepest
subdirectory fits within the 64 character restriction.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / MEMORY
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MEMORY (New)
Purpose: Display the amount and status of system RAM.
Format: MEMORY
Usage: MEMORY displays information about the RAM in your
system. It lists the amount of total RAM in your
system and the amount available for applications after
DOS, 4DOS, and memory-resident programs have been
loaded; the amount of EMS expanded memory, XMS
extended memory, and non-XMS extended memory; the HMA
status; and the amount of memory 4DOS is using for
environment variable space, alias space, and history
space:
c:\> memory
655,360 bytes total RAM
534,464 bytes free
1,687,552 bytes total EMS memory
1,097,728 bytes free
914,432 bytes total XMS memory (HMA in use)
512 bytes total environment
195 bytes free
1,024 bytes total alias
452 bytes free
1,024 bytes total history
You can use the information from the MEMORY display to
fine tune your system, to aid in setting the proper
alias and environment sizes in 4DOS.INI, and to be sure
that you have sufficient memory for your largest
applications.
If you compare the free RAM displayed by MEMORY with
the free RAM displayed by CHKDSK and some memory map
programs, MEMORY will usually show a slightly higher
value. The difference is the size of the environment
passed to these external programs; most memory mapping
programs do not count the passed environment as free
space, but MEMORY does.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / MOVE
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MOVE (New)
Purpose: Move files to a new directory and drive.
Format: MOVE [/C /D /H /N /P /Q /R /S /U] source...
destination
source: A file or list of files to move.
destination: The new location for the files.
/C(hanged) /Q(uiet)
/D(irectory) /R(eplace)
/H(idden and system) /S(ubdirectory tree)
/N(othing) /U(pdate)
/P(rompt)
See also: COPY and RENAME.
Usage: The MOVE command moves one or more files from one
directory to another, whether the directories are on
the same drive or not. It has the same effect as
copying the files to a new location and then deleting
the originals. Like COPY and RENAME, MOVE works with
single files, multiple files, and sets of files
specified with an include list. Like those commands,
MOVE never changes the attributes of the files that it
operates on.
The simplest MOVE command moves a single source file to
a new location and, optionally, gives it a new name.
These two examples both move one file from drive C: to
the root directory on drive A:
c:\> move myfile.dat a:\
c:\> move myfile.dat a:\savefile.dat
In both cases, MYFILE.DAT is removed from drive C:
after it has been copied to drive A:. If a file called
MYFILE.DAT in the first example, or SAVEFILE.DAT in the
second example, already existed on drive A:, it would
be overwritten. (This demonstrates the difference
between MOVE and RENAME. MOVE will move files between
drives and will overwrite the destination file if it
exists; RENAME will not.)
If you MOVE multiple files, the destination must be a
directory name. MOVE will move each file into the
destination directory with its original name (if the
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / MOVE
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target is not a directory, MOVE will display an error
message and exit):
c:\> move *.wks *.txt c:\finance\myfiles
You cannot move a file to a character device like the
printer, or to itself.
! Be careful when you use MOVE with the SELECT command.
If you SELECT multiple files and if the target is not a
directory (because of a misspelling, for example) each
file will be moved in turn to the target file,
overwriting the previous file, and then the original
will be erased before the next file is moved. At the
end of the command, all of the original files will have
been erased and only the last file will exist as the
target file. You can avoid this problem by using
square brackets with SELECT instead of parentheses (be
sure that you don't allow the command line to get too
long -- watch the character count in the upper left
corner while you're selecting files). MOVE will then
receive one list of files to move instead of a series
of individual filenames, and it will detect the error
and halt. You can also add a backslash [\] to the end
of the destination name to ensure that it is the name
of a subdirectory (see below).
When you move files to another directory, if you add a
backslash [\] to the end of the destination name MOVE
will display an error message if the name does not
refer to an existing directory. You can use this
feature to keep MOVE from treating a mistyped
destination directory name as a file name, and
attempting to move all source files to that name. The
/D option performs the same function but will also
prompt to see if you want to create the destination
directory if it doesn't exist. The /S option always
tries to create the destination directory if necessary,
so this feature will not be effective when /S is used.
## MOVE first attempts to rename the file(s), which is the
fastest way to move files between subdirectories on the
same drive. If that fails (the destination is on a
different drive or already exists), MOVE will copy the
file(s) and then delete the originals.
Options: /C(hanged files): Move files only if the destination
file exists and is older than the source (see also /U).
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This option is useful for updating the files in one
directory from those in another without moving any
newly created files.
/D(irectory): Requires that the destination be a
directory. If the destination does not exist, MOVE
will prompt to see if you want to create it. If the
destination exists as a file, MOVE will fail with an
"Access denied" error. Use this option to avoid having
MOVE accidentally interpret your destination name as a
file name when it's really a mistyped directory name.
## /H(idden): Move all files, including hidden and system
files.
## /N(othing): Do everything except actually move the
file(s) This option is most useful for testing what a
complex MOVE command will do.
/P(rompt): Ask the user to confirm each move by
pressing Y or N. An N response will skip that
particular file.
/Q(uiet): Don't display filenames as they are moved.
/R(eplace): Prompt for a Y or N response before
overwriting an existing destination file.
## /S(ubdirectories): Move an entire subdirectory tree to
another location. MOVE will attempt to create the
destination directories if they don't exist, and will
remove empty subdirectories after the move. When /D is
used with /S, you will be prompted if the first
destination directory does not exist, but
subdirectories below that will be created automatically
by MOVE. For example, the following alias will "graft"
a directory and all of its subdirectories into a new
place in the directory tree, and -- because /D is used
-- will prompt to see if you want to create the first
destination directory it if it doesn't exist. The /H
in this alias ensures that any hidden files and
subdirectories are also moved:
alias graft `move /s/d/h %1\*.* %2`
/U(pdate): Move each source file only if it is newer
than a matching destination file or if a matching
destination file does not exist (also see /C). This
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / MOVE
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option is useful for moving new files from one
directory to another.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / PATH
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PATH (Enhanced)
Purpose: Display or alter the list of directories that 4DOS will
search for executable and batch files that are not in
the current directory.
Format: PATH [directory[;directory...]]
directory: The full name of a directory to include in
the path setting.
See also: SET and ESET.
Usage: When 4DOS is asked to execute an external command (a
.COM, .EXE, .BTM, or .BAT file or executable
extension), it first looks for the file in the current
directory. If it fails to find an executable file
there, it then searches each of the directories
specified in the path setting, in the order that they
are included.
For example, the following PATH command directs 4DOS to
search subdirectories for an executable file in the
following order: the current directory, the root
directory on C, the DOS subdirectory on C, and the UTIL
subdirectory on C:
c:\> path c:\;c:\dos;c:\util
The list of directories to search can be set or viewed
with the PATH command. The list is stored as an
environment string, and can also be set or viewed with
the SET command and edited with the ESET command.
Directory names in the path must be separated by
semicolons [;]. 4DOS shifts each directory name to
upper case. This maintains compatibility with programs
which can only recognize upper case directory names in
the path variable.
If you modify your path with the SET or ESET command,
you may include directory names in lower case. These
may cause trouble with some programs, which assume that
all path entries have been shifted to upper case.
If you enter PATH with no parameters, 4DOS displays the
current search path:
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / PATH
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c:\> path
PATH=C:\;C:\DOS;C:\UTIL
If you enter PATH and a semicolon, 4DOS clears the
search path and will search only the current directory
(this is the default at system startup).
Some applications also use the PATH variable to search
for their data files.
## If you include an explicit file extension on the
external command name (for example, WP.EXE), 4DOS will
only look for files with that name and extension in the
current directory and every directory in the path
setting. It will not look for other executable files
with the same base name.
## If you have a directory of a single period [.] in the
path, 4DOS will not search the current directory first,
but wait until it reaches that point in the path. In
rare cases, this feature may not be compatible with
applications which use the path to search for their
files; if you experience a problem, you will have to
remove the "." as a path entry while using any such
application.
## 4DOS can create a PATH as long as 250 characters (the
command line is limited to 255 characters, and "PATH "
takes five). Some applications are written to expect a
PATH no longer than the traditional limit of 123
characters. If you have extended your path beyond the
traditional limit and experience unusual problems with
application programs, see page 157 for tips on
resolving the difficulty.
## If you specify an invalid directory in the path, 4DOS
will skip that directory and continue searching with
the next directory in the path.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / PAUSE
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PAUSE (Enhanced)
Purpose: Suspend batch file or alias execution.
Format: PAUSE [text]
text: The message to be displayed as a user prompt.
Usage: A PAUSE command will suspend execution of a batch file
or alias, giving you the opportunity to change disks,
turn on the printer, etc.
PAUSE waits for any key to be pressed and then
continues execution. You can specify the text that
PAUSE displays while it waits for a keystroke, or let
4DOS use the default message:
Press any key when ready...
For example, the following batch file fragment prompts
the user before erasing files (the PAUSE command should
be entered on one line):
pause Press Ctrl-C to abort, any other key to
erase all .LST files
erase *.lst
If you press Ctrl-C or Ctrl-BREAK while PAUSE is
waiting for a key, execution of an alias will be
terminated, and execution of a batch file will be
suspended while you are asked whether you want to
cancel the batch job.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / POPD
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POPD (New)
Purpose: Return to the disk drive and directory at the top of
the directory stack
Format: POPD [*]
See also: DIRS and PUSHD.
Usage: Each time you use the PUSHD command, 4DOS saves the
current disk drive and directory on its internal
directory stack. POPD restores the last drive and
directory that was saved with PUSHD and removes that
entry from the stack. You can use these commands
together to change directories, perform some work, and
return to the starting drive and directory.
This example saves and changes the current disk drive
and directory with PUSHD, and then restores it. The
command line prompt is set to show the current
directory:
c:\> pushd d:\database\test
d:\database\test> pushd c:\wordp\memos
c:\wordp\memos> pushd a:\123
a:\123> popd
c:\wordp\memos> popd
d:\database\test> popd
c:\>
You can use the DIRS command to see the complete list
of saved drives and directories (the directory stack).
The POPD command followed by an asterisk [*] clears the
directory stack without changing the current drive and
directory.
## If the directory on the top of the stack is not on the
current drive, POPD will switch to the drive and
directory on the top of the stack without changing the
default directory on the current drive.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / PROMPT
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PROMPT (New)
Purpose: Change the 4DOS command line prompt.
Format: PROMPT [text]
text: Text to be used as the 4DOS command line prompt.
Usage: You can change and customize the command line prompt at
any time. The prompt can include normal text and
system information such as the current drive and
directory, the time and date, and the amount of memory
available. You can create an informal "Hello, Bob!"
prompt or an official-looking prompt full of impressive
information.
The PROMPT command sets the command line prompt. The
special characters that can be included in a PROMPT
command are listed below. For example, to set the
prompt to the current date and time, with a ">" at the
end:
c:\> prompt $d $t $g
Mon Dec 2, 1991 10:29:19 >
To set the prompt to the current date and time,
followed by the current drive and directory in upper
case on the next line, with a ">" at the end:
c:\> prompt $d $t$_$P$g
Mon Dec 2, 1991 10:29:19
C:\>
You can include the PROMPT command in your AUTOEXEC.BAT
file to set the prompt whenever your system is
rebooted.
The default prompt is $n$g (drive name plus ">") on
drives A and B, and $p$g (current drive and directory
plus ">") on all other drives .
If you enter PROMPT with no arguments, 4DOS resets the
prompt to the default. The PROMPT command sets the
environment variable PROMPT, so to view the current
prompt setting use the command:
c:\> set prompt
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If the prompt is not set at all 4DOS will not use the
PROMPT environment variable, in which case the SET
command above will give a "Not in environment" error.
## Along with literal text, special characters, and ANSI
sequences, you can include the text of any environment
variable, 4DOS internal variable, or variable function
(see pages 81 and 85) in a prompt. For example, if you
want to include the amount of free base memory in the
command prompt, plus the current drive and directory,
you could use this command:
c:\> prompt (%%@dosmem[K]K) $p$g
(601K) c:\data>
Notice that the @DOSMEM function is shown with two
leading percent signs [%]. If you used only one per
cent sign, the @DOSMEM function would be expanded once
when the PROMPT command was executed, instead of every
time 4DOS displayed the prompt. The result would be
that the amount of memory would never change from the
value it had when you entered the PROMPT command. You
could also use back quotes to delay expanding the
variable function until the prompt is displayed:
c:\> prompt `(%@dosmem[K]K) $p$g`
## If you have an ANSI-compatible driver installed, you
can include ANSI escape sequences in the PROMPT text.
This example uses ANSI sequences to set a prompt that
displays the shell level, date, time and path in color
on the top line of the screen (enter the command as one
line):
c:\> prompt $e[s$e[1;1f$e[41;1;37m$e[K[$z] $d
Time: $t$h$h$h Path: $p$e[u$e[0;32m$n$g
## Traditionally, it was possible to use the PROMPT
command in a batch file to transmit ANSI.SYS control
sequences to the screen (for example, to redefine
function keys). This technique will not work with
4DOS, which doesn't display a prompt within batch
files; hence the characters in the PROMPT string are
never sent to ANSI.SYS. To send ANSI sequences in
4DOS, use the ECHO command, substituting a Ctrl-X
followed by an e for $e in the PROMPT string.
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## You may find it helpful to define a different prompt in
secondary shells, by using $z to display the shell
level, or by placing a PROMPT command in your 4START
file and using IF or IFF statements to set the
appropriate prompt for different shells.
Prompt Characters:
The prompt text can contain special commands in the
form $?, where ? is one of the characters listed below.
b The vertical bar character [|]
c The open parenthesis [(]
D Current date, in the format: Tue Jan 1,
1991
d Current date, in the format: Tue 1-01-91
e The ASCII ESC character (decimal 27)
f The close parenthesis [)]
g The > character
h BACKSPACE over the previous character
l The < character
n Current disk letter
P Current disk and directory (upper case)
p Current disk and directory (lower case)
q The = character
s The space character
t Current time, in the format hh:mm:ss
v DOS version number, in the format 3.10
Xd: Current directory on drive d:, in upper case
xd: Current directory on drive d:, in lower case
z Current 4DOS shell nesting level; the
primary command processor is shell 0.
$ The $ character
_ CR/LF (go to beginning of a new line)
## The format for the date ($d) depends on the country
code defined in the CONFIG.SYS file or by the CHCP
command. The default format is U.S. (mm-dd-yy). The
European format is dd-mm-yy; the Japanese is yy-mm-dd.
The separator used for the time ($t) will also be
changed based on the country definition.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / PUSHD
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PUSHD (New)
Purpose: Save the current disk drive and directory, optionally
moving to a new drive and directory.
Format: PUSHD [pathname]
pathname: The name of the new default drive and
directory.
See also: DIRS, POPD and CDPATH on page 116.
Usage: PUSHD saves the current drive and directory on a "last
in, first out" directory stack. The POPD command
returns to the last drive and directory that was saved
by PUSHD. You can use these commands together to
change directories, perform some work, and return to
the starting drive and directory.
The DIRS command displays the contents of the directory
stack.
To save the current drive and directory, without
changing directories:
c:\> pushd
c:\>
If a pathname is specified as part of the PUSHD
command, the current drive and directory are saved and
the specified pathname becomes the new current drive
and directory. If the pathname includes a drive
letter, PUSHD changes to the specified directory on the
new drive without changing the default current
directory on the original drive.
This example saves the current directory and changes to
C:\WORDP\MEMOS, then returns to the original directory
with POPD:
c:\> pushd \wordp\memos
c:\wordp\memos> popd
c:\>
## The directory stack can hold up to 255 characters or
about 10 to 20 entries depending on the length of the
directory names. If you exceed the directory stack
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size, the oldest directory is removed before adding the
current directory.
## If PUSHD can't change to the specified directory, it
will look for the CDPATH environment variable. PUSHD
will append the specified directory name to each
directory in CDPATH and attempt to change to that drive
and directory, until the first match or the end of the
CDPATH argument. This allows you to use CDPATH as a
quick way to find commonly used subdirectories which
have unique names. For example, if you are currently
in the directory C:\WP\LETTERS\JANUARY and you'd like
to change to D:\SOFTWARE\UTIL, you could enter the
command:
c:\wp\letters\january> pushd d:\software\util
However if the D:\SOFTWARE directory is listed in your
CDPATH variable, and is the first directory in the list
with a UTIL subdirectory, you can simply enter the
command:
c:\wp\letters\january> pushd util
and 4DOS will change to D:\SOFTWARE\UTIL.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / QUIT
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QUIT (New)
Purpose: Terminate the current batch file.
Format: QUIT [value]
value: The exit code from 0 to 255 to return to 4DOS
or to the previous batch file.
See also: CANCEL.
Usage: QUIT provides a simple way to exit a batch file before
reaching the end of the file. If you QUIT a batch file
called from another batch file, you will be returned to
the previous file at the line following the original
call.
This example batch file fragment checks to see if the
user entered "quit" and exits if true.
input Enter your choice : %%option
if "%option" == "quit" quit
To end all batch file processing, use the CANCEL
command.
## If you specify a value, QUIT will set the ERRORLEVEL or
exit code (see the IF command, and the %? variable on
page 81) to that value.
## You can also use QUIT in an alias. If you QUIT an
alias while inside a batch file, QUIT will end both the
alias and the batch file and return you to the 4DOS
command prompt or to the calling batch file.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / RD / RMDIR
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RD / RMDIR (Enhanced)
Purpose: Remove one or more subdirectories.
Format: RD pathname...
or
RMDIR pathname...
pathname: The name of a subdirectory to remove.
See also: MD.
Usage: RD and RMDIR are synonyms. You can use either one.
RD removes directories from the directory tree. For
example, to remove the subdirectory MEMOS from the
subdirectory WP, you can use this command:
c:\> rd \wp\memos
Before using RD, you must delete all files and
subdirectories (and their files) in the pathname you
want to remove. Remember to remove hidden and read-
only files as well as normal files.
## To use a single command to remove entire subdirectory
trees including all files, see the /S and /X options of
the DEL command.
## You cannot remove the root directory, the current
directory (.), or any directory above the current
directory in the directory tree.
## You can use wildcards in the pathname.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / REBOOT
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REBOOT (New)
Purpose: Do a warm or cold system reboot.
Format: REBOOT [/C /V]
/C(old reboot) /V(erify)
## Usage: REBOOT will completely restart your computer. It is
comparable to pressing Ctrl-Alt-Delete (a warm reboot)
or to turning the power off and back on or pressing the
reset button (a cold reboot). A reboot is necessary to
activate any changes to your CONFIG.SYS file, and may
also be used if you wish to restart the system with an
altered 4START or AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
The following example prompts you to verify the reboot,
then does a cold boot:
c:\> reboot /c/v
REBOOT defaults to performing a warm boot, with no
prompting.
REBOOT flushes the disk buffers, resets the drives, and
waits one second before rebooting, to allow disk
caching programs to finish writing any cached data .
! Some system BIOSes, memory managers, multitaskers, or
memory-resident programs (TSRs) may intercept attempts
to reboot your system, and defeat them entirely,
convert a cold boot request to a warm boot or vice
versa, or in very rare cases, hang the system --
requiring a reboot! As a result you may need to
experiment with which reboot options work best for your
system hardware and software configuration, and under
rare circumstances REBOOT may not be useable on your
system.
Options: /C(old): Do a "cold" reboot. This is similar to
turning the power off and back on, and may be necessary
to properly initialize the system. REBOOT /C may not
physically reset all hardware devices as thoroughly as
actually turning off the power; its effect depends on
the internal design of each hardware device and on your
system configuration.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / REBOOT
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/V(erify): Prompt for confirmation (Y or N) before
rebooting.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / REM
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REM (Compatible)
Purpose: Put a comment in a batch file.
Format: REM [comment]
comment: The text to include in the batch file.
Usage: The REM command lets you place a remark or comment in a
batch file. Batch file comments are useful for
documenting the purpose of a batch file and the
procedures you have used. For example
rem This batch file provides a
rem menu-based system for accessing
rem word processing utilities.
rem
rem Clear the screen and get selection
cls
REM must be followed by a space or tab character and
then your comment. Comments can be up to 255
characters long. 4DOS will ignore everything on the
line after the REM command (including quote characters,
redirection symbols, and other commands).
If ECHO is ON, 4DOS will display the comment.
Otherwise, 4DOS will ignore it.
If ECHO is ON and you don't want to display the line,
preface the REM command with the @ character.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / REN / RENAME
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REN / RENAME (Enhanced)
Purpose: Rename files or subdirectories.
Format: REN [/N /P /Q /S] old_name... new_name
or
RENAME [/N /P /Q /S] old_name... new_name
old_name: Original name of the file(s) or
subdirectory.
new_name: New name to use or new path on the same
drive.
/N(othing) /Q(uiet)
/P(rompt) /S(ubdirectory)
See Also: COPY and MOVE.
Usage: REN and RENAME are synonyms. You may use either one.
REN lets you change the name of a file or a
subdirectory. You can also use REN to move one or more
files to a new subdirectory on the same drive. (If you
want to move files to a different drive, use MOVE.)
In its simplest form, you simply give REN the old_name
of an existing file or subdirectory and then a
new_name. The new_name must not already exist -- you
can't give two files the same name (unless they are in
different directories). The first example renames the
file MEMO.TXT to OFFICE.TXT. The second example
changes the name of the \WORDPROC directory to \WP:
c:\> rename memo.txt office.txt
c:\> rename \wordproc \wp
You can also use REN to rename a group of files that
you specify with wildcards, as multiple files, or in an
include list. When you do, the new_name must use one
or more wildcards to show what part of each filename to
change. Both of the next two examples change the
extensions of multiple files to .SAV:
c:\> ren config.sys autoexec.bat 4start.btm *.sav
c:\> ren *.txt *.sav
REN can move one or more files to a different
subdirectory on the same drive. When it is used for
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this purpose, REN requires one or more filenames for
the old_name and a directory name for the new_name:
c:\> ren memo.txt c:\wp\memos\
c:\> ren oct.dat nov.dat c:\data\save\
The final backslash in the last two examples is
optional. If you use it, you force REN to recognize
the last argument as the name of a directory, not a
file. If you accidentally mistype the directory name,
REN will report an error instead of renaming your files
in a way that you didn't intend.
Finally, REN can move files to a new directory and
change their name at the same time if you specify both
a path and file name for new_name. In this example,
the files are renamed with an extension of .SAV as they
are moved to a new directory:
c:\> ren *.dat c:\data\save\*.sav
When new_name refers to a file or files (rather than a
directory), the file(s) must not already exist. Also,
you cannot rename a subdirectory to a new location on
the directory tree.
## REN does not change a file's attributes. The new_name
file(s) will have the same attributes as old_name.
Options: /N(othing): Do everything except actually rename the
file(s). This option is useful for testing what a REN
command will actually do.
/P(rompt): Ask the user to confirm each move by
pressing Y or N. An N response will skip that
particular file.
/Q(uiet): Don't display filenames as they are renamed.
This option is most often used in batch files.
/S(ubdirectory): Normally, you can rename a
subdirectory only if you do not use any wildcards in
the old_name. This prevents subdirectories from being
renamed inadvertently when a group of files is being
renamed with wildcards. /S will let you rename a
subdirectory even when you use wildcards.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / RETURN
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RETURN (New)
Purpose: Return from a GOSUB (subroutine) in a batch file.
Format: RETURN
See also: GOSUB.
## Usage: 4DOS allows subroutines in batch files. A subroutine
begins with a label (a colon followed by a word) and
ends with a RETURN command. The subroutine is invoked
with a GOSUB command from another part of the batch
file. The RETURN command ends a subroutine; execution
of the batch file will continue on the line following
the original GOSUB.
The following batch file fragment calls a subroutine
which displays the current directory:
echo Calling a subroutine
gosub subr1
echo Returned from the subroutine
quit
:subr1
dir /a/w
return
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / SCREEN
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SCREEN (New)
Purpose: Position the cursor on the screen and optionally
display a message.
Format: SCREEN row column [message]
row: The new row location for the cursor.
column: The new column location for the cursor.
message: Optional text to display at the new cursor
location.
See also: ECHO, SCRPUT, TEXT, and VSCRPUT.
Usage: SCREEN allows you to create attractive screen displays
in batch files. You use it to specify where a message
will appear on the screen. You can use SCREEN to
create menu displays, logos, etc. The following batch
file fragment displays a menu:
@echo off ^ cls
screen 3 10 Select a number from 1 to 4:
screen 6 20 1 - Word Processing
screen 7 20 2 - Spreadsheet
screen 8 20 3 - Telecommunications
screen 9 20 4 - Quit
SCREEN does not change the screen colors. If you have
ANSI.SYS installed and have set colors with CLS or
COLOR, those colors will be used for the display. To
display text in specific colors, use SCRPUT or VSCRPUT.
The row and column values are zero-based, so on a
standard 25 line by 80 column display, valid rows are 0
- 24 and valid columns are 0 - 79.
SCREEN checks for a valid row and column, and displays
a "Usage" error message if either value is out of
range.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / SCRPUT
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SCRPUT (New)
Purpose: Position the cursor on the screen and display a message
in color.
Format: SCRPUT row col [BRIght] [BLInk] fg ON bg text
row: Starting row
col: Starting column
fg: Foreground character color
bg: Background character color
text: The text to display
The available colors are:
Black Blue Green Red
Magenta Cyan Yellow White
See also: CLS, ECHO, SCREEN, TEXT, and VSCRPUT.
Usage: SCRPUT allows you to create attractive screen displays
in batch files. You use it to specify where a message
will appear on the screen and what colors will be used
to display the message text. You can use SCRPUT to
create menu displays, logos, etc.
SCRPUT works like SCREEN, but allows you to specify the
display colors. It writes directly to the screen and
does not require an ANSI driver.
Only the first three characters of the color name and
the attributes BRIGHT and BLINK are required. The row
and column are zero-based, so on a standard 25 line by
80 column display, valid rows are 0 - 24 and valid
columns are 0 - 79.
The following batch file fragment displays a menu in
color (each SCRPUT command should be entered on one
line):
@echo off ^ cls white on blue
scrput 3 10 bri whi on blue Select a number from
1 to 4:
scrput 6 20 bri red on blue 1 - Word Processing
scrput 7 20 bri yel on blue 2 - Spreadsheet
scrput 8 20 bri gre on blue 3 -
Telecommunications
scrput 9 20 bri mag on blue 4 - Quit
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / SELECT
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SELECT (New)
Purpose: Interactively select files for a command.
Format: SELECT [/A[:][-]rhsda /C /D /O[:][-]adeginsu]
[command] ... (files...)...
command: The command to execute with the selected
files.
files: The files from which to select. File names may
be enclosed in either parentheses or square brackets.
The difference is explained below.
/A(ttribute) /D(isable
colorization)
/C(ase -- use upper case) /O(rder)
Usage: SELECT allows you to select files for internal and
external commands by using a full-screen "point and
shoot" display. You can have SELECT execute a command
once for each file you select, or have it create a list
of files for a command to work with. The command can
be a 4DOS internal command or alias, an external
command, or a batch file.
If you use parentheses around the files, SELECT
executes the command once for each file you have
selected. During each execution, one of the selected
files is passed to the command as an argument. If you
use square brackets around files, the SELECTed files
are combined into a single list, separated by spaces.
The command is then executed once with the entire list
presented as its command-line arguments.
SELECT uses the cursor up, cursor down, PgUp, and PgDn
keys to scroll through the file list. Use the + key or
the spacebar to select a file (or unselect a marked
file), and the - key to unselect a file. The * key
will reverse all of the current marks (excluding
subdirectories), and the / key will unmark everything.
After marking the files, press Enter to execute the
command.
You can select a single file by moving the scroll bar
to the filename and pressing Enter without marking any
other files.
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To skip the files listed in the current display and go
on to the next file specification inside the
parentheses or brackets (if any), press the Escape key.
To cancel the current SELECT command entirely, press
Ctrl-C or Ctrl-Break.
In the simplest form of SELECT, you merely specify the
command and then the list of files from which you will
make your selection(s). For example:
c:\> select copy (*.com *.exe) a:\
will let you select from among the .COM and .EXE files
on the current drive. It will then invoke the COPY
command to copy each file you select to drive A:. You
will be able to select first from a list of all .COM
files in the current directory, and then from a list of
all .EXE files.
If you want to select from a list of all the .COM and
.EXE files mixed together, create an include list
inside the parentheses by inserting a semi-colon (see
page 74 for information on include lists):
c:\> select copy (*.com;*.exe) a:\
Finally, if you want the SELECT command to send a
single list of files to COPY, instead of invoking COPY
once for each file you select, put the file names in
square brackets instead of parentheses:
c:\> select copy [*.com;*.exe] a:\
If you use brackets, you have to be sure that the
resulting command (the word COPY, the list of files,
and the destination drive in this example) is no more
than 127 characters long for external commands and no
more than 255 characters long for internal 4DOS
commands. The current line length is displayed by
SELECT while you are marking files to help you to
conform to these limits.
The parentheses or brackets enclosing the file name(s)
can appear anywhere within the command; SELECT assumes
that the first set of parentheses or brackets it finds
is the one containing the list of files from which you
wish to make your selection.
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## If you don't specify a command, the selected
filename(s) will become the command. For example, this
command defines an alias called UTILS that selects from
the executable files in the directory C:\UTIL, and then
executes them in the order marked (enter the alias on
one line):
c:\> alias utils select
(c:\util\*.com;*.exe;*.btm;*.bat)
## If you want to use filename completion (see page 59) to
enter the filenames inside the parentheses, type a
space after the opening parenthesis. Otherwise the
command line editor will treat the open parenthesis as
the first character of the filename.
## You can set the default colors used by SELECT (and
LIST) using the ListColors directive in 4DOS.INI (see
page 130). If ListColors is not used, the default
colors will be set by the StdColors directive (page
131) or by the last CLS or COLOR command.
## If you have an ANSI driver loaded, you can display the
filenames in color by setting the COLORDIR environment
variable (the same colors will be used by the DIR
command). The format for COLORDIR is:
ext ... :[BRIght][BLInk] fg [ON bg]; ...
where ext is the file extension, or one of the
following file attributes:
DIRS directory
RDONLY read-only file
HIDDEN hidden file
SYSTEM system file
ARCHIVE file modified since last backup.
For example, to display the .COM and .EXE files in red,
the .C and .ASM files in bright cyan, and the read-only
files in blinking green (enter this on one line):
c:\> set colordir=com exe:red; c asm:bright cyan;
rdonly:blink green
If you don't specify a background color, SELECT will
use the current screen background color from the
ListColors or StdColors directive or the last CLS or
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / SELECT
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COLOR command (as described above). COLORDIR will not
work properly unless you have an ANSI driver loaded.
You can disable directory colorization within SELECT
with the /D option.
## Extended wildcards (for example "BA[KXC]" for .BAK,
.BAX, and .BAC files) can be used in directory color
specifications. See page 71 for more information on
extended wildcards.
## When sorting file names and extensions for the SELECT
display, 4DOS normally assumes that sequences of digits
should be sorted numerically (for example, the file
DRAW2 would come before DRAW03 because 2 is numerically
larger than 03), rather than strictly alphabetically
(where DRAW2 would come second because "2" is more than
"0"). You can defeat this behavior and force a strict
alphabetic sort with the /O:a option.
## You may need to increase 4DOS's internal stack size
using the StackSize directive in 4DOS.INI if you use
extremely complex combinations of commands like EXCEPT,
FOR, GLOBAL, IF, and SELECT on the same command line,
or use complex combinations of these commands in nested
batch files or nested GOSUBs. See the StackSize
directive on page 137 for more information.
Options:## /A(ttribute): Display only those files that have the
specified attribute set. Preceding the attribute
character with a minus [-] will display those files
that DON'T have that attribute set. Attributes can
also be combined. The attributes are:
R Read-only D Subdirectory
H Hidden A Archive
S System
/C(ase): Display filenames in the traditional upper
case format; also see SETDOS /U and the UpperCase
directive in 4DOS.INI.
## /D(isable colorization): Temporarily turn off
directory colorization within SELECT.
/O(rder): Set the sort order for the files. The order
can be any combination of the following options:
- Reverse the sort order for the next option
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a Sort names and extensions in standard ASCII
order, rather than sorting numerically when
digits are included in the name or extension
d Sort by date and time (oldest first)
e Sort by extension
g Group subdirectories together
i Sort by the file description
n Sort by filename (this is the default)
r Reverse the sort order for all options
s Sort by size
u Unsorted
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / SET
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SET (Enhanced)
Purpose: Display, create, modify, or delete environment
variables.
Format: SET [/M /P /R filename...] [name[=][value]]
filename: The name of a file containing variable
definitions.
name: The name of the environment variable to define
or modify.
value: The new value for the variable.
/M(aster) /R(ead from file)
/P(ause)
See also: UNSET and ESET.
Usage: Every program and command inherits an environment,
which is a list of variable names, each of which is
followed by an equal sign and some text. Many programs
use entries in the environment to modify their own
actions. 4DOS itself uses several environment
variables (see page 115). See page 78 for more
information on the environment.
If you simply type the SET command with no options or
arguments, it will display all the names and values
currently stored in the environment. Typically, you
will see an entry called COMSPEC, an entry called PATH,
an entry called CMDLINE, and whatever other environment
variables you and your programs have established:
c:\> set
COMSPEC=C:\4DOS.COM
PATH=C:\;C:\DOS;C:\UTIL
CMDLINE=E:\UTIL\MAPMEM.EXE
To add a variable to the environment, type SET plus the
variable name, an equal sign, and the text:
c:\> set mine=c:\finance\myfiles
4DOS will convert the variable name to upper case but
leave the text after the equal sign just as you entered
it. If the variable already exists, its value will be
replaced with the new text that you entered.
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Normally you should not put a space on either side of
the equal sign. A space before the equal sign will
become part of the name; a space after the equal sign
will become part of the value.
To display the contents of a single variable, type SET
plus the variable name:
c:\> set mine
You can edit environment variables with the ESET
command. To remove variables from the environment, use
UNSET, or type SET plus a variable name and an equal
sign:
c:\> set mine=
4DOS limits the variable name to a maximum of 80
characters, and the name plus the value to a maximum of
255 characters.
## Unless you use /M, SET only affects the environment of
the current command processor and the programs it
executes. If you EXIT to a parent command processor,
the original environment will be unchanged.
The size of the environment is specified by the
Environment and EnvFree directives in 4DOS.INI (see
page 124) or by the /E: startup switch (see page 111).
Options:## /M(aster): Display or modify the master environment
rather than the local environment. This option only
makes sense in a secondary command processor.
/P(ause): Pause after displaying each page of
environment entries. Press Ctrl-C to quit, or any
other key to display the next page.
## /R(ead): Read environment variables from a file. This
is much faster than loading variables from a batch file
with multiple SET commands. The file is in the same
format as the SET display, so SET /R can accept as
input a file generated by redirecting SET output. For
example, the following commands will save the
environment variables to a file, and then reload them
from that file:
set > varlist
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set /r varlist
You can load variables from multiple files by listing
the filenames individually after the /R. You can add
comments to a variable file by starting the comment
line with a colon [:].
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / SETDOS
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SETDOS (New)
Purpose: Display or set the 4DOS configuration.
Format: SETDOS [/A? /C? /E? /I+|- command /L? /M? /N? /R? /S?:?
/U? /V?]
/A(NSI) /N(o clobber)
/C(ompound) /R(ows)
/E(scape character) /S(hape of cursor)
/I(nternal commands) /U(pper case)
/L(ine) /V(erbose)
/M(ode for editing)
Usage: SETDOS allows you to customize certain aspects of 4DOS
to suit your personal tastes or the configuration of
your system. Each of these options is described below.
You can display the value of all SETDOS options by
entering the SETDOS command with no parameters.
Most of the SETDOS options can be initialized when 4DOS
starts through directives in the 4DOS.INI file (see
page 127). The name of the corresponding directive is
listed in square brackets [ ] with each option; if
none is listed, that option cannot be set from the
4DOS.INI file. You can also define the SETDOS options
in your AUTOEXEC.BAT or 4START file, in aliases, or at
the command line.
Secondary shells automatically inherit most
configuration settings currently in effect in the
previous shell. If values have been changed by SETDOS
since 4DOS started, the new values will be passed to
the secondary shell. For details on inheritance of
SETDOS values by secondary shells and their
relationship to 4DOS.INI, see page 120.
SETDOS /I settings are not inherited by secondary
shells. If you want to use SETDOS /I- to disable
commands in all shells, place the SETDOS command(s) in
your 4START file (see page 117), which is executed when
any shell starts.
Many of the options below are marked with## . If you
are a new user, skip these and read the /M, /S, and /U
options, which are more common.
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Options:## /A(NSI) [ANSI]: The ANSI option determines whether
4DOS will attempt to use ANSI escape sequences for the
CLS and COLOR commands. 4DOS normally determines this
itself, but if you are using a non-standard ANSI driver
or your loading sequence is unusual, you may need to
explicitly inform 4DOS. /A0 allows 4DOS to determine
whether an ANSI driver is installed (the default).
/A1 forces 4DOS to assume an ANSI driver is installed.
/A2 forces 4DOS to assume an ANSI driver is not
installed.
## /C(ompound character) [CommandSep]: The COMPOUND
option sets the character used for separating multiple
commands on the same line. The default is the caret
[^]. You cannot use any of the redirection characters
(| > <), or any of the whitespace characters (blank,
tab, comma, or equal sign) as the command separator.
This example changes the COMPOUND character to a tilde
[~]:
c:\> setdos /c~
## /E(scape character) [EscapeChar]: The ESCAPE option
sets the character used to suppress the normal meaning
of the following character. Any character following
the escape character will be passed unmodified to the
command line. For example, you could include a
redirection character such as > as part of a command-
line argument if the character was preceded by the
escape character. The default escape character is
Ctrl-X (ASCII 24; appears on screen as an up-arrow).
You cannot use any of the redirection characters (| >
<) or the whitespace characters (blank, tab, comma, or
equal sign) as the escape character. Certain
characters (b, e, f, n, r, and t) have special
meanings when immediately preceded by the escape
character. See page 93 for additional details.
## /I(nternal): The INTERNAL option allows you to disable
or enable internal 4DOS commands. To disable a
command, precede the command name with a minus [-]. To
re-enable a command, precede it with a plus [+]. For
example, to disable the internal LIST command to force
4DOS to use an external command:
c:\> setdos /i-list
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## /L(ine) [LineInput]: The LINE option controls how
4DOS gets its input from the command line. /L0 tells
4DOS to use character input (the default). /L1 tells
4DOS to use line input (via DOS service INT 21h
function 0Ah, like COMMAND.COM). /L1 will disable
command line editing, history recall, and filename
completion; it should only be used if it is needed for
compatibility with a specific program. If you have a
program that requires line input, you can use the
following line in an alias or batch file to change the
line input option just for that single program:
setdos /L1 ^ program %& ^ setdos /L0
See the file APPNOTES.DOC for information on programs
which require this option.
/M(ode) [EditMode]: The MODE option controls the
initial line editing mode. /M0 forces 4DOS to start
editing in overstrike mode (the default). /M1 forces
4DOS to start editing in insert mode.
## /N(o clobber) [NoClobber]: The NOCLOBBER option
controls output redirection (see page 65). /N0 means
existing files will be overwritten by simple
redirection (with >) and that appending (with >>) does
not require the file to exist already. This is the
default. /N1 means existing files may not be
overwritten by simple output redirection, and that when
appending the output file must exist. A /N1 setting
can be overridden with the [!] character. If you use
/N1, you may have problems with a few unusual programs
that shell to DOS to run a command with redirection,
and expect to be able to overwrite an existing file.
## /R(ows) [ScreenRows]: The ROWS option sets the number
of screen rows used by the video display. Normally
4DOS detects the screen size, but if you have a non-
standard display you may need to set it explicitly.
This option does not affect screen scrolling (that is
controlled by your video BIOS or ANSI.SYS); it is used
only for LIST, SELECT, the paged output options (i.e.,
TYPE /P), and error checking in the screen output
commands.
/S(hape) [CursorOver, CursorIns]: The SHAPE option
sets the 4DOS cursor shape. The format is /So:i where
o is the cursor size for overstrike mode, i the cursor
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size for insert mode. The size is entered as a
percentage of the total character height. The default
values are 10:100 (an underscore cursor for overstrike
mode, and a block cursor for insert mode). Because of
the way video BIOSes remap the cursor shape, you may
not get a smooth progression in the cursor size from 0%
- 100%. To disable the cursor, enter /S0:0.
/U(pper) [UpperCase]: The UPPER option controls the
default case (upper or lower) for filenames displayed
by 4DOS internal commands like COPY and DIR. /U0
displays file names in lower case (the default). /U1
displays file names in the traditional upper case.
## /V(erbose) [BatchEcho]: The VERBOSE option controls
the default for command echoing in batch files. /V0
disables echoing of batch file commands unless ECHO is
explicitly set ON. /V1 enables echoing of batch file
commands unless ECHO is explicitly set OFF. /V2 forces
echoing of all batch file commands, even if ECHO is set
OFF or the line begins with an "@". /V2 is intended
for debugging, and can be set with SETDOS but cannot be
set with the BatchEcho directive in 4DOS.INI. /V1 is
the default.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / SETLOCAL
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SETLOCAL (New)
Purpose: Save a copy of the current disk drive, directory,
environment, and alias list.
Format: SETLOCAL
See also: ENDLOCAL.
Usage: SETLOCAL is used in batch files to save the default
disk drive and directory, the environment, and the
alias list to a reserved block of memory. You can then
change their values and later restore the original
values with the ENDLOCAL command.
For example, this batch file fragment saves everything,
changes the disk and directory, modifies some
variables, runs a program, and then restores the
original values:
setlocal
cdd d:\test
set path=c:\;c:\dos;c:\util
set lib=d:\lib
rem run some program here
endlocal
SETLOCAL and ENDLOCAL are not nestable within a batch
file. However, you can have multiple SETLOCAL /
ENDLOCAL pairs within a batch file, and nested batch
files can each have their own SETLOCAL / ENDLOCAL. You
cannot use SETLOCAL in an alias or at the command line.
## 4DOS automatically performs an ENDLOCAL at the end of a
batch file if you forget to do so. If you invoke one
batch file from another without using CALL, the first
batch file is terminated, and an automatic ENDLOCAL is
performed. The second batch file inherits the drive,
directory, aliases, and environment variables as they
were prior to any unterminated SETLOCAL.
## Do not load memory-resident programs (TSRs) from a
batch file while SETLOCAL is in effect. If you do,
when ENDLOCAL is executed and the memory used by
SETLOCAL is released, a "hole" will be left in memory
below the TSR. This is not usually harmful, but wastes
memory.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / SHIFT
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SHIFT (Enhanced)
Purpose: Allows the use of more than 127 replaceable parameters
in a batch file.
Format: SHIFT [n]
Usage: SHIFT is provided for compatibility with older batch
files, where it was used to access more than 10
replaceable parameters. 4DOS supports 128 replaceable
parameters (%0 to %127), so you may not need to use
SHIFT for batch files running exclusively under 4DOS.
SHIFT moves each of the batch file replaceable
parameters n positions to the left. The default value
for n is 1. SHIFT 1 moves the parameter in %1 to
position %0, the parameter in %2 becomes %1, etc. You
can reverse a SHIFT by giving a negative value for n
(i.e., after SHIFT -1, the former %0 is restored, %0
becomes %1, %1 becomes %2, etc.).
SHIFT also affects the 4DOS parameters %n& (command
line tail) and %# (number of command arguments).
For example, create a batch file called TEST.BAT:
echo %1 %2 %3 %4
shift
echo %1 %2 %3 %4
shift 2
echo %1 %2 %3 %4
shift -1
echo %1 %2 %3 %4
Executing TEST.BAT produces the following results:
c:\> test zero one two three four five six
zero one two three
one two three four
three four five six
two three four five
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / SWAPPING
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SWAPPING (New)
Purpose: Enable or disable 4DOS swapping, or display the
swapping state.
Format: SWAPPING [ON | OFF]
## Usage: SWAPPING temporarily disables or enables the swapping
of the transient portion of 4DOS to EMS expanded
memory, to XMS extended memory, or to disk (see page
125).
Setting SWAPPING OFF is particularly useful for
speeding up batch files (including AUTOEXEC.BAT) when
4DOS is using disk swapping. When you are running
several small programs from a batch file, disk swapping
can sometimes cause a noticeable delay. However, if
you disable swapping, there will be about 88K less
memory available for large application programs.
The following batch file fragment disables swapping,
runs several programs, and then re-enables swapping:
swapping off
c:\util\mouse
c:\video\ansi.com
cls bright white on blue
c:\bin\cache.com
swapping on
If you enter SWAPPING with no arguments, 4DOS displays
the current swapping type (XMS, EMS, Disk, or None) and
state:
c:\> swapping
SWAPPING (XMS) is ON
Setting SWAPPING OFF does not close the disk swap file
or release any reserved EMS or XMS memory.
You may have trouble if you load memory-resident
programs (TSRs) with SWAPPING OFF and unload them with
SWAPPING ON, or vice versa. Many TSRs expect the
system to be in the same state when they unload that it
was in when they loaded, and variation from this norm
may cause the TSR to unload improperly or hang your
system, requiring a reboot.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / TEE
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TEE (New)
Purpose: Copy standard input to both standard output and a file.
Format: TEE [/A] file...
file: One or more files that will receive the "tee-d"
output.
/A(ppend)
See also: Y; redirection options (page 65).
## Usage: Many programs get their input from "standard input" and
send their output to "standard output," which are
normally the keyboard and video display (known
collectively as the console or CON). You can redirect
both the input and output of such programs, for
example, using a file either to provide the input or
collect the output.
TEE gets its input from standard input and sends out
two copies: one goes to standard output, the other to
the file or files that you specify. It is most often
used with a redirection pipe [|] to capture
intermediate output before the data is altered by
another program or command.
For example, to search the file DOC for any lines
containing the string "4DOS", make a copy of the
matching lines in 4.DAT, sort the lines, and write them
to the output file 4D.DAT:
c:\> find "4DOS" doc | tee 4.dat | sort > 4d.dat
If you are typing at the keyboard to produce the input
for TEE, you must enter a Ctrl-Z to terminate the
input.
Option: /A(ppend): Add the output to the file(s) rather than
overwriting them.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / TEXT
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TEXT (New)
Purpose: Display a block of text in a batch file.
Format: TEXT
.
.
.
ENDTEXT
See also: ECHO, SCREEN, SCRPUT, and VSCRPUT.
Usage: The TEXT command is useful for displaying menus or
multi-line messages from a batch file. TEXT will
display all subsequent lines in the batch file until
terminated by ENDTEXT. Both TEXT and ENDTEXT must be
entered as the only command on the line.
If you have an ANSI driver loaded, you can change
screen colors by inserting ANSI escape sequences
anywhere in the text block. You can also use a CLS or
COLOR command to set the screen color before executing
the TEXT command.
The following batch file fragment displays a simple
menu:
@echo off ^ cls ^ screen 2 0
text
Enter one of the following:
1 - Spreadsheet
2 - Word Processing
3 - DOS Utilities
Enter your selection :
endtext
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / TIME
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TIME (Compatible)
Purpose: Display or set the current system time.
Format: TIME [hh[:mm[:ss]]] [AM | PM]
hh hour, 0 - 23
mm minute, 0 - 59
ss second, 0 - 59
See also: CHCP and DATE.
Usage: If you don't enter any parameters, TIME will display
the current system time and prompt you for a new time.
Press ENTER if you don't wish to change the time;
otherwise, enter the new time:
c:\> time
Mon Dec 2, 1991 9:30:10
New time (hh:mm:ss):
TIME defaults to 24-hour format, but you can optionally
enter the time in 12-hour format by appending an "am"
or "pm" to the time you enter.
For example, to enter the time as 9:30 am:
c:\> time 9:30 am
DOS adds the system time and date to the directory
entry of every file you create and modify. If you keep
both the time and date accurate, you will have a record
of when you last updated each file.
The separator used by TIME depends on the country code
defined in the CONFIG.SYS file or by the CHCP command.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / TIMER
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TIMER (New)
Purpose: TIMER is a system stopwatch.
Format: TIMER [ON] [/1 /2 /3 /S]
ON: Force the stopwatch to restart
/1 (stopwatch #1) /3 (stopwatch #3)
/2 (stopwatch #2) /S(plit)
Usage: The TIMER command turns a system stopwatch on and off.
When you first run TIMER, the stopwatch starts:
c:\> timer
Timer 1 on: 12:21:46
When you run TIMER again, the stopwatch stops and the
elapsed time is displayed:
c:\> timer
Timer 1 off: 12:21:58 Elapsed time:
0:00:12.06
There are three stopwatches available (1, 2, and 3) so
you can time multiple overlapping events. By default,
TIMER uses stopwatch #1.
TIMER is particularly useful for timing events in batch
files. For example, to time both an entire batch file,
and an intermediate section of the same file, you could
use commands like this:
rem Turn on timer 1
timer
rem Do some work here
rem Turn timer 2 on to time the next section
timer /2
rem Do some more work
echo Intermediate section completed
rem Display time taken in intermediate section
timer /2
rem Do some more work
rem Now display the total time
timer
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / TIMER
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The smallest interval TIMER can measure is .06 second;
the largest interval is 23 hours, 59 minutes, 59.99
seconds.
Options: /1: Use timer #1 (the default).
/2: Use timer #2.
/3: Use timer #3.
/S(plit): Display a split time without stopping the
timer. To display the current elapsed time but leave
the timer running:
c:\> timer /s
Timer 1 elapsed: 0:06:40.63
ON: Start the timer regardless of its previous state
(on or off). Otherwise the TIMER command toggles the
timer state (unless /S is used).
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / TRUENAME
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TRUENAME (New)
Purpose: Find the full, true path and file name for a file.
Format: TRUENAME file
file: The file whose name TRUENAME will report.
See also: @truename variable function on page 89.
Usage: Default directories, as well as the JOIN and SUBST
external commands, can obscure the true name of a file.
TRUENAME "sees through" these obstacles and reports the
fully qualified name of a file.
The following example uses TRUENAME to get the true
pathname for a file:
c:\> subst d: c:\util\test
c:\> truename d:\test.exe
c:\util\test\test.exe
TRUENAME requires MS-DOS or PC-DOS 3.0 or above.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / TYPE
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TYPE (Enhanced)
Purpose: Display the contents of the specified file(s).
Format: TYPE [/L /P] file...
file: The file or list of files that you want to
display.
/L(ine numbers) /P(ause)
See also: LIST.
Usage: The TYPE command displays a file. It is normally only
useful for displaying ASCII text files. Executable
files (.COM and .EXE) and many data files may be
unreadable when displayed with TYPE because they
include non-alphanumeric characters.
To display the files MEMO1 and MEMO2:
c:\> type /p memo1 memo2
You can press Ctrl-S to pause TYPE's display and then
any key to continue.
You will probably find LIST to be more useful for
displaying files. However, the TYPE /L command used
with redirection (see page 65) is useful if you want to
add line numbers to a file.
Options: /L(ine numbers): Print a line number preceding each
line of text.
/P(ause): Wait for a keystroke after displaying each
page. Press Ctrl-C to quit, or any other key to
continue.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / UNALIAS
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UNALIAS (New)
Purpose: Remove aliases from the alias list.
Format: UNALIAS alias...
or
UNALIAS *
alias: One or more aliases to remove from memory.
See also: ALIAS and ESET.
Usage: 4DOS maintains a list of the aliases that you have
defined. The UNALIAS command will remove aliases from
that list. You can remove one or more aliases by name,
or you can delete the entire alias list by using the
command UNALIAS *
For example, to remove the alias DDIR:
c:\> unalias ddir
To remove all the aliases:
c:\> unalias *
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / UNSET
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UNSET (New)
Purpose: Remove variables from the environment.
Format: UNSET [/M] name...
or
UNSET *
name: One or more variables to remove from the
environment.
/M(aster environment)
See also: SET and ESET.
Usage: See the SET command and page 78 for a discussion of
environment variables.
UNSET removes one or more variables from the
environment. For example, to remove the variable
CMDLINE:
c:\> unset cmdline
If you use the command UNSET *, all of the environment
variables will be deleted:
c:\> unset *
UNSET is often used in conjunction with the SETLOCAL
and ENDLOCAL commands in order to clear the environment
of variables that may cause problems for some
applications.
! Use caution when removing environment variables, and
especially when using UNSET *. Many programs will not
work properly without certain environment variables;
4DOS itself depends on PATH and COMSPEC.
Option: ## /M(aster): Remove the variable from the master
environment rather than the local environment. This
option only makes sense if used in a secondary command
processor.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / VER
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VER (Enhanced)
Purpose: Display the current 4DOS and DOS versions.
Format: VER [/R]
/R(evision level)
Usage: Both the 4DOS and DOS version numbers consist of a one-
digit major version number, a period, and a one- or
two-digit minor version number. The VER command
displays both version numbers:
c:\> ver
4DOS 4.0 DOS 5.0
Option: /R(evision level): Display the DOS revision level, and
whether DOS is loaded into the high memory area (HMA),
is resident in ROM, or is in normal base memory. The
output from /R is only meaningful in MS-DOS or PC-DOS
version 5.0 or above.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / VERIFY
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VERIFY (Compatible)
Purpose: Enable or disable disk write verification or display
the verification state.
Format: VERIFY [ON | OFF]
Usage: DOS maintains an internal verify flag. When the flag
is on, DOS attempts to verify each disk write by making
sure that the data written to the disk can be read back
successfully into the computer. It does NOT compare
the data written with the data actually placed on disk.
If used without any parameters, VERIFY will display the
state of the DOS verify flag:
c:\> verify
VERIFY is OFF
VERIFY is off when the system boots up. Once it is
turned on with the VERIFY ON command, it stays on until
you use the VERIFY OFF command or until you reboot.
Verification will slow your disk write operations
slightly.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / VOL
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VOL (Enhanced)
Purpose: Display a disk volume label(s).
Format: VOL [d:] ...
d: The drive or drives to search for labels.
Usage: Each disk may have a volume label, created when the
disk is formatted or with the DOS external LABEL
command. Also, every floppy disk formatted with DOS
version 4.0 or above has a volume serial number.
The VOL command will display the volume label and, if
you are using DOS 4.0 or later, the volume serial
number of a disk volume. If the disk doesn't have a
volume label, VOL will report that it is "unlabeled."
If you don't specify a drive, VOL displays information
about the current drive:
c:\> vol
Volume in drive C: is MYHARDDISK
If you are using DOS 4.0 or later, the disk serial
number will appear after the drive label or name.
To display the disk labels for drives A and B:
c:\> vol a: b:
Volume in drive A: is unlabeled
Volume in drive B: is BACKUP_2
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / VSCRPUT
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VSCRPUT (New)
Purpose: Display text vertically in the specified color.
Format: VSCRPUT row col [BRIght] [BLInk] fg ON bg text
row: Starting row number.
col: Starting column number
fg: Foreground text color
bg: Background text color
text: The text to display
The available colors are:
Black Blue Green Red
Magenta Cyan Yellow White
See also: SCRPUT.
Usage: VSCRPUT writes text vertically on the screen rather
than horizontally. Like the SCRPUT command, it uses
the colors you specify to write the text. VSCRPUT can
be used for simple graphs and charts generated by batch
files.
The row and column are zero-based, so on a standard 25
row by 80 column display, valid rows are 0 - 24 and
valid columns are 0 - 79.
Only the first three characters of the color name and
the attributes BRIGHT and BLINK are required.
The following batch file fragment displays an X and Y
axis and labels them:
cls bright white on blue
drawhline 20 10 40 1 bright white on blue
drawvline 2 10 19 1 bright white on blue
scrput 21 20 bright red on blue X axis
vscrput 8 9 bright red on blue Y axis
VSCRPUT checks for a valid row and column, and displays
a "Usage" error message if either value is out of
range.
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CHAPTER 8 / COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE / Y
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Y (New)
Purpose: Copy standard input to standard output, and then copy
the specified file(s) to standard output.
Format: Y file ...
file: The file or list of files to send to standard
output.
See also: TEE.
## Usage: The Y command copies input from standard input (usually
the keyboard) to standard output (usually the screen).
Once the input ends, the named files are appended to
standard output.
For example, to get text from standard input, append
the files MEMO1 and MEMO2 to it, and send the output to
MEMOS:
c:\> y memo1 memo2 > memos
The Y command is most useful if you want to add
redirected data to the beginning of a file instead of
appending it to the end.
If you are typing at the keyboard to produce input text
for Y, you must enter a Ctrl-Z to terminate the input.
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Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 314
APPENDIX A / 4DOS ERROR MESSAGES
___________________________________________________________________
APPENDIX A / 4DOS ERROR MESSAGES
This appendix lists error messages generated by 4DOS, and includes
a recommended course of action for most errors. If you are unable
to resolve the problem look through Chapter 7 / Using 4DOS With
Your Hardware and Software, beginning on page 139, or contact JP
Software for technical support (see page 7).
Error messages relating to files are generally reports of errors
returned by DOS. You may find some of these messages (for example,
"Access denied") vague enough that they are not always helpful.
4DOS includes the file name in file error messages, but is often
unable to determine a more accurate explanation of these DOS
errors. The message shown is the best information available based
on the error codes returned by DOS.
The following list includes all error messages, in alphabetical
order:
4DOS initialization error --: An error occurred during the
4DOS startup process. Look up the rest of the message in this
list for a more specific explanation.
4DOS server error --: An error occurred in communication
between 4DOS's resident and transient portions. Look up the
rest of the message in this list for a more specific
explanation.
4DOS swapping failed, loading in memory-resident mode: None
of the swapping options worked. Check your Swapping
specification in 4DOS.INI, and/or free some XMS or EMS memory
or disk space.
4DOS unrecoverable error XX: An error occurred in the
resident portion of 4DOS. These errors will terminate
secondary shells and require a reboot if they occur during a
primary shell or if 4DOS cannot continue.
BI Bad server function code. Contact JP Software.
DI Same as Disk swap file corrupted.
DR Same as Swap file read error.
DS Same as Swap file seek error.
EI Same as EMS mapping error.
NS No number for new shell. You have started too many
4DOS secondary shells without properly exiting some
of them, perhaps by closing DESQView windows rather
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APPENDIX A / 4DOS ERROR MESSAGES
___________________________________________________________________
than EXITing. Clean up any work in process and
reboot the system.
PT Illegal process termination. Contact JP Software.
TS Terminated inactive shell. Contact JP Software.
XI Same as XMS move failed.
Access denied: You tried to write to or erase a read-only
protected file, to rename a file or directory to an existing
name, to create a directory that already exists, or to remove
a read-only directory or a directory with files or
subdirectories still in it.
Alias loop: An alias refers back to itself either directly or
indirectly (i.e., a = b = a), or aliases are nested more than
16 deep. Correct your alias list.
Ambiguous directive name: The name of a 4DOS.INI directive
was not fully spelled out and was therefore ambiguous. Spell
out the directive more fully to make its name unambiguous.
Attempt to exit from root shell: Another program has
destroyed a portion of 4DOS's memory. Reboot the system; if
the error persists, contact JP Software.
Bad disk unit: Generally caused by a disk drive hardware
failure.
Bad environment: The DOS environment has a bad structure,
probably because a program destroyed 4DOS's master environment
space. Reboot the system.
Batch file missing: 4DOS can't find the batch (.BAT) file it
was running. It was either deleted, renamed, moved, or the
disk was changed. Correct the problem and rerun the file.
Can't copy file to itself: 4DOS will not permit you to COPY
or MOVE a file to itself. 4DOS performs full path and
filename expansion before copying to ensure that files aren't
inadvertently destroyed.
Can't create: 4DOS can't create the specified file. The disk
may be full or write protected, or the file already exists and
is read-only, or the root directory is full.
Can't delete: 4DOS can't delete the specified file or
directory. The disk is probably write protected.
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APPENDIX A / 4DOS ERROR MESSAGES
___________________________________________________________________
Can't get directory: 4DOS can't read the directory. The disk
drive is probably not ready.
Can't make directory entry: 4DOS can't create the filename in
the directory. This is usually caused by a full root
directory. Create a subdirectory and move some of the files
to it.
Can't open: 4DOS can't open the specified file. Either the
file doesn't exist or the disk directory or File Allocation
Table is damaged.
Can't remove current directory: You attempted to remove the
current directory, which DOS does not allow. Change to the
parent directory and try again.
Can't set up disk swap file: The disk swap file you specified
cannot be opened. The path or drive is invalid, the disk is
full, DOS is out of file handles, or there is a hardware
problem. Check 4DOS.INI to be sure your Swapping directive is
correct.
Command line too long: A single command exceeded 255
characters, or the entire command line exceeded 511
characters, during alias and variable expansion. To address
this reduce the complexity of the command, or use a batch
file. This error also occurs if you pass an extremely long
command line to 4DOS on your SHELL= line in CONFIG.SYS and
4DOS does not have room for your command line and the
necessary directory information for the COMSPEC environment
variable. In this case, place the commands in a batch file
and invoke the batch file from your SHELL= line.
Contents lost before copy: COPY was appending files, and
found one of the source files is the same as the target. That
source file is skipped, and appending continues with the next
file.
Data error: DOS can't read or write properly to the device.
On a floppy drive, this error is usually caused by a defective
floppy disk, dirty disk drive heads, or a misalignment between
the heads on your drive and the drive on which the disk was
created. On a hard drive, this error may indicate a drive
that is too hot or too cold, or a hardware problem. Retry the
operation; if it fails again, correct the hardware or diskette
problem.
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APPENDIX A / 4DOS ERROR MESSAGES
___________________________________________________________________
Directory stack empty: POPD or DIRS can't find any entries in
the directory stack.
Disk is write protected: The disk cannot be written to.
Check the disk and remove the write-protect tab or close the
write-protect window if necessary.
Disk swap file corrupted: The 4DOS disk swapping file
(4DOSSWAP.nnn) has been moved, deleted, or damaged by another
program. Reboot the system.
Drive not ready--close door: The floppy disk drive door is
open. Close the door and try again.
EMS deallocation failed: 4DOS can't deallocate EMS memory
when exiting from a secondary shell. The EMS map has been
corrupted or the memory area used by 4DOS or the EMS driver
has been destroyed by a program. Clean up any work in process
and reboot the system.
EMS map save or restore failed: 4DOS cannot save or restore
the EMS page map. The EMS map has been corrupted, memory has
been destroyed by a program, or you have an incompatible EMS
driver. If this error recurs, try another swapping method,
update your EMS driver, or contact JP Software.
EMS mapping failed: 4DOS can't map EMS pages when swapping to
or from EMS. The EMS map has been corrupted or the memory
area used by the loader or the EMS driver has been destroyed
by a program. Reboot the system.
Environment already saved: You have already saved the
environment with a previous SETLOCAL command. You cannot nest
SETLOCAL / ENDLOCAL pairs.
Error in command line directive: You used the //iniline
option to place a 4DOS.INI directive on the SHELL= line in
CONFIG.SYS or on the startup command line for a secondary
shell, but the directive is in error. A more specific error
message follows.
Error on line N of 4DOS.INI: There is an error in 4DOS.INI.
This message is followed by a more specific message, which can
be looked up in this list, and the text of the incorrect
directive. Correct the directive and reboot for the change to
take effect.
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APPENDIX A / 4DOS ERROR MESSAGES
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Error reading: DOS experienced an I/O error when reading from
a device. This is usually caused by a bad disk, a device not
ready, or a hardware error.
Error writing: DOS experienced an I/O error when writing to a
device. This is usually caused by a full disk, a bad disk, a
device not ready, or a hardware error.
Exceeded batch nesting limit: You have attempted to nest
batch files more than 10 levels deep.
Fatal error -- please reboot: 4DOS cannot continue due to the
previous error. Reboot the system.
File Allocation Table bad: DOS can't access the FAT on the
specified disk. This can be caused by a bad disk, a hardware
error, or an unusual software interaction.
File exists: The requested output file already exists, and
4DOS won't overwrite it.
File not found: 4DOS couldn't find the specified file. Check
the spelling or path name.
General failure: This is usually a hardware problem,
particularly a disk drive failure or a device not properly
connected to a serial or parallel port. Try to correct the
problem or reboot and try again.
INI file processing error at line n, remainder of file
skipped: An input error (such as a data error) has prevented
4DOS from fully processing your 4DOS.INI file. Check that the
file is readable by another program, or TYPE it to ensure that
4DOS reads the file properly.
Insufficient disk space: COPY or MOVE ran out of room on the
destination drive. Remove some files and retry the operation.
Internal DOS error: DOS encountered an internal bug and
failed. Reboot the system.
Invalid choice value: You gave an invalid value for a
"choice" directive (one that accepts a choice from a list,
like "Yes" or "No") in 4DOS.INI.
Invalid color: You gave an invalid value for a color
directive in 4DOS.INI.
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APPENDIX A / 4DOS ERROR MESSAGES
___________________________________________________________________
Invalid date: An invalid date was entered. Check the syntax
and reenter.
Invalid drive: A bad or non-existent disk drive was
specified.
Invalid DOS version: You need a newer version of DOS to
execute the specified command.
Invalid INI file path or name, file not processed: The path
or name for the initialization file on the SHELL= line in
CONFIG.SYS or on the startup command line for a secondary
shell. Correct the @d:\path\inifile option to name the
correct file.
Invalid directive name: 4DOS can't recognize the name of a
directive in your 4DOS.INI file.
Invalid key name: You tried to make an invalid key
substitution in 4DOS.INI, or you used an invalid key name in a
keystroke alias or KEYSTACK. Correct the error and retry the
operation.
Invalid numeric value: You gave an invalid value for a
numeric directive in 4DOS.INI.
Invalid parameter: 4DOS didn't recognize a parameter. Check
the syntax and spelling.
Invalid path: The specified path does not exist. Check the
disk specification and/or spelling.
Invalid path specification: You used an invalid path in a
path or filename directive in 4DOS.INI.
Invalid section name: You used an invalid section name in
4DOS.INI. The only valid section names are [Primary] and
[Secondary].
Invalid startup switch, ignored: You passed 4DOS an invalid
option on the SHELL= line in CONFIG.SYS or on the startup
command line for a secondary shell. Correct the switch.
Invalid Swapping option or path: The swap type or disk swap
path in the 4DOS.INI Swapping directive is invalid. 4DOS
ignores the bad swap type or path and attempts to scan the
rest of the Swapping specification for a valid option.
Multiple errors in the Swapping directive will cause this
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APPENDIX A / 4DOS ERROR MESSAGES
___________________________________________________________________
message to repeat. Correct 4DOS.INI and reboot the system for
the corrected swap type to take effect.
Invalid time: An invalid time was entered. Check the syntax
and reenter.
Keystroke substitution table full: 4DOS ran out of room to
store keystroke substitutions entered in 4DOS.INI. Reduce the
number of key substitutions or contact JP Software for
assistance.
KSTACK.COM not loaded: You attempted to execute a KEYSTACK
command without loading KSTACK.COM. See the KEYSTACK command
for more information.
Label not found: A GOTO or GOSUB referred to a non-existent
label. Check your batch file.
Memory deallocation error: 4DOS can't deallocate memory while
loading. DOS memory allocation has been corrupted. Reboot
the system.
Memory destroyed: The DOS memory control blocks have been
corrupted. Reboot the system.
Missing ENDTEXT: A TEXT command is missing a matching
ENDTEXT. Check the batch file.
Missing GOSUB: 4DOS cannot perform the RETURN command in a
batch file. You tried to do a RETURN without a GOSUB, or your
batch file has been corrupted.
Missing SETLOCAL: 4DOS encountered an ENDLOCAL without a
matching SETLOCAL.
No aliases defined: You tried to display aliases but no
aliases have been defined.
No closing quote: 4DOS couldn't find a second matching quote
(` or ") on the command line.
No file handle available: This is an internal 4DOS disk
swapping error. Change to another swapping method if
possible, and contact JP Software.
No room for INI file name. 4DOS does not have enough space
in the INI file string area to pass the name of your 4DOS.INI
fileto secondary shells. 4DOS will load and run properly, but
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APPENDIX A / 4DOS ERROR MESSAGES
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any [Secondary] section in 4DOS.INI will be ignored in
secondary shells. Reduce the complexity of 4DOS.INI or
contact JP Software for assistance.
No UMBs; loading low: The LOADHIGH (or LH) command can't find
any UMBs for your program. The program is loaded into base
memory. LH and LOADHIGH only work with MS-DOS 5.0 and above,
when the DOS=UMB directive is included in CONFIG.SYS and
sufficient upper memory space is available for the program.
No upper memory available, master environment will be placed
in low memory: You asked 4DOS to load the master environment
into an UMB via the UMBEnvironment directive in 4DOS.INI, but
no UMB was available. Check that your XMS driver is properly
installed and / or free up some UMB space in use by another
program.
No upper memory available, resident portion will remain in low
memory: You requested relocation of the 4DOS resident portion
to an UMB via the UMBLoad directive in 4DOS.INI, but no UMB
was available. Check that your XMS driver is properly
installed and / or free up some UMB space in use by another
program.
Non-DOS disk: DOS can't read the disk. Either the disk is
bad, or it has been formatted by a different operating system.
Reformat it as a DOS disk.
Not an alias: The specified alias is not in the 4DOS alias
list.
Not in environment: The specified variable is not in the
environment.
Not in swapping mode: You attempted to turn swapping on or
off with the SWAPPING command, but 4DOS is loaded in memory-
resident mode and swapping is not active.
Not ready: The specified device can't be accessed.
Not same device: This error usually appears in RENAME. You
cannot rename a file to a different disk drive.
Out of environment space: 4DOS has run out of environment
space. Edit the SHELL line in CONFIG.SYS or the Environment
directive in 4DOS.INI to increase the environment size.
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APPENDIX A / 4DOS ERROR MESSAGES
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Out of memory: DOS or 4DOS had insufficient free memory to
execute the last command, or the DOS memory control blocks
have been destroyed. If this error occurs in a secondary
shell, return to the primary shell before running the command.
Otherwise, try to free some memory by removing memory-resident
programs. If the error persists, use the MEMORY command to
determine the actual memory available. If the base memory
(DOS RAM) figures reported by MEMORY are unreasonable, the
memory control blocks have probably been destroyed and you
must reboot the system. If you receive this error from DIR
when the MEMORY command shows sufficient memory for the
directory you are displaying, memory has probably been
"fragmented", and contains a free area larger than 8K but not
large enough for the entire directory. Use a memory mapping
program like PMAP, MAPMEM, or MANIFEST to determine where the
fragmentation is, and experiment with your TSRs and
applications to determine and remove its cause.
Out of paper: DOS detected an out-of-paper condition on one
of the parallel printers (LPT1, LPT2, or LPT3). Check your
printer and add paper if necessary.
Overflow: An arithmetic overflow occurred in the %@EVAL
variable function. Check the values being passed to %@EVAL.
%@EVAL can handle 16 digits to the left of the decimal point
and 8 to the right.
Read error: DOS disk read error; usually caused by a bad disk
or a non-DOS disk.
Sector not found: BIOS disk error; usually caused by a bad
disk or a non-DOS disk.
Seek error: DOS can't seek to the proper location on the
disk. This is generally caused by a bad disk or drive.
String area overflow: 4DOS ran out of room to store the text
from string directives in 4DOS.INI. Reduce the complexity of
4DOS.INI or contact JP Software for assistance.
Swap file [seek | read | write] failed: 4DOS encountered an
I/O error while accessing the disk swap file (4DOSSWAP.nnn).
The disk was changed, the file has been destroyed by a
program, or 4DOS's memory area has been overwritten by a
program. Reboot the system.
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APPENDIX A / 4DOS ERROR MESSAGES
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Syntax error: A command or variable function was entered in
an improper format. Check the syntax in this manual and
correct the error.
Too many open files: DOS has run out of file handles. Try
setting FILES=20 or more in your CONFIG.SYS file.
Transient memory allocation error: 4DOS couldn't reserve
memory for its transient portion (probably in a SWAPPING OFF
command). The memory control blocks have been destroyed, or a
program has fragmented memory. Reboot the system.
Transient memory deallocation error: 4DOS couldn't release
memory for its transient portion (probably in a SWAPPING ON
command). The memory control blocks have been destroyed, or a
program has fragmented memory. Reboot the system.
Unknown command: A command was entered that 4DOS didn't
recognize and couldn't find in the current search path. Check
the spelling or PATH specification.
Variable loop: A nested environment variable refers to
itself, or variables are nested more than 16 deep. Correct
the error and retry the command.
Write error: A DOS disk error, usually caused by a bad disk
or a non-DOS disk.
XMS deallocation failed: 4DOS could not deallocate XMS memory
when exiting a secondary shell. XMS memory has been
destroyed; reboot your system.
XMS move failed: 4DOS could not move data between base memory
and XMS memory while swapping itself. XMS memory has been
destroyed; reboot your system.
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APPENDIX B / ASCII AND KEY CODES
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APPENDIX B / ASCII AND KEY CODES
ASCII
To represent the text you type, computers must translate each
letter to and from a number. The code used by all PC-
compatible computers for this translation is called ASCII
(American Standard Code for Information Interchange). ASCII
codes are also used for the characters displayed on the
screen. Function keys, cursor keys, and Alt keys do not
generate ASCII codes. For details on these keys and a
reference table, see Keys and Key Codes later in this
Appendix.
The ASCII table on the following pages is in three parts. The
first two parts cover the 128 standard ASCII characters; the
third part covers the additional 128 extended ASCII characters
defined by IBM for use on the IBM PC and compatible computers.
All the tables include a Char column showing the visual
representation of the character, a Dec column showing the
decimal numeric value of the character in the ASCII set, and a
Hex column showing the hexadecimal (base-16) value. The
tables are divided as follows:
ASCII Control Characters have numeric values between 0 and 31,
and include non-printing characters like carriage return and
line feed. The ASCII standard does not define a visual
representation for control characters, but the IBM PC
character set does define one for most control characters as
shown in the Char column of the table. You can enter these
characters using the Ctrl key combination shown in the Ctrl
column of this table, with a caret [^] representing the Ctrl
key. For example, character 4 is shown as ^D; to enter it,
press Ctrl and D on your keyboard. You can also enter control
characters with the Alt key and the numeric keypad, like
extended ASCII codes (see below). The Name column of this
table shows a two or three character "name" given to each
control character as part of the ASCII standard.
ASCII Printing Characters have numeric values between 32 and
127, and include the entire English-language character set as
well as punctuation and other special marks. You enter these
characters by pressing the corresponding keyboard key.
Character 127 has no corresponding keyboard key, but can be
entered on many systems by typing Ctrl-Backspace.
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Extended ASCII Characters have values between 128 and 255 and
include international language characters, line-drawing
characters, and other graphics symbols. You can enter
extended ASCII codes on the keyboard by holding down the Alt
key, entering the decimal numeric value of the key on the
numeric keypad, and then releasing the Alt key.
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APPENDIX B / ASCII AND KEY CODES
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This page normally contains part 1 of a complete
ASCII table. The table has been left out of this
ASCII version of the manual because it will not print
properly on most printers. If you need an ASCII
table, see the -ASCII- topic in the 4DOS HELP system,
or create your own table and paste it here.
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APPENDIX B / ASCII AND KEY CODES
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This page normally contains part 2 of a complete
ASCII table. The table has been left out of this
ASCII version of the manual because it will not print
properly on most printers. If you need an ASCII
table, see the -ASCII- topic in the 4DOS HELP system,
or create your own table and paste it here.
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APPENDIX B / ASCII AND KEY CODES
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Keys and Key Codes
When you press a single key or a key combination, software
built into your computer (the BIOS or Basic Input / Output
System) translates your keystroke into two numbers: a scan
code, representing the actual key that was pressed, and an
ASCII code, representing the ASCII value for that key. The
BIOS returns these numbers the next time a program requests
keyboard input. This section explains how key codes work;
for information on using them with 4DOS features see 4DOS.INI
(page 131), keystroke aliases (page 172), INKEY (page 246),
and KEYSTACK (page 250).
As PCs have evolved, the structure of keyboard codes has
evolved somewhat haphazardly with them, resulting in a
bewildering array of possible key codes. We'll give you a
basic explanation of how key codes work. For a more in-depth
discussion, refer to a BIOS or PC hardware reference manual.
The nuances of how your keyboard behaves depends on the
keyboard manufacturer and the computer manufacturer who
provides the built-in BIOS. As a result, we can't guarantee
the accuracy of the information below for every system, but
the discussion and reference table should be accurate for most
systems. Our discussion is based on the 101-key "enhanced"
keyboard commonly used on AT-compatible and PS/2 computers,
but virtually all of it is applicable to the 84-key keyboards
on older PC and XT systems. The primary difference is that
the older keyboards lack a separate cursor pad and only have
10 function keys.
All keys have a scan code. Not all keys have an ASCII code.
For example, function keys and cursor keys are not part of the
ASCII character set (see above), and have no ASCII value, but
they do have a scan code. Some keys have more than one ASCII
code. The A key, for example, has ASCII code 97 (lower case
"a") if you press it by itself. If you press it along with
the Shift key, the ASCII code changes to 65 (upper case "A").
If you press Ctrl and A the ASCII code changes to 1. In all
these cases, the scan code (30) is unchanged because you are
pressing the same physical key.
Things are different if you press Alt-A. Alt keystrokes have
no ASCII code, so the BIOS returns an ASCII code of 0, along
with the A key's scan code of 30. This allows a program to
detect all the possible variations of A, based on the
combination of ASCII code and scan code.
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APPENDIX B / ASCII AND KEY CODES
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Some keys generate more than one scan code depending on
whether Shift, Ctrl, or Alt is pressed. This allows a program
to differentiate between two different keystrokes on the same
key, neither of which has a corresponding ASCII value. For
example, F1 has no ASCII value so it returns an ASCII code of
0, and the F1 scan code of 59. Shift-F1 also returns an ASCII
code 0; if it also returned a scan code of 59, a program
couldn't distinguish it from F1. The BIOS translates scan
codes for keys like Shift-F1 (and Ctrl-F1 and Alt-F1) so that
each variation returns a different scan code along with an
ASCII code of 0.
On the 101-key keyboard that we're discussing, there's one
more variation: non-ASCII keys on the cursor keypad (such as
up-arrow) return the same scan code as the corresponding key
on the numeric keypad, for compatibility reasons. If they
also returned an ASCII code of 0, a program couldn't tell
which key was pressed. Therefore, these keys return an ASCII
code of 224 rather than 0. This means that older programs,
which only look for an ASCII 0 to indicate a non-ASCII
keystroke like up-arrow, may not detect these cursor pad keys
properly.
The number of different codes returned by any given key varies
from one (the spacebar) to four, depending on the particular
key, the design of your keyboard, and the BIOS in your system.
Some keys, like the Alt, Ctrl, and Shift by themselves or in
combination with each other, plus the Print Screen, SysReq,
Scroll Lock, Pause, Break, Num Lock, and Caps Lock keys, do
not have any code representations at all. The same is true of
keystrokes with more than one modifying key, like Ctrl-Shift-
A. The BIOS may perform special actions automatically when
you press these keys (for example, it switches into Caps Lock
mode when you press Caps Lock), but it does not report the
keystrokes to whatever program is running. Programs which
detect such keystrokes access the keyboard hardware directly,
a subject which is beyond the scope of this manual.
The following table lists all of the keys on the 101-key
"enhanced" keyboard. The keys are arranged roughly in scan
code order, which is generally left to right, moving from the
top of the keyboard to the bottom.
Column 1 shows the key's keycap symbol or name. Columns 2 and
3 show the scan and ASCII code if the key is unshifted.
Columns 4 & 5 contain the codes for the shifted key. Columns
6 & 7 show the code for Ctrl plus the key. The last column
contains the scan code for Alt plus the key (Alt keystrokes
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APPENDIX B / ASCII AND KEY CODES
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have no ASCII code and always generate an ASCII code of 0,
which is not shown).
Keys with ASCII values return the same scan code regardless of
whether Shift, Ctrl, or Alt is pressed, so the scan code
columns below may seem repetitive for these keys. We've
included them in the interest of completeness, since you may
need to verify the exact code for a particular key
combination.
Key names prefaced by np are on the numeric keypad. Those
prefaced by cp are on the cursor keypad between the main
typing keys and the number keypad. The numeric keypad values
are valid if Num Lock is turned off. If you need to specify a
number key from the numeric keypad, use the scan code shown
for the keypad and the ASCII code shown for the corresponding
typewriter key. For example, the keypad "7" has a scan code
of 71 (the np Home scan code) and an ASCII code of 54 (the
ASCII code for "7").
The chart is blank for key combinations that are not reported
at all by the BIOS, like Ctrl-1 and Alt-PgUp.
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APPENDIX B / ASCII AND KEY CODES
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Scan Codes and Key Codes for Top Two Keyboard Rows
Shift Shift Ctrl Ctrl Alt
Key Cap Scan ASCII Scan ASCII Scan ASCII Scan
Symbol Code Code Code Code Code Code Code
------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Esc 1 27 1 27 1 27 1
1 ! 2 49 2 33 120
2 @ 3 50 3 64 3 0 121
3 # 4 51 4 35 122
4 $ 5 52 5 36 123
5 % 6 53 6 37 124
6 ^ 7 54 7 94 7 30 125
7 & 8 55 8 38 126
8 * 9 56 9 42 127
9 ( 10 57 10 40 128
0 ) 11 48 11 41 129
- _ 12 45 12 95 12 31 130
= + 13 61 13 43 131
Backspace 14 8 14 8 14 127 14
Tab 15 9 15 0 148 0 165
Q 16 113 16 81 16 17 16
W 17 119 17 87 17 23 17
E 18 101 18 69 18 5 18
R 19 114 19 82 19 18 19
T 20 116 20 84 20 20 20
Y 21 121 21 89 21 25 21
U 22 117 22 85 22 21 22
I 23 105 23 73 23 9 23
O 24 111 24 79 24 15 24
P 25 112 25 80 25 16 25
[ { 26 91 26 123 26 27 26
] } 27 93 27 125 27 29 27
Enter 28 13 28 13 28 10 28
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APPENDIX B / ASCII AND KEY CODES
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Scan Codes and Key Codes for Bottom Two Keyboard Rows
Shift Shift Ctrl Ctrl Alt
Key Cap Scan ASCII Scan ASCII Scan ASCII Scan
Symbol Code Code Code Code Code Code Code
------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
A 30 97 30 65 30 1 30
S 31 115 31 83 31 19 31
D 32 100 32 68 32 4 32
F 33 102 33 70 33 6 33
G 34 103 34 71 34 7 34
H 35 104 35 72 35 8 35
J 36 106 36 74 36 10 36
K 37 107 37 75 37 11 37
L 38 108 38 76 38 12 38
; : 39 59 39 58 39
' " 40 39 40 34 40
` ~ 41 96 41 126 41
\ | 43 92 43 124 43 28 43
Z 44 122 44 90 44 26 44
X 45 120 45 88 45 24 45
C 46 99 46 67 46 3 46
V 47 118 47 86 47 22 47
B 48 98 48 66 48 2 48
N 49 110 49 78 49 14 49
M 50 109 50 77 50 13 50
, < 51 44 51 60 51
. > 52 46 52 62 52
/ ? 53 47 53 63 53
Space 57 32 57 32 57 32 57
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APPENDIX B / ASCII AND KEY CODES
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Scan Codes and Key Codes for Key Pads and Function Keys
Shift Shift Ctrl Ctrl Alt
Key Cap Scan ASCII Scan ASCII Scan ASCII Scan
Symbol Code Code Code Code Code Code Code
------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
F1 59 0 84 0 94 0 104
F2 60 0 85 0 95 0 105
F3 61 0 86 0 96 0 106
F4 62 0 87 0 97 0 107
F5 63 0 88 0 98 0 108
F6 64 0 89 0 99 0 109
F7 65 0 90 0 100 0 110
F8 66 0 91 0 101 0 111
F9 67 0 92 0 102 0 112
F10 68 0 93 0 103 0 113
F11 133 0 135 0 137 0 139
F12 134 0 136 0 138 0 140
np * 55 42 55 42 150 0 55
np Home 71 0 71 55 119 0
cp Home 71 224 71 224 119 224 151
np Up 72 0 72 56 141 0
cp Up 72 224 72 224 141 224 152
np PgUp 73 0 73 57 132 0
cp PgUp 73 224 73 224 132 224 153
np Minus 74 45 74 45 142 0 74
np Left 75 0 75 52 115 0
cp Left 75 224 75 224 115 224 155
np 5 76 0 76 53 143 0
np Right 77 0 77 54 116 0
cp Right 77 224 77 224 116 224 157
np Plus 78 43 78 43 144 0 78
np End 79 0 79 49 117 0
cp End 79 224 79 224 117 224 159
np Down 80 0 80 50 145 0
cp Down 80 224 80 224 145 224 160
np PgDn 81 0 81 51 118 0
cp PgDn 81 224 81 224 118 224 161
np Ins 82 0 82 48 146 0
cp Ins 82 224 82 224 146 224 162
np Del 83 0 83 46 147 0
cp Del 83 224 83 224 147 224 163
np / 224 47 224 47 149 0 164
np Enter 224 13 224 13 224 10 166
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APPENDIX C / TECHNICAL INFORMATION
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APPENDIX C / TECHNICAL INFORMATION
This appendix provides technical information for programmers who
wish to build interfaces to 4DOS. It covers detecting 4DOS,
placing keystrokes in the Keystack, writing installable commands,
using the DESCRIPT.ION file, and using the interrupt 2E "back door"
entry into 4DOS to execute commands.
Detecting 4DOS
Detecting 4DOS From a Batch File
From a batch file, you can determine if 4DOS is loaded by
testing for the variable function @EVAL, with a test like
this:
if not "%@eval[2+2]" == "4" echo 4DOS is loaded!
This test can never succeed in COMMAND.COM and is therefore a
reliable way to detect 4DOS. Other variable functions could
be used for the same purpose.
Detecting 4DOS From a Program
Any program can test for the presence of 4DOS by making a
simple INT 2Fh call. Be sure to check the INT 2Fh vector
first as it may be 0 under some versions of DOS 2 if no
program has hooked the interrupt. To detect 4DOS, call INT
2Fh with:
AX = D44Dh
BX = 0
If 4DOS is not loaded, AX should be returned unchanged. If
4DOS is loaded, it will return the following (no other
registers are modified):
AX = 44DDh
BX = Version number (BL = major version, BH = minor
version)
CX = 4DOS PSP segment address
DL = 4DOS shell number
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APPENDIX C / TECHNICAL INFORMATION
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The shell number is incremented each time a new copy of 4DOS
is loaded, either in a different multitasker window (for
example, under DESQView), or via nested shells. The primary
shell is shell number 0.
This function tells you if 4DOS is loaded in memory, but not
whether it is the parent process of your program. You can
determine if 4DOS is the parent process by comparing the PSP
value returned in CX to the PSP chain pointer at offset 16h in
your program's PSP.
Detecting the 4DOS Prompt
4DOS generates INT 2Fh calls before and after the prompt is
displayed to allow TSRs to detect that 4DOS is at the prompt.
The calls are:
AX = D44Eh
BX = 0: 4DOS is about to display the prompt
1: 4DOS is about to accept keyboard input at the
prompt
The BX = 0 call occurs immediately before displaying the
prompt; the BX = 1 call occurs after displaying the prompt and
immediately before accepting keyboard input. Any routine
intercepting these calls should preserve the SI, DI, BP, SP,
DS, ES, and SS registers.
Placing Keystrokes Into the Keystack
You can put keystrokes into the 4DOS Keystack with an INT 2Fh
call. First, you must make a call to check whether KSTACK.COM
is loaded:
AX = D44Fh
BX = 0
If KSTACK.COM is not loaded, this call will return AX
unchanged. If it is loaded, AX will be returned as 44DDh;
other registers will be unchanged. Once you have determined
that KSTACK.COM is loaded, you can send keystrokes with this
call:
AX = D44Fh
BX = 1
CX = number of keystrokes being passed
DS:DX = address of the keystroke array
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APPENDIX C / TECHNICAL INFORMATION
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On return, if the call succeeded then AX will be 0; if it
failed, AX will be non-zero. BX, CX, and DX are destroyed;
other registers are preserved. If the call succeeds,
subsequent calls to INT 16h functions 0, 1, 10h, or 11h will
receive the stacked keystrokes.
The keystroke array passed to KSTACK must be an array of words
containing the values to return from INT 16h. The high byte
of each word is a scan code and the low byte is an ASCII code.
Many programs accept keystrokes properly with only the ASCII
code, but some require the scan code as well. See page 329
for a list of ASCII and scan codes for most keyboards. To
insert a delay in the keystroke sequence, include a word set
to FFFFh followed by a word containing the desired delay in
clock ticks.
Writing Installable Commands
An "installable command" is created with a memory-resident
program (TSR) which can receive signals from 4DOS and process
commands. 4DOS makes every command available to such TSRs
before it is executed; if any TSR chooses to execute the
command, 4DOS will do no further processing. Otherwise, 4DOS
processes the command normally.
The 4DOS "Installable command" interface is compatible with an
undocumented interface present in COMMAND.COM for MS-DOS and
PC-DOS 3.3 and above. This interface is documented more
thoroughly on pages 373 - 379 of the excellent reference text
Undocumented DOS by Schulman et. al., published by Addison
Wesley (ISBN 0-201-57064-5).
4DOS looks for an installable command after alias expansion
and after checking to see if the command is a drive change,
but before checking for an internal or external command.
4DOS first makes an INT 2Fh call to determine whether any TSR
loaded will respond to the command, with:
AX = AE00h
BX = offset of command line buffer:
first byte = maximum length of command line (128)
second byte = actual length of command line, not
including trailing CR
remainder = command line, with a trailing CR
CH = FFh
CL = length of command line, not including the command
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APPENDIX C / TECHNICAL INFORMATION
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name
DX = FFFFh
SI = offset of command name buffer:
first byte = length of command name
remainder = command name, shifted to upper case
and padded with blanks to 11 characters
DI = 0
If the TSR does not recognize the command as its own, it must
pass the INT 2Fh along with registers unchanged. If it does
recognize the command, it must return 0FFh in AL. The command
should not be executed at this point. 4DOS will then make
another call (buffer formats are the same as above):
AX = AE01h
BX = offset of command line buffer
CH = 0
CL = length of command name
DX = FFFFh
SI = offset of command name buffer
If the TSR executed the command line, it must set the command
name length (DS:[SI]) to 0. If the command name length is not
0, 4DOS will attempt to execute the command as an internal or
external command. This allows the TSR to return a modified
command line to 4DOS by modifying the command line buffer at
DS:BX, and leaving the command name length byte at DS:[SI] set
to a non-zero value. If the command is executed, the TSR
should return the result of the command (zero for normal
return or non-zero for an error) in AL.
Using DESCRIPT.ION
4DOS uses the file DESCRIPT.ION to store file descriptions.
This file is created as a hidden file in each subdirectory
which has descriptions, and deleted when all descriptions are
removed or when all files with descriptions are deleted.
Your programs can access DESCRIPT.ION to create, retrieve, or
modify file descriptions, and to store other information.
DESCRIPT.ION has one line per file, and is unsorted. Each
line is in the following format:
filename.ext Description[*<ID>Other program info]...<CR>
There is normally one space between the description and
filename but additional spaces may be used in future versions
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APPENDIX C / TECHNICAL INFORMATION
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of 4DOS. The characters after the description allow extension
of the description format for use by other programs. They are
as follows:
* represents an ASCII Ctrl-D (04), and marks the end of
the description text and the beginning of information for
a program other than 4DOS. This symbol can appear
multiple times on each line; each occurrence marks the
beginning of information for another program.
<ID> is an identification byte for the program which is
using this area of the particular line. If you are
writing a program which will store information in
DESCRIPT.ION, test it using an ID byte of your own
choosing. When you are ready to release the program,
contact JP Software and we will provide you with an ID
byte value that is not in use by others to the best of
our knowledge.
Other program info is any text the program wishes to
store in its area of the line. The text should relate
specifically to the file named on the line. It may not
contain the u character, carriage returns, line feeds, or
nulls (ASCII 0s).
4DOS will copy, delete, or move all the information on a line
in DESCRIPT.ION, including information owned by other
programs, when performing the same action on the corresponding
file. 4DOS will also change the name if a file is renamed.
To support DESCRIPT.ION properly, your program must do the
same if it copies, deletes, moves, or renames files. Take
care not to remove information which does not belong to your
program, or delete lines which contain information for other
programs. Your program should be able to handle a line
terminated by a CR or LF alone, a CR/LF pair, an EOF (ASCII
26), or the physical end of the file. The lines it creates
should be terminated with CR / LF. The line length limit is
4096 bytes; exceeding this limit will cause unpredictable
results.
Interrupt 2E
4DOS provides full, documented support for the undocumented
COMMAND.COM "back door" entry, INT 2E (hex). INT 2E allows
applications to call the primary copy of the command processor
to execute commands, without loading a secondary shell.
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INT 2E support is enabled with the FullINT2E = Yes directive
in 4DOS.INI. If this directive is left out or is set to No,
4DOS does "hook" INT 2E, but any calls to it are ignored.
Setting FullINT2E = Yes adds about 100 bytes to the resident
size of 4DOS, and applies only to the primary shell (it is
ignored in secondary shells).
To use INT 2E, set DS:SI to the address of a buffer containing
the command, then issue an INT 2E. The buffer format is:
First byte Length of command, not including this
byte or the last byte
Text bytes The command text
Last byte CR (ASCII 13)
You must have enough memory available for 4DOS to reload its
transient portion, and about 80 bytes of available stack space
for the INT 2E handler to use. INT 2E can not be called from
a TSR while 4DOS is running (for example, a TSR popped up at
the 4DOS prompt or from within LIST or SELECT), but can be
called from within any application or from within a TSR while
an application (including the 4DOS HELP system) is running.
INT 2E can invoke any 4DOS command including an alias, an
internal command, an external command, or a batch file. All
changes to 4DOS data (such as aliases, environment variables,
and SETDOS settings) which are made by a command executed via
INT 2E calls will affect the primary shell, and the
environment passed to a program called via INT 2E will be a
copy of the primary shell's environment.
INT 2E uses the same internal stack (temporary storage area)
as the primary shell. If a complex command is used in the
primary shell to start a program which eventually issues an
INT 2E, the additional stack space required by commands
executed through INT 2E may (in rare circumstances) cause a
stack overflow. If this occurs, use the StackSize directive
in 4DOS.INI (see page 137) to increase 4DOS's internal stack
space.
INT 2E also uses the same batch file "stack" as the primary
shell. This means that if INT 2E is used to execute a batch
file, this batch file is considered "nested" within any batch
file(s) used in the primary shell to start the program which
issued the INT 2E. This may cause batch nesting errors from
within the INT 2E call which would not occur if the same
command were executed at the prompt. For example, suppose an
application is loaded from batch files nested six levels deep,
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and that application uses INT 2E to execute a command which
invokes batch files which nest to five levels deep. Under
these conditions a nesting error will occur, because the total
nesting level is eleven, exceeding 4DOS's limit of ten levels
of nested batch files.
On return from INT 2E all registers will be destroyed except
SS and SP. AX will be set as follows:
FFFFh An error occurred before processing the command: not
enough memory was available, INT 2E was called from
a TSR, or another error made it impossible to handle
the interrupt.
0 The command was processed without error.
> 0 There was an error in processing the command. AX is
the error number, equivalent to the IERRORLEVEL
(%_?) value from an internal command or the
ERRORLEVEL (%?) value from an external command. If
a batch file is run the value will be the error
level returned by the batch file (via QUIT n or
CANCEL n) or the last command within it. If an
alias is run the value will be the error level
returned by the last command in the alias.
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GLOSSARY
Some items in this glossary refer to 4DOS features. For more
information on how a particular feature works, look the feature up
in the index under the name used here.
4DOS.INI: The 4DOS initialization file containing directives
which set 4DOS's startup configuration parameters.
4EXIT: A batch file which is executed whenever a secondary
4DOS shell ends.
4START: A batch file which is executed whenever 4DOS is
started, either as a primary shell or a secondary shell.
Alias: A shorthand name for a command or series of commands.
Alias Argument: A numeric variable included in an alias
definition, allowing a different value to be used in the alias
each time it is executed.
AND: A logical combination of two true or false conditions
such that if both conditions are true the result is true; if
either condition is false the result is false.
ANSI.SYS: A device driver supplied with DOS which provides
enhanced screen display and keyboard macros, or one of the
many similar programs.
Append: Concatenation of one file or string onto the end of
another. (There is also a DOS external command, APPEND, which
has an entirely different meaning and which should be used
with caution!)
Application: A program run from the command prompt or a batch
file. The term is used broadly to mean any program other than
the command processor; and more narrowly to mean a program
with a specific purpose such as a spreadsheet or word
processing program, as opposed to a utility.
Archive: A file attribute indicating that the file has been
modified since the last backup (presuming that the last backup
cleared the archive attribute, as most backup programs do).
Also sometimes used to refer to a single file which contains a
number of other files in compressed form.
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Argument: A piece of additional information placed after a
command or function name. For example in the command DIR XYZ,
XYZ is an argument. Also used to refer to an alias argument
or batch file argument.
ASCII: The American Standard Code for Information
Interchange, which defines numeric values for 128 different
characters comprising the English alphabet, numbers,
punctuation, and some control characters.
ASCII File: A file containing ASCII text, as opposed to a
binary file which may contain codes, numbers, or other
information that cannot be sensibly interpreted as text.
Attribute: A characteristic of a file which can be set or
cleared. The standard attributes are Read-Only, Hidden,
System, and Archive. The special attributes Volume Label and
Directory are also used for files of those types.
AUTOEXEC.BAT: A batch file which is AUTOmatically EXECuted
when the computer is started.
Automatic Directory Change: A 4DOS feature which allows
changing directories by typing the directory name and a
backslash [\] at the prompt.
Base Memory: The portion of your computer's memory available
for use by DOS, the command processor, and application
programs. On most PCs this area consists of the first 640K
bytes of the computer's memory (one K is 1024 bytes).
BAT File: Same as a Batch File.
Batch File: A text file containing a sequence of DOS or 4DOS
commands. Batch files are used to save command sequences so
that they can be re-executed at any time, transferred to
another system, etc.
Batch File Argument: A numeric variable used within a batch
file, allowing a different value to be used at that spot in
the file each time it is executed.
Binary File: A file containing information which does not
represent or cannot sensibly be interpreted as text. See also
ASCII File.
Block Device: A physical device for input or output which can
transmit or receive large blocks of data while the computer is
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engaged in other activities. Examples include disk, tape, and
CD-ROM drives, and many networks.
Boot: The process of starting the computer and loading DOS
and the command processor into memory.
Boot Directory: The current directory at the time the system
is booted, almost always the root directory of the boot drive.
Boot Drive: The disk drive that the system is booted from,
usually A: (the floppy disk) or C: (the hard disk).
Break: A signal sent to a program (including 4DOS) to tell it
to halt what it is doing. The Ctrl-C key or Ctrl-Break key
is used to send this signal. Some external commands abort
when they receive a break signal; others return to a previous
screen or menu, or abort the current operation.
BTM File: A special type of batch file which is loaded into
memory, dramatically speeding up execution.
Buffer: An area of memory set aside for storage. Usually
refers to disk buffers, used to save information as it is
transferred between your program and the disk; or to the
keyboard buffer, which holds keystrokes until a program can
use them.
Character Device: A physical device for input or output which
must communicate with your computer one character at a time.
Examples include the console, communications ports, and
printers.
Code Page: A set of definitions which tells DOS how to get
and display date, time, and other information in the format
appropriate to a particular country.
Command Completion: A 4DOS feature which allows you to recall
a previous command by typing the first few letters of the
command, then an up-arrow or down-arrow.
Command Echoing: A feature which displays commands as they
are executed. Echoing can be turned on and off.
Command History: A 4DOS feature which retains commands you
have previously executed, so that they can be modified and re-
executed later.
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Command Interpreter: A program, such as 4DOS or COMMAND.COM,
which interprets commands and executes other programs.
Command Recall: See Command History.
Command Tail: The portion of a command consisting of all the
arguments, i.e. everything but the command name itself.
Compound Command: See Multiple Commands.
COMSPEC: An environment variable which defines where to get
the command processor for a secondary shell.
Conditional Commands: A 4DOS feature allowing commands to be
executed or skipped depending on the results of a previous
command. See also Exit Code.
CONFIG.SYS: A file which tells DOS what device drivers to
install, what command processor to use, and other information
about what to do when your system boots. See your DOS manual
for more information.
Console: The PC keyboard and display.
Control Character: A character which is part of the ASCII
code, but does not have a normal text representation, and
which can be generated by pressing the Ctrl key along with
another key. For example the control character called "BEL"
is generated by pressing Ctrl-G, and will cause the computer
to beep if pressed at the DOS prompt.
Country Code: See Code Page.
CR: The ASCII character "carriage return", generated by
pressing the "Enter" key on the keyboard, and stored in most
ASCII files at the end of each line.
Critical Error: An error, usually related to input, output,
or network access, which prevents a program from continuing.
When a critical error occurs, a prompt such as "R(etry),
I(gnore), F(ail), or A(bort)" appears on the screen and you
must decide what action to take.
Current Directory: The directory in which all file operations
will take place unless otherwise specified. For example if
the current directory is C:\MYFILES then the command "DEL XYZ"
will delete the file XYZ in the directory C:\MYFILES, and will
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not affect other files with the same name which may be in
other directories.
Description: A string of characters assigned to describe a
file with the 4DOS DESCRIBE command.
Destination: In the 4DOS file commands (COPY, MOVE, and
RENAME), the name or directory files should have after any
copying or modification has taken place; generally referred to
by the last specification on the command line. See also
Source.
Device: A physical device for input or output such as the
console, a communications port, or a printer. Sometimes the
term "device" alone is used to refer to character devices such
as those listed above, and excludes block devices.
Device Driver: A program which allows DOS to communicate with
a device, and which is loaded into memory when the system is
booted, via a statement in CONFIG.SYS. Some device drivers
are used to manage memory or for other similar internal
functions, rather than to communicate with an external device.
Directory: A portion of any disk, identified by a name and a
relationship to other directories in a "tree" structure, with
the tree starting at the root directory. A directory
separates files on the disk into logical groups, but does not
represent a physical division of the data on the disk.
Disk Swapping: A type of swapping in which the transient
portion of 4DOS is stored on disk while an application is
running.
DOS Memory: See Base Memory.
Echo: See Command Echoing.
EMS Memory: Memory which conforms to the Lotus - Intel -
Microsoft Expanded Memory Specification (LIM EMS). This
hardware/software standard allows programs to access large
amounts of memory outside of base memory or extended memory.
Most systems which have EMS memory have either a specific EMS
board (on any PC or compatible system), EMS emulation software
(on PC-AT compatible systems), or a 386 control program such
as QEMM or 386MAX (on 386 systems). If you do not have one of
these items, you probably do not have EMS memory.
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EMS Swapping: A type of swapping in which the transient
portion of 4DOS is stored in EMS memory while an application
is running.
Environment: An area of memory which contains multiple
entries in the form "NAME=value". Each entry is called an
environment variable. See also Master Environment and Passed
Environment.
Environment Variable: The name of a single entry in the
environment. Environment variables are entered with the SET
command, and used to associate the specified value with the
specified name for any purpose desired by the user.
Typically, their function is to set default switches for a
program, specify a directory path where files can be found,
and so on. When 4DOS encounters an environment variable name
in a command in the form "%NAME" (or "%NAME%"), it substitutes
the corresponding value in its place.
Errorlevel: A numeric value between 0 and 255 returned from
an external command to indicate its result (e.g., success,
failure, response to a question), and accessible via the IF
ERRORLEVEL command and the %? environment variable. See also
Exit Code.
Escape Character: This term has two meanings. In some
contexts it means the 4DOS escape character, normally Ctrl-X,
which is used to suppress the normal meaning of or give
special meaning to the following character. In other cases it
refers to the specific ASCII character ESC. The meaning must
be determined from the context.
Executable Extensions: A 4DOS feature which allows you to
specify the application to be executed when a file with a
particular extension is named at the command prompt.
Executable File: A file with the extension .COM or .EXE,
which can be loaded into memory and run as a program.
Exit Code: The error level returned by an external command,
or a similar exit code returned by a 4DOS internal command.
4DOS internal commands return an exit code of 0 if successful,
or non-zero if unsuccessful. See also Errorlevel.
Expansion: The process 4DOS goes through when it scans a
command line and substitutes the appropriate actual values for
aliases, alias arguments, batch file arguments, and
environment variables. See also Parsing.
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Extended ASCII Character: A character which is not part of
the standard set of 128 ASCII characters, but is used on the
PC as part of an extended set of 256 characters. These
characters include international language symbols, and box and
line drawing characters.
Extended Memory: Any memory on a 286-based (PC-AT compatible)
or 386-based computer system which is above the 1 MB (one
megabyte, or 1024*1024 bytes) of memory that DOS can address
directly. Any PC-AT compatible or 386 system with more than
640K of memory has extended memory. This memory can be used
for a variety of purposes depending on the software installed
to utilize it. See also XMS.
External Command: A program which resides in an executable
file, as opposed to an internal command which is part of the
command processor. For example, FORMAT and DISKCOPY are
external commands; you can find them on your DOS disk under
the names FORMAT.COM and DISKCOPY.COM.
File Attribute: See Attribute.
File Description: See Description.
Filename Completion: A 4DOS feature which allows you to type
part of a filename on the command line, and have 4DOS fill in
the rest for you.
Free Memory: Usually, the amount of base memory which is
currently unoccupied and available for use by applications.
Hidden: A file attribute indicating that the file should not
be displayed with a normal DIR command, and should not be
available for access by programs unless they specifically
request use of hidden files.
History: See Command History.
History Window: A pop-up window used by 4DOS to display the
command history, allowing you to choose a previous command to
modify and / or execute.
Include List: A concise method of specifying several files or
groups of files in the same directory, for use with all 4DOS
commands which take file names as arguments.
Insert Mode: When editing text, a mode in which newly typed
characters are inserted into the line at the cursor position,
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rather than overwriting existing characters on the line. See
also Overstrike Mode.
Internal Command: A command which is part of the command
processor, as opposed to an external command. For example,
DIR and COPY are internal commands.
Keyboard Buffer: A buffer which holds keystrokes you have
typed that have not yet been used by the currently executing
program.
Keystroke Alias: An alias assigned to a key, so that it can
be invoked or recalled with a single keystroke.
Label: A marker in a batch file. Labels allow GOTO and GOSUB
commands to "jump" to the command on the line following the
label. See also Volume Label.
LF: The ASCII character "line feed", not usually generated
from the keyboard, but stored in most ASCII files at the end
of each line after the CR character.
Master Environment: The master copy of the environment
maintained by the command processor. The master environment
is manipulated with the SET, ESET, and UNSET commands.
Memory Resident Mode: A method of installing 4DOS in which
swapping is disabled, and all of 4DOS remains permanently
resident in memory. Memory-resident mode requires much more
memory than the normal swapping mode.
Modulo: The remainder after an integer division. For example
11 modulo 3 is 2, because when 11 is divided by 3 the
remainder is 2.
Multiple Commands: A 4DOS feature which allows multiple
commands to be placed on a line, separated by a caret (^) or
other user-defined character.
Multitasking: A capability of some software (and the related
hardware) which allows two or more programs to run apparently
simultaneously on the same computer. Multitasking software
for PC compatible systems includes programs like DESQview.
Non-Swapping Mode: See Memory Resident Mode.
Option: See Switch.
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OR: A logical combination of two true or false conditions
such that if both conditions are false the result is false; if
either condition is true the result is true.
Overstrike Mode: When editing text, a mode in which newly
typed characters overwrite existing characters on the line,
rather than being inserted into the line at the cursor
position. See also Insert Mode.
Parameter: See Argument.
Parsing: The process 4DOS performs when it analyzes the
command line, performs alias and environment variable
expansion, and finds the appropriate internal command or
external command to execute.
Passed Environment: A copy of the master environment created
before running an application, so that any changes made by the
application will not affect the master environment. The size
of the passed environment is determined by the amount of space
actually used in the master environment when the application
is started.
Path: A specification of the directories a file resides in,
including all parent directories. For example, the path for
C:\WPFILES\MYDIR\MEMO.TXT is C:\WPFILES\MYDIR\. Path is also
used to refer to the environment variable PATH, which contains
a series of path specifications used when searching for
external commands and batch files.
Pipe: A method for collecting the standard output of one
program and passing it on as the standard input of the next
program to be executed, signified by a vertical bar "|" on the
command line. See also Redirection.
Primary Shell: The copy of the command processor which is
loaded when the system boots.
RAM Disk: A pseudo "disk drive", created by software, which
appears like a normal physical disk drive to programs. RAM
disks can be stored in extended memory, XMS memory, EMS
memory, or base memory, and provide a convenient way for
programs to use this memory for temporary files.
Read-Only: A file attribute indicating that the file can be
read, but not written by DOS and 4DOS.
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Reboot: The process of restarting the computer, usually by
pressing the Ctrl, Alt, and Del keys simultaneously.
Redirection: A method for collecting the standard output of a
program in a file, and/or of providing the standard input for
a program from a file, signified respectively by a greater
than symbol ">" or less than symbol "<" on the command line.
See also Pipe.
Replaceable Parameter: See Alias Argument and Batch File
Argument.
Resident Portion: The small portion of 4DOS stored
permanently in memory when swapping mode is in use, as opposed
to the larger transient portion. The resident portion is
stored as close as possible to the beginning of base memory.
Root Directory: The first directory, from which all other
directories are "descended." The root directory is referenced
with a single backslash (\). When a disk is first formatted,
it is the only directory.
Secondary Shell: Any copy of any command processor which is
loaded after the system boots. Secondary shells may be
started from the command line; by executing a "shell to DOS"
operation from within an application; implicitly by executing
some DOS-related functions within certain applications; or by
starting a new partition in a multi-tasking or task switching
system.
Shell: A command processor. Also used to refer to a program
which gives access to DOS functions and commands through a
menu- or mouse-driven system.
Source: In the 4DOS file commands (COPY, MOVE, and RENAME),
the original files before any copying or modification has
taken place, i.e. those specified earlier on the command line.
See also Target.
Stack: An area of memory used by any program to store
temporary data while the program is running; more generally,
any such storage area where the last item stored is normally
the first one removed.
Standard Error: A file or character device where error
messages from a program are displayed. Standard error output
always goes to the console, unless redirection is used.
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Standard Input: A file or character device where a program
obtains its normal input. Standard input always comes from
the console, unless redirection is used.
Standard Output: A file or character device where normal
output from a program is displayed. Standard output always
goes to the console, unless redirection is used.
Subdirectory: Any directory other than the root directory.
See also Root Directory.
Swap File: A disk file created by 4DOS to store its transient
portion when disk swapping is in use.
Swapping: A 4DOS feature which removes the larger transient
portion of 4DOS from base memory while an application is
running, leaving the maximum possible amount of memory for the
application, and allows 4DOS to restore information such as
the command history after the application is finished. See
also XMS Swapping, EMS Swapping, and Disk Swapping.
Switch: An argument to an internal command or application
which specifies a particular behavior or setting. For
example, the command "DIR /P" might be referred to as "having
the /P switch set". Also, a configuration value for 4DOS
specified on the SHELL= line in CONFIG.SYS.
System: A file attribute indicating that the file belongs to
DOS and should not be accessed by normal programs.
Target: See Destination.
Transient Portion: The larger portion of 4DOS stored in
memory temporarily when swapping mode is in use, as opposed to
the smaller resident portion. The transient portion is stored
as close as possible to the end of base memory, and releases
the space it is using whenever an application is executed.
TSR: A Terminate and Stay Resident program, i.e. a program
which "terminates" but remains resident in base memory, to
provide capabilities such as network support, a pop-up notepad
or telephone dialer, a disk cache, or mouse support.
UMB: An XMS Upper Memory Block, whose address is above the
end of normal base memory, but is within the 1 megabyte of
memory that DOS can address directly.
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Variable: See Alias Argument, Batch File Argument, and
Environment Variable.
Volume Label: A special, hidden file placed on any disk whose
name constitutes a "label" for the entire disk.
White Space Character: Generally, a character used to
separate arguments on the command line. The white space
characters recognized by 4DOS are the space, tab, comma,
semicolon, and equal sign.
Wildcard: A character ("*" or "?") used in a filename to
specify the possibility that any single character ("?") or
sequence of characters ("*") can occur at that point in the
actual name.
XMS Memory: A software method for accessing extended memory
on 286 and 386 systems (and some systems which support version
4.0 of the EMS memory specification). XMS memory is not
additional memory, but is a software specification only. Its
use generally requires Microsoft's HIMEM.SYS be installed as a
device driver, or that another program such as 386MAX or MOVE-
EM be used.
XMS Swapping: A type of swapping where the transient portion
of 4DOS is stored in XMS memory while an application is
running.
XOR (exclusive OR): A logical combination of two true or
false conditions such that if both conditions are false or
both conditions are true the result is false; if either
condition is true and the other is false the result is true.
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INDEX ? internal variable, 81
_? internal variable, 81
Most fully capitalized terms @ sign, see also Variable
(e.g. ECHO, SELECT) are 4DOS functions
command names unless otherwise for key codes
noted. in 4DOS.INI, 123
in a keystroke alias, 173
in KEYSTACK text, 251
-- Special Characters -- in file names, 47
! warning mark, 2, 167 in INKEY results, 246
to define a keystroke alias,
## advanced topic mark, 2, 54, 172
166 to override batch file echo,
99, 215, 280
% sign to override command history
in file names, 47 save, 57
use with environment to read a file in FOR, 223
variables, 78, 79
use with replaceable || (or) in conditional
parameters, 94, 100, 175 commands, 91
use with variable functions,
85
%# and %n& -- 4 --
in aliases, 175
in batch files, 100, 299 4DOS
%0 to %127 and DESQView, see DESQView
in aliases, 175 and DOS versions, 113, 149
in batch files, 100, 299 and DR-DOS, 50, 110, 113,
149
&& (and) in conditional and MS-DOS 5.0, 64, 113
commands, 91 and MS-DOS 5.0 memory
management, 50, 140, 141,
* (asterisk) 254
as file name "wildcard", 71 and other software, 148
in alias name, 172 and Windows, see Microsoft
in alias value, 170 Windows
to temporarily disable an configuration, 80, 109, 118
alias, 62, 105, 171 detecting, 335
Features, 9
., see Current directory memory usage, 125, 127, 136
.., see Parent directory programming interface, 335
resident portion, 125
/, in command switches, 165 loading in high memory,
127
? as file name "wildcard", 71 startup options, see Startup
? command, 168 options
transient portion, 125, 136
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4DOS Utility Disk, 235 Aliases, 96, 169
4DOS.COM, 113, 115 and QUIT, 276
4DOS.INI, 109, 118 asterisk in name, 172
advanced directives, 135 asterisk in value, 170
and installation, 118 back quotes in, 96, 169,
and SETDOS, 120, 127, 294 170, 175
color directives, 130 commands for, 163
comments in, 119 defining default command
configuration directives, options with, 171, 175
127 editing, 219
directive types, 121 examples, 96, 103, 105
directives, 119, see also IFF in, 175
names of individual in batch files, 103
directives inheritance in secondary
errors in, 119, 125 shells, 136, 176
initialization directives, internal variables in, 176
124 keystroke, 97, 172
key mapping directives, 131 and key assignments, 131
location of, 111, 113 automatic execution of,
and multitaskers, 121 94, 98, 174
primary section, 120 memory space for, 81, 124,
in alternate files, 121 262
secondary section, 120 multiple commands in, 169
and DESQView, 154 nesting, 170
and multitaskers, 150 order of execution, 44
example, 137 reading from a file, 177
4DOS.PIF, 152 removing, 308
4EXIT, 43, 109, 117 replaceable parameters in,
location of, 117, 124 175, 176
4OS2 product, 1 saving in a file, 174
4START, 43, 85, 109, 117 saving temporarily, 218, 298
and multitaskers, 151 suspending execution of, 269
and startup command, 112 temporarily disabling, 62,
and TSRs, 117 105, 171
location of, 117, 124 variable functions in, 90,
4StartPath directive, 124 176
_4VER internal variable, 81 Alt-255, 55
And (&&) in conditional
commands, 91
-- A -- .AND., in IF and IFF, 238, 242,
244
Abort, Retry, Fail message, see ANSI directive, 127, 144, 191,
Critical errors 192, 295
AddFile directive, 133 ANSI driver, 53
Advanced topic mark, see ## and CLS, 190, 295
ALIAS command, 162, 169 and COLOR, 192, 295
Alias directive, 124 and COLORDIR, 205
_ALIAS internal variable, 81 and colors, 131
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and cursor problems, 143 Base memory, see Memory
and DESQView, 154 Base name, see File names
and PROMPT, 272 .BAT files, 99, 257
and scrolling, 143, 296 Batch files, 98
and TEXT, 302 aliases in, 103, 104
detecting, 81, 144 based on command history,
escape sequences, 94, 272, 236
302 branching in, 232
in CONFIG.SYS, 144 calling, 183
use by 4DOS, 127, 142 capturing output of, 106
_ANSI internal variable, 81 chaining, 107, 183
ANSI.COM, 144 commands for, 101, 163
ANSI.SYS, 144 comments in, 280
APPEND command, 149 debugging, 105
Appending files, 193 displaying messages in, 215,
Archive attribute, see File 217, 284, 285, 302, 313
attributes echoing of commands, 99,
Argument quoting, 94 127, 215, 297
Arguments, see replaceable environment variables in,
parameters 100
Arithmetic, 86 internal variables in, 84,
ASCII, 51, 325 100
@ASCII variable function, 85 keyboard input in, 246, 249
Asterisk, see * labels in, 230, 232
At sign, see @ sign modes, 99, 257
ATTRIB, 178 nesting, 82, 183
@ATTRIB variable function, 86 order of execution, 44
Attributes, see File attributes replaceable parameters, 100,
AUTOEXEC.BAT, 43, 109, 114 299
and 4START, 117 saving environment in, 218,
and startup command, 112 298
location of, 124 screen display, 211, 213,
running, 111 214
setting COMSPEC in, 111 subroutines, 230, 283
speeding up, 300 suspending execution of, 269
starting KSTACK.COM, 15, 68, temporary variables in, 101
115, 250 terminating, 184, 276
AutoExecPath directive, 124 timing events in, 304
Automatic batch files, 43 tips, 103
Automatic directory changes, variable functions in, 90,
61, 116 100
_BATCH internal variable, 82
BatchEcho directive, 99, 127,
-- B -- 297
BEEP, 101, 127, 180
Back & Forth, 113, 121 BeepFreq directive, 127
Backspace character, 94 BeepLength directive, 128
Backspace directive, 132 BeginLine directive, 132
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_BG internal variable, 82 Command interpreter, 41
Boxes, drawing, 211 Command line, 54
BREAK, 181 arguments, see replaceable
.BTM files, 99, 257 parameters
automatic directory changes,
61
-- C -- echoing of, 215, 216
editing, 55, 132, 133
CALL, 101, 108, 183 editing mode, 55, 128, 296
CANCEL, 101, 183, 184, 276 expanded, 216
Carriage return character, 94 filename completion, 59
Case (upper / lower), 130, 297 help, 62
CD, 185 history, 56, see also
CDD, 187 History list
CDPATH environment variable, history window, 58
80, 116 input method, 129, 296
and automatic directory multiple commands, 61
changes, 62 processing of, 44
and CD, 186 prompt, 271
and CDD, 187 Command processing, 43
and PUSHD, 275 Command Reference Guide, 162
Changing directories, 61, 185, Command tail, 44, 45
187, 270, 274 Command, 4DOS startup, 112,
@CHAR variable function, 86 113, 114
CHCP, 189, 199, 206, 303 and multitaskers, 150
CHDIR, 185 COMMAND.COM
CLS, 101, 190 in DOS version 2.x, 113
and DESQView, 154 in Microsoft Windows, 152
CMDLINE environment variable, in multitasker DOS windows,
80 149
Code page, 82, 189 message server, 136
_CODEPAGE internal variable, 82 CommandEscape directive, 133
Cold reboot, 278 Commands
COLOR, 101, 192 conditional execution of,
and DESQView, 154 244
ColorDir directive, 130 external, 44, 162, 164, 267
COLORDIR environment variable, format of, 164
80, 116, 205, 288 help for, 62, 234
and DESQView, 154 internal, 44, 162
and redirection, 206 disabling, 168, 295
Colors, see Screen; Monochrome list of, 163, 168
monitor new, 164
_COLUMN internal variable, 82 order of execution, 44, 77
_COLUMNS internal variable, 82 programming interface, 337
Command grouping, 91, see also types of, 163, 164
EXCEPT, FOR, GLOBAL, and IF CommandSep directive, 128, 295
Command history, see History Comments
list in 4DOS.INI, 119
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in alias files, 177 during SELECT, 287
in AUTOEXEC.BAT, 159 Ctrl-C, see Ctrl-Break
in batch files, 280 Ctrl-X, see Escape character
in CONFIG.SYS, 15, 16, 159 Ctrl-Z, 196
in environment variable CTTY, 67, 198
files, 293 Current drive and directory, 47
Compatibility, 9, 11 changing, see Changing
with hardware, 139 directories
with other software, 148, retrieving, 82
156 saving temporarily, 218,
Compound character, 295 270, 274, 298
COMSPEC environment variable, Cursor
80, 115 positioning, 284, 285, 313
and disk swapping, 126 shape, 128, 143, 296
and DOS FORMAT /S, 149 CursorIns directive, 128, 143,
and LOG file location, 259 296
and multitaskers, 150 CursorOver directive, 128, 143,
checking, 110 296
on laptop and notebook _CWD internal variable, 82
computers, 147 _CWDS internal variable, 82
removing, 309 _CWP internal variable, 82
setting automatically, 110 _CWPS internal variable, 82
Conditional commands, 91
CONFIG.SYS, 41, 109
4DOS commands in, 110 -- D --
and ANSI driver, 144
and DOS bug, 112 Daily execution of batch file,
Configuration, 4DOS, 80, 109, 90
118 DATE, 199
CONsole device, 198, 301, see _DATE internal variable, 82
also Standard input, Standard @DATE variable function, 86
output, and Standard error Day of week, 83
Coprocessor, see Numeric Default directory, see Current
coprocessor drive and directory
COPY, 193 Default drive, see Current
Country code, 199, 206, 273, drive and directory
303 DEL, 145, 200
CPU, 49, 139 Del directive, 132
_CPU internal variable, 82 DELAY, 202
CritFail directive, 135, 148 Deleting files, 200
Critical errors, 147 DelHistory directive, 133
automatic Fail response, DelToBeginning directive, 132
111, 114, 135 DelToEnd directive, 132
Ctrl-Break DelWordLeft directive, 132
checking, 181 DelWordRight directive, 132
during DELAY, 202 DESCRIBE, 132, 203
during INKEY, 246 @DESCRIPT variable function, 86
during PAUSE, 269
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DESCRIPT.ION, 203, see File shell (defined), 1
descriptions structure, 41
Descriptions, see File version 2.x, 110, 113
descriptions _DOS internal variable, 83
DESQView, 153 @DOSMEM variable function, 86
and secondary shells, 113, _DOSVER internal variable, 83
121 _DOW internal variable, 83
detecting, 83, 84 Down directive, 132
Detecting 4DOS, 335 DRAWBOX, 102, 142, 211
DIR, 145, 204 DRAWHLINE, 102, 142, 213
and include lists, 75 DRAWVLINE, 102, 142, 214
directory size limits, 206 Drive, see Disk drives
Directories, see Subdirectories Drive letter, 46
Directory stack, 274 _DV internal variable, 83
clearing, 270
displaying, 210
size, 274 -- E --
DIRS, 210, 270, 274
Disk drives, 144 ECHO, 215
drive letter, 46 ANSI sequences in, 94
space on, 86, 227 at command line, 216
swapping to, 126, 300 in batch files, 99, 102,
testing status of, 88 105, 280
volume label, 87, 312 default state, 127, 297
write verification on, 311 inheritance, 183
_DISK internal variable, 82 ECHOS, 102, 217
@DISKFREE variable function, 86 Editing aliases and environment
on networks, 155 variables, 219
Diskless workstations, 155 EditMode directive, 128, 296
@DISKTOTAL variable function, EGA, 142, 144, 189, 243
86 ELSE, in IFF, 244
on networks, 155 ELSEIFF, in IFF, 244
@DISKUSED variable function, 86 EMS, see Memory
on networks, 155 @EMS variable function, 86
Display colors, see Screen; EndHistory directive, 134
Video ENDIFF, in IFF, 244
DOS, 149 EndLine directive, 132
APPEND command, 149 ENDLOCAL, 101, 104, 218, 298,
bug in CONFIG.SYS 309
processing, 112 ENDTEXT, 102, 302
command interpreter, 42 _ENV internal variable, 83
commands, help for, 62, 164, EnvFree directive, 124, 292
234 Environment, 48, 78, 291
compatibility box, see OS/2 loading in high memory, 127
external commands, 162 master, 219, 292, 309
FORMAT /S command, 149 memory space for
hidden files, 41 displaying, 262
memory, see Memory setting, 111, 114, 124
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testing, 83 @EXTENDED variable function, 87
saving temporarily, 218, 298 Extension, see File names
size, and compatibility External commands, see Commands
problems, 158
Environment directive, 124, 292
Environment variables, 48, 78, -- F --
291
and INKEY, 246 _FG internal variable, 83
and INPUT, 249 File attributes, 47, 178
characters in name, 78 and COPY, 196, 197
creating, 291 and DEL, 201
displaying, 291 and DIR, 204, 207, 209, 225
editing, 219 and EXCEPT, 220
expansion, 94 and GLOBAL, 228
nesting, 78 and MOVE, 263, 265
reading from a file, 292 and REN, 282
referencing, 78 and SELECT, 289
removing, 309 setting, 178
spaces in, 292 subdirectory, 179
ERASE, 145, 200 testing, 86
EraseLine directive, 132 viewing, 178
Error level, see Exit code volume label, 179
Error messages, 315 File descriptions, 203
ERRORLEVEL test, in IF and IFF, and disk performance, 145
241 programming for, 338
Escape character, 93, 128, 295 retrieving, 86
EscapeChar directive, 128, 295 sorting by, 208, 289
ESET, 132, 219 File names, 45
and environment variables, parts of, 45
78, 292 separating, 87, 88
and PATH, 158, 267 shorthand for, 70
@EVAL variable function, 86 unique, 89
EXCEPT, 92, 136, 220 @FILEDATE variable function, 87
and DEL /Z, 201 Filename completion, 59
@EXEC variable function, 87 Files, 45
ExecLine directive, 132 adding line numbers to, 307
Executable extensions, 44, 75 copying, 193
wildcards in, 77 date, 48, 87, 199, 204
EXIST test, in IF and IFF, 242 deleting, 200
EXIT, 117, 222 displaying, 255, 307
Exit code, 81, 222, 276 moving, 263, 281
and GLOBAL, 229 reading, in FOR, 223
and IF tests, 241 renaming, 281
Expanded memory, see Memory retrieving lines from, 87
@EXT variable function, 87 searching for, 89
Extended key codes, see Key selecting, 286
codes size of, 87, 204
Extended memory, see Memory time stamp, 48, 87, 303
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true path of, 89, 306 History list, 56, 236
@FILESIZE variable function, 87 controlling, 128, 237
@FILETIME variable function, 87 inheritance in secondary
FineSwap directive, 135 shells, 136
Floppy disks, 144 memory space for, 125, 262
FOR, 92, 102, 136, 223 reading from a file, 237
Form feed character, 94 History window, 58, 129
FORMAT /S command, 149 HistWinBegin directive, 134
FREE, 227 HistWinColor directive, 129
on networks, 155 HistWinEdit directive, 134
Free disk space, see disk space HistWinEnd directive, 134
Free memory, see Memory HistWinExec directive, 134
@FULL variable function, 87 HistWinHeight directive, 129
FullINT2E directive, 136 HistWinLeft directive, 129
HistWinOpen directive, 134
HistWinTop directive, 129
-- G -- HistWinWidth directive, 129
HMA, see Memory
General Concepts, 41
GLOBAL, 92, 136, 228
Glossary, 342 -- I --
GOSUB, 102, 107, 230, 283
GOTO, 102, 232 IF, 92, 102, 136, 238
and IFF, 106, 245 conditions, 239
Guided Tour, 18 IFF, 102, 244
and GOSUB, 230
and GOTO, 106, 245
-- H -- conditions, 239
Include lists, 74
Hard drives, 144 @INDEX variable function, 87
Hardware compatibility, see Inherit directive, 136
Compatibility INKEY, 102, 105, 246
HELP, 62, 234 INPUT, 102, 132, 249
and external commands, 164 Ins directive, 133
and mouse, 64 Installable commands, 337
location of files, 124 Installation, 13
on monochrome screen, 147, manual, 14
235 reversing, 15
options, 124, 147, 235 with monochrome monitor, 13
Help directive, 134 INT 2E, 339
HELPCFG program, 147, 234 INT 2F, 335
HelpOptions directive, 124, 147 @INT variable function, 87
HelpPath directive, 124, 234 Internal commands, see Commands
Hidden attribute, see File Internal variables, 81, see
attributes also names of individual
HistMin directive, 128 variables
HISTORY, 117, 236 in aliases, 176
History directive, 125 in batch files, 84, 100
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ISALIAS test, in IF and IFF, screen size, 130, 143, 296
242 ListColors directive, 130
ISDIR test, in IF and IFF, 242 ListFind directive, 135
ISINTERNAL test, in IF and IFF, ListHighBit directive, 135
242 ListNext directive, 135
ListPrint directive, 135
ListWrap directive, 135
-- J -- Literal keystrokes, 55
LOADBTM, 99, 102, 257
JOIN command, 306 LOADHIGH, 140, 141, 254
LOG, 106, 117, 259
Log file location, 259
-- K -- LogName directive, 125
Lower case, 130, 297
Key @LOWER variable function, 88
codes, 51, 325, 329 @LPT variable function, 88
mapping, 131
for all input, 132
for command line editing, -- M --
133
for history window, 134 Master environment, see
for LIST, 135 Environment
names, 123, 172, 247, 251 MD, 261
Keyboard, 51 MEMORY, 141, 158, 262
KEYSTACK, 68, 102, 106, 250 and QEMM, 141
programming interface, 336 Memory, 49, 140
Keystroke aliases, see Aliases base, 49
KSTACK.COM, 15, 68, 115, 250 4DOS's use of, 140
amount of, 86
DOS in, 310
-- L -- expanded (EMS), 49, 50
@LABEL variable function, 87 4DOS's use of, 140
Labels, in batch files, 230, amount of, 86, 262
232 hardware, 141
Laptop computers, 145 swapping to, 125, 142,
Left directive, 133 300
@LEN variable function, 87 extended, 50
LH, 140, 141, 254 4DOS's use of, 141
LIM EMS, see Memory amount of, 87, 262
Line feed character, 94 extended (XMS), 50
@LINE variable function, 87 4DOS's use of, 140, 141
LineInput directive, 129, 296 amount of, 90, 262
Lines, drawing, on screen, 213, swapping to, 125, 300
214 free, 262
LIST, 255 high memory area (HMA), 50,
default colors, 130 141
keys used with, 132, 135 DOS in, 310
output method, 142 status of, 262
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problems with, 142 NoClobber directive, 130, 296
upper, 49 NormalEditKey directive, 134
upper memory blocks (UMBs), NormalHWinKey directive, 134
50 NormalKey directive, 132, 133
4DOS's use of, 127, 140 and keystroke aliases, 173
and LOADHIGH, 254 NormalListKey directive, 135
Memory resident programs, see NOT, in IF and IFF, 238, 242,
TSRs 244
Messages, displaying, 215, 217 Notebook computers, 145
MessageServer directive, 136 Novell Netware, 137, 154
Microsoft Windows, 150, 152 Numeric coprocessor, 83, 139
and secondary shells, 113, Numeric tests, in IF and IFF,
121 241
detecting, 84, 153
MKDIR, 261
_MONITOR internal variable, 83 -- O --
Monochrome monitor
and HELP, 147, 235 Operating system, detecting
and installation, 13 type of, 83
and Microsoft Windows, 152 Options
Mouse, in HELP, 64 in commands, 165
MOVE, 263 startup, see Startup Options
and SELECT, 264 Or (||) in conditional
Multiple commands, 61 commands, 91
in aliases, 169 .OR., in IF and IFF, 238, 242,
separator character, 61, 94, 244
128, 295 OS/2
Multiple filenames, 73 4OS2 product, 1
Multitasking software, 149 command grouping, 92
and disk swapping, 151 detecting, 83
DESQView, 153 DOS compatibility box, 9, 83
Microsoft Windows, 152 in OS/2 version 2.0, 42,
84, 222
-- N --
-- P --
@NAME variable function, 88
_NDP internal variable, 83 Parent directory, 47, 71, 185,
Networks, 154 187, 261
and pipes, 156 Parsing, 45
disk space calculations on, PATH command, 158, 267
155 PATH environment variable, 49,
disk swapping on, 137, 155 80, 115
drive names on, 46 "." in, 268
file and directory names on, and @SEARCH variable
155 function, 89
NextFile directive, 134 avoiding search of, 35
NextHistory directive, 134 changing, 219, 267
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format of, 267
invalid directory in, 268
length of, 157, 268 -- R --
searching path, 45
viewing, 267 RAM, see Memory
@PATH variable function, 88 RAM disk, 46, 141
Path, of a file, 45, 47 swapping to, 125
and aliases, 97 RD, 277
extracting from full file Read-only attribute, see File
name, 88 attributes
finding full path name, 87 @READY variable function, 88
finding true path, 89, 306 REBOOT, 278
if omitted, 47 Redirection, 65
in executable extensions, 76 alternative methods, 301,
in include lists, 75 314
PAUSE, 102, 105, 269 and COLORDIR environment
PauseOnError directive, 120, variable, 206
125 and command grouping, 92
Percent sign, see % sign and NoClobber, 66, 296
Pipes, 67, 301 capturing batch file output,
and networks, 156 106
POPD, 210, 270, 274 nested, 67
PrevFile directive, 134 preventing file overwrites,
PrevHistory directive, 134 130
[Primary], see 4DOS.INI Reduce directive, 136
Primary shell, see Shell Registration, 5
Printer REM, 102, 159, 280
checking status of, 88 in AUTOEXEC.BAT, 16, 159
sending control codes to, 94 in CONFIG.SYS, 15, 16, 159
sending files to, 193 @REMOTE variable function, 88
Programming for 4DOS, see @REMOVABLE variable function,
Technical Information 88
PROMPT command, 117, 150, 271 REN, 263, 281
ANSI sequences in, 94, 272 RENAME, 263, 281
changing for secondary Replaceable parameters
shell, 85 in aliases, 175, 176
PROMPT environment variable, in batch files, 100, 299
80, 116 ReserveTPA directive, 136
Prompt Solution, The, 5 RETURN, 102, 230, 283
PUSHD, 210, 270, 274 Right directive, 133
RMDIR, 277
ROM, booting from, 145
-- Q -- Root directory, 46
_ROW internal variable, 83
QUIT, 102, 183, 184, 276 _ROWS internal variable, 83
Quoting, of arguments, 94
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-- S --
/C(ompound character), 128,
SaveHistory directive, 134 295
Scan codes, see Key codes /E(scape character), 93,
SCREEN, 102, 284 128, 295
Screen, see also Video /I(nternal), 168, 242, 295
clearing, 190 /L(ine), 129, 296
colors, see also Monochrome /M(ode), 128, 296
monitor /N(o clobber), 130, 296
and ANSI driver, 53, 131, /R(ows), 130, 143, 296
295 /S(hape), 128, 143, 296
and cursor, 143 /U(pper), 84, 130, 207, 297
in DIR, 205 /V(erbose), 99, 127, 297
in HELP, 147, 234 and 4DOS.INI, 120, 294
in history window, 129 SETLOCAL, 101, 102, 104, 298,
in LIST, 130, 256 309
in PROMPT, 272 Shell
in SELECT, 130, 288 DOS shell (defined), 1
of boxes, 211 level, 83, 273
of lines, 213, 214 primary, 42
of text, 285, 302, 313 and multitaskers, 149,
setting defaults, 130, 151
190, 192, 295 startup options, 110
setting, in 4START, 85, secondary, 42
117 and COMSPEC, 115
testing, 82, 83 and multitaskers, 149,
size, 52, 82, 83, 130, 142, 150
296 exiting from, 222
ScreenRows directive, 130, 143, inheritance, 120, 136,
296 176, 294
SCRPUT, 102, 142, 285 startup options, 113
Search path, see PATH visual shell, 42
environment variable _SHELL internal variable, 83
@SEARCH variable function, 89 SHELL= line, in CONFIG.SYS, 15,
[Secondary], see 4DOS.INI 42, 110, 146
Secondary shell, see Shell and DOS version 2.x, 113
SELECT, 286 SHIFT, 100, 102, 299
and command grouping, 92 Software compatibility, see
and include lists, 75 Compatibility
and MOVE, 264 Sound, see BEEP
and stack size, 136 StackSize directive, 136
default colors, 130 Standard error device, 65
keys used with, 132 Standard input device, 65, 256,
output method, 142 301, 314
screen size, 130, 143, 296 Standard output device, 65,
Serial port, 198 301, 314
SET, 78, 291 Startup options, 110
SETDOS, 294 //iniline, 112, 114, 150
/A(NSI), 127, 144, 191, 192,
295
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@d:\path\inifile, 111, 113,
150
commands in, 112, 114 -- T --
for secondary shells, 113
StdColors directive, 130 Tab character, 94
Stopwatch, see TIMER Task switching software, see
String tests, in IF and IFF, Multitasking software
239 Technical Information, 335
Subdirectories, 46 DESCRIPT.ION, 338
attributes of, 178 detecting 4DOS, 335
changing, see Changing installable commands, 337
directories INT 2E, 339
copying, 197 KEYSTACK, 336
creating, 261 Technical support, 5, 7
deleting files from, 201 TEE, 301
descriptions for, 203 TEMP environment variable, 80,
executing commands in, 228 116, 156
hidden, 228 TEMP4DOS environment variable,
moving, 263, 265 80, 116, 156
name, maximum length of, 47 TEXT, 102, 302
removing, 201, 265, 277 THEN, in IFF, 244
renaming, 281 TIME, 303
testing for, 242 _TIME internal variable, 83
Subdirectory attribute, see @TIME variable function, 89
File attributes TIMER, 103, 304
SUBST command, 306 Tour, of 4DOS features, 18
@SUBSTR variable function, 89 TRUENAME, 306
Swapping, 125 @TRUENAME variable function,
and compatibility, 142 89, 306
and multitasking software, TSRs, 148
151 and .BTM files, 257
enabling and disabling, 300 and 4START, 117
file names used by, 126, 151 and multitasker startup
on networks, 155 files, 150
reduced, 136 and SETLOCAL, 298
types of, 125 and swapping state, 300
SWAPPING command, 300 loading order, 160
Swapping directive, 125, 140, TYPE, 307
156, 160
SwapReopen directive, 137
Switches, in commands, 165 -- U --
System
attribute, see File UltraVision, 144
attributes UMBEnvironment directive, 127,
date, 199 140, 160
rebooting, 278 and DESQView, 154
tests, in IF and IFF, 241 UMBLoad directive, 127, 140,
time, 303 160
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and DESQView, 154 and DEL, 145, 201
UMBs, see Memory in executable extensions, 77
UNALIAS, 104, 308 in include lists, 74
Uninstalling 4DOS, 15 in multiple filenames, 73
@UNIQUE variable function, 89 _WIN internal variable, 84, 153
UNSET, 78, 101, 309 Windows, see Microsoft Windows
Up directive, 133 @WORD variable function, 90
Upgrades, 5 WordLeft directive, 133
Upper case, 130, 297 WordRight directive, 133
@UPPER variable function, 89
UpperCase directive, 130, 207,
297 -- X --
XMS, see Memory
-- V -- @XMS variable function, 90
.XOR., in IF and IFF, 238, 242,
Variable expansion, 94 244
Variable functions, 85, see
also names of individual
functions -- Y --
in aliases, 90, 176
in batch files, 90, 100 Y, 314
VER, 310
VERIFY, 197, 311
Version numbers, 81, 83, 310
Vertical text display, 313
VGA, 142, 144, 189, 243
Video hardware, 52, 142, see
also Screen
_VIDEO internal variable, 84
VOL, 312
Volume label, see Disk drives
Volume label attribute, see
File attributes
VSCRPUT, 103, 142, 313
-- W --
Warm reboot, 278
Warning mark, see !
Wildcards, 71
and @SEARCH variable
function, 89
and filename completion, 60
and renaming subdirectories,
282
extended, 72
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Copyright 1991, JP Software Inc. 4DOS Reference Manual / 367
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