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TCLI - TOS Command Line Interpreter ----------------------------------- With the recent success of graphical user interfaces, many people have turned their backs on command-oriented interfaces. A significant number, however, still prefer the familiar MS-DOS-style command line interpreter (CLI); to these people, typing "DIR" is an instinctive and often subconscious reflex when they want to display a directory of the files on a disk. Window-oriented environments often hinder these users, as well as prohibit access to some functions that CLI users take for granted. The TOS Command Line Interpreter (TCLI) is a program for the Atari ST/STE/TT lines of computers that brings much of the functionality and familiarity of MS-DOS to the Atari world. To use TCLI, copy the files in this archive to a newly formatted disk, or to your hard drive. It is also suggested that you print out this documentation, for instruction now and for future reference. Now, go into the directory you just copied the files to and double-click on the file COMMAND.PRG. TCLI should now be up and running, and you should be presented with a prompt like "A>" or "C>" depending on where you ran the program from. At this point, you will be able to enter TCLI commands, which are described in detail below, or you can run an external program. First, however, we will describe the format of filenames as TCLI interprets them. FILENAME FORMAT --------------- The file structure of the Atari ST is very similar to MS-DOS. This was a smart move on Atari's part, as it facilitated porting of commercial software over to the ST. If you are familiar with MS-DOS, you may want to skip this section and move on to "Running External Programs" below. NOTE: Quotation marks are used throughout this documentation to clarify exactly what the user should enter at the TCLI prompt. The one exception is in the FIND command, in which quotes are a part of the command's syntax. In all other cases, the quotes are NOT to be typed by the user. For the following discussion, let's assume that your C drive has the following file structure: \ - root directory \FILES\ - subdirectory containing some files \FILES\SOURCE\ - source code \EXECS\ - executable programs The main (root) directory on the ST is referred to as "\"; for example, the root direcory on drive C is "C:\". All other directories are stored underneath the root directory. For example, a subdirectory called "FILES" under the root directory on drive C would be accessed as "C:\FILES\". The drive letter displayed at the prompt indicates what the current drive is. If the file(s) you want to access are on the current drive, you need not specify the drive letter or colon in the filename (i.e., "\FILES\" would access subdirectory "FILES" on drive C's root directory). The current drive described above is the drive displayed in the command prompt. To make another drive the current drive, simply enter the drive letter, followed by a colon (:), on a line by itself. For example, to make drive A the current drive, you would enter: A: on a line by itself. The command prompt should change to reflect the new current drive. Another important concept here is the current directory. This is the directory that is searched for all programs and data files, unless another path is specified. To display the current directory, enter the command "PWD" with no parameters at the prompt, and press RETURN. This will be the directory from which TCLI was started. If you now try to execute an external program, TCLI will look in this directory for it. Using our example file system above, if your current directory is "C:\FILES\", and you want to access a file in the SOURCE directory, you would use "C:SOURCE\MYFILE.DAT" to access it. This means 'On the C drive, use the current directory, move down to the subdirectory "SOURCE", and the file I want to access is called "MYFILE.DAT"'. If your current drive is C, then the above file could also be referenced simply as "SOURCE\MYFILE.DAT". Using this scenario, if you want to run a file called "MYFILE.PRG" in the "EXECS" directory, you would enter "C:\EXECS\MYFILE.PRG" at the command prompt. This is interpreted as 'Using drive C, start at the root directory, go into the "EXECS" directory, and execute the file called "MYFILE.PRG"'. Again, if drive C is the current drive, you could equivalently enter "\EXECS\MYFILE.PRG" to accomplish the same task. In summary, to reference a file in or below the current directory, do not enter a backslash (\) before the file specificier; to access a file that is not in or below the current directory, use a backslash followed by the path from the root directory. If the drive letter is not specified, the current drive is used. Two other directories that should be mentioned are "." and "..". These refer to the current directory and the parent directory, respectively. The current directory specifier is rarely stated directly, as it is implied in all cases in TCLI. However, the parent directory specifier is used to "back up" a directory, moving up to the parent of the current directory. For example, if the current directory is "\FILES\SOURCE", and you want to access a program called "PROGRAM.PRG" in the "FILES" directory, you could use "..\PROGRAM.PRG", instead of entering the complete path from the root directory. RUNNING AN EXTERNAL PROGRAM --------------------------- To run an external program, simply type the first part of the filename, followed by a space and any parameters for the command. For example, to run a program entitled "PROG.PRG" in the current directory, enter "PROG". TCLI will look for the file names ending in ".PRG", ".TTP", and ".TOS" to find the program you want to run. You can eliminate this search by specifying the extension as well (i.e., enter "PROG.PRG" at the prompt). The way TCLI decides what files to attempt to load first depends on the presence of parameters. If there are parameters present, TCLI first looks for the ".TTP" extension, followed by ".PRG" and finally ".TOS". If there are no parameters, TCLI looks first for a ".PRG" extension, then ".TOS", and finally ".TTP". TCLI - Page 2 If the program you want to run is a .TOS or .TTP program, TCLI will not clear the screen before or after the program is run; this way, commands can be "added" to TCLI by simply writing the programs and giving them a .TOS or .TTP extension. The RAMdisk program VDISK.TTP supplied as part of TCLI is an example of such a program. As long as these programs rely on textual input and output, they will integrate themselves seamlessly into the TCLI environment. If you want the screen to be cleared before and after a .TOS or .TTP program is run, enter "/C" on the line as a parameter. Note that this is not a good idea if the program you are running has a "/C" option and you want to use that option, since TCLI will not pass the "/C" as a parameter to the executing program (this can be circumvented by specifying "/C" twice, once for TCLI and once for the other program). On the other hand, .PRG programs will generally corrupt the text display in many ways. Recognizing this, TCLI will always clear the screen before and after such programs run. Parameters passed through TCLI will be converted to upper-case, and will be placed in the command line buffer for the program being executed. OTHER GENERAL INFORMATION ------------------------- TCLI is based on the MS-DOS command set, but it also has some aliases for each command that are shorter and easier to remember, and it also contains some UNIX command aliases (the format of the command still follows the MS-DOS prototype, however). INTERNAL COMMANDS ----------------- This section contains descriptions of all of TCLI's internal commands. To execute an internal command, simply enter the command and any necessary parameters. Each command's syntax is described in its section. Necessary parameters are listed after the command, and optional parameters are listed within square brackets ([]); a "|" symbol is used to indicate that one parameter or the other should be specified, but not both. Filenames are indicated by "fname", pathnames by "path", and drive letters by "n". When filenames are used in TCLI commands, wildcards can be implied by the context in which the filenames are specified. If a filename ends in a backslash (\), wildcards are implied at the end of it. For example, if "\EXECS\" is specified as a filename, the actual filename that TCLI would use is "\EXECS\*.*". If, however, the filename "\EXECS" is specified, only the directory "\EXECS" would be interpreted as the filename. The commands are presented in alphabetical order, according to the MS-DOS alias (i.e., the directory command will be listed under DIR, not LS). Command: ATTRIB Function: Displays and modifies file attribute flags. Syntax: ATTRIB [+A|-A] [+H|-H] [+R|-R] [+S|-S] [path][fname] Aliases: ATTR, CHMOD The ST file system supports four user-modifiable flags for each file/directory. TCLI - Page 3 ATTRIB allows you to modify these flags. The "+" sign indicates that the flag is to be set, and "-" indicates that the flag is to be reset. If no filename is specified, but flags are, TCLI assumes all files in the current directory on the current drive are to be modified. If no flags or filenames are specified, ATTRIB will display the attributes of the files in the current directory on the current drive. The format of the display is ahrs filename.ext where a, h, r, and s indicate the appropriate flags. If a letter appears next to a filename, it indicates that the corresponding flag is set; if, instead, a dash (-) appears, it indicates that the flag is not set. +A/-A: Archive Flag ------------------- The first flag is the archive bit, which is reset every time a file is written to. This is useful when developing a project from a RAMdisk, or when you want to keep an updated copy of your source code on a floppy. For example, let's assume that a project is being developed on drive C, written in C. This project spans many files, which we would like to back up on a floppy whenever we change the source code. To begin, we would set the archive bits on all of our source files like this: ATTRIB +A C:\SOURCE\*.C At the end of our development session, we would use the COPY command to back up only those files that have been modified, by using this command: COPY C:\SOURCE\*.C A:\BACKUP\ /R This tells TCLI to copy all unarchived .C files from C:\SOURCE\ to the \BACKUP directory on drive A, and to reset the archive bits of those files that were successfully backed up. (See the COPY command description for more information) +H/-H: Hidden Flag ------------------ The hidden flag determines whether the file specified should be visible to the normal directory search. If a file is hidden (+H), TCLI will not display it in its directory listing; however, it can still be accessed by TCLI commands, and by most other programs. The GEM desktop doesn't support the hidden flags, so these files will still appear in the desktop window. +R/-R: Read-only Flag --------------------- The read-only flag enables the user to write-protect the file(s) specified by setting the read-only bit. When a write is attempted to a read-only file, an "access denied" error message is returned. To regain write access to the file, you must reset the read-only bit. +S/-S: System File Flag ----------------------- The system file flag, for all practical purposes, performs the same task as the TCLI - Page 4 hidden flag. As with the hidden flags, the GEM desktop does not support the system file flags. Command: BG Function: Changes/displays the background color. Syntax: BG [color] The default color configuration of TCLI is white text on a black background. These colors can easily be changed to any of the 512 colors that the ST supports. The BG command is used to change the background, while FG is used to change the foreground (text) color (see below). BG accepts either a named color that is predefined within TCLI, or a three-character string of the form "RGB", where R, G, and B are digits between "0" and "7", inclusive. R, G, and B indicate level of the red, green, and blue color components, with "0" being the absence of that color, and "7" being the maximum presence of the respective color. The predefined colors that BG recognizes are as follows: Aqua Green Black LightBlue Blue Orange Brown Pink DarkBlue Purple DarkRed Red ForestGreen (Forest) White Gray (Grey) Yellow The names in parentheses indicate alternative names for the respective colors. If BG is executed without a parameter, it will display the current RGB settings. Examples: BG WHITE BG 777 These two commands both set the background color to white. If the BG command were then executed without parameters, TCLI would display: BG = 777 Command: BUFFER Function: Toggles keyboard buffering on/off. Syntax: BUFFER [ON|OFF] This command toggles the keyboard buffering. When it is OFF, TCLI intercepts all keyboard input, and provides protection against accidentally exiting TCLI by pressing CONTROL-C. However, keystrokes are not buffered; you have to wait until the current process is finished before you can enter the next command. When BUFFER is ON, the keyboard input is buffered, but pressing CONTROL-C while anything is being displayed on the screen will abort TCLI, with no questions asked. TCLI - Page 5 Using BUFFER with no parameters displays the current setting. Command: CAPS Function: Turns the uppercase conversion of characters on/off. Syntax: CAPS [ON|OFF] This command allows you to change whether TCLI capitalizes your input or not. This can be useful when you're dealing with variables and don't care if the output of the ECHO command is capitalized or not. When CAPS is ON, all input is capitalized; when it's off, the command line parameters for certain commands (ECHO, etc.) is left unchanged. Using CAPS by itself displays the current setting. Command: CD Function: Changes the current working directory. Syntax: CD path Alias: CHDIR The CD command changes the current directory for the specified drive, or the current drive if none is specified. The current directory can be displayed by using the PWD command (see below), or by using the $P option in the command prompt (see PROMPT below). Command: CHKDSK Function: Displays information on the drive specified. Syntax: CHKDSK [n:] The CHKDSK command displays information about the disk specified, or the current disk. The first item it displays is the disk size; this is the total amount of storage space on the disk (in bytes). Next, it displays the number of hidden files, directories, and user files, as well as separate totals of the number of bytes in each of these groups. Next, the number of bytes available on the disk is displayed, and finally, the total amount of RAM in the computer and the total amount of free RAM available. Command: CLS Function: Clears the screen. Syntax: CLS The CLS command can be used to clear the screen. It is especially useful after a batch file has executed, to clean up the display. Command: COPY Function: Copies/moves files from one place to another. Syntax: COPY [n:][path]from [[n:][path]to] [/A|/R] [/M] Alias: CP The COPY command copies or moves files from one location to another. In the simplest case, one file is copied directly to another place: TCLI - Page 6 COPY EXECS\FILE.DAT B:\ When a single file is copied, it can also be renamed in the process: COPY EXECS\FILE.DAT B:\NEWFILE.DAT Wildcards may be specified in the source, but in this case, the destination must be ONLY a path name, so renaming is not possible: COPY EXECS\*.C B:\FILES\ The following command will copy all files in the C:\EXECS directory to the current directory on the B drive: COPY EXECS\*.* B: By using the /A option, COPY will only copy files that do not have their archive bit set (see ATTRIB above). By using the /R option, COPY will only copy files whose archive bit is not set, but it will then set the archive bit if the copy was successful. If the /R option is used, the /A option does not have to be specified. For example, to archive all files under C:\SOURCE onto the current directory on drive B:, automatically flagging the archived files as archived, this command would be used: COPY C:\SOURCE\ B: /R The /M option is used to move files from one disk to another. The specified files are copied to the new disk, then deleted from the old one if the copy was successful. This option can be combined with the /A option, or, equivalently in this case, the /R option. The following example will move all .C files from C:\SOURCE to D:\SOURCE: COPY C:\SOURCE\ D:\SOURCE\ /M Command: CURSOR Function: Defines the flash rate for the cursor. Syntax: CURSOR [x] (where "x" is an integer between 1 and 255) To make the cursor flash, use the CURSOR command. By entering a number between 1 and 255, the cursor will start flashing at the desired rate (which depends on your monitor). The lower the number, the faster the cursor will flash. To stop the cursor from flashing, enter the CURSOR command with no parameters. NOTE: Sometimes there is a delay between the execution of this command and the actual change in the cursor's flash rate. Command: DA Function: Allows access to Desk Accessories. Syntax: DA This command allows you to access desk accessories. When you invoke DA, the screen is cleared, and a menu bar appears at the top of the screen. Run the appropriate desk accessory, then choose "Return to TCLI" to exit back to TCLI. TCLI - Page 7 Command: DATE Function: Displays/sets the system date. Syntax: DATE [month-day-year] To display the system date, enter the DATE command with no parameters. To set the system date, specify the date in the format described above. The day and month can be any valid day and month, and the year can be in either a two-digit or four-digit format. The following two commands set the date to February 1, 1993: DATE 2-1-1993 and DATE 2-1-93 Command: DIR Function: Displays a directory of files on a disk. Syntax: DIR [n:][path][fname] [/P] [/W] Alias: LS To display a listing of the files on a disk (or in a directory), use the DIR command. The default directory will be displayed in a format that displays the filename, extension, size, and time and date of creation or last modification. This listing will be sorted first on the file's extension, and secondly on the filename. At the end of the directory, the number of files and the amount of free space on the disk are displayed. If a filename is specified, the directory will be scanned for files matching the filename; wildcards are, of course, permitted. Only files matching the specified name will be displayed. For example, the following command will display all filenames in C:\SOURCE\ ending in .C: DIR C:\SOURCE\*.C If the /P option is specified, the directory contents are displayed one screenful at a time. When the screen fills up, you will be told to press any key to continue; do so, and the next page will be displayed. If the /W option is specified, the directory is displayed in a compressed format. Only the filenames are displayed; directories are identified by a backslash (\) before their names. Command: ECHO Function: Turns batch command echo on or off; displays messages. Syntax: ECHO [ON|OFF|Message] The ECHO command is used to turn off or turn on the display of batch file commands as they are executed. To supress the display of batch file commands, use ECHO OFF; to resume display of the commands, use ECHO ON. If anything other than ON or OFF is passed into ECHO as a parameter, that string is displayed on the screen. If no parameters are specified, a blank line is printed. This can be useful in a batch file to keep the user updated TCLI - Page 8 on what is happening; enter "ECHO ON" as the first line in the batch file, then use subsequent ECHO commands to display status information. Command: EDLIN Function: Allows the user to create a line-oriented text file. Syntax: EDLIN [n:][path]fname Alias: ED The EDLIN command can be used to create a short text file from within TCLI (to create large files or to edit existing files, use a full-fledged text editor). EDLIN will only accept lines up to 78 characters as input to the file. The current line can be edited by using BACKSPACE on that line; once RETURN is pressed, however, the line is added to the file. To end EDLIN, press RETURN on a blank line. If the file specified exists, you will be asked if you want to overwrite the file; enter 'Y' (or 'y') to overwrite it and create a new file, or anything else to abort EDLIN. EDLIN is of most use as a quick editor when creating short batch files or very small programs. Command: ERASE Function: Removes the file(s) specified from a disk. Syntax: ERASE [n:][path]fname Aliases: ERA, DELETE, DEL, RM To erase a file or group of files, use the ERASE command. ERASE does not prompt you before deleting files unless you are deleting all files on a disk or in a directory (i.e., "ERASE *.*"), so be sure that you do want to delete the files before you press RETURN. It is a good idea to have an "unerase" utility around, in case you do accidentally erase a file you need. If you do inadvertently erase a file, DO NOT write to the disk! If you write to the disk after deleting a file, the file will probably be rendered unrecoverable. If you attempt to erase all the files in a directory, ERASE will ask you if you're sure you want to do that. If you do, enter "Y" or "y", and the files will be erased; otherwise, the ERASE will be aborted. Command: EXIT Function: Returns to the program that called TCLI. Syntax: EXIT Aliases: QUIT, BYE To leave TCLI and return to the desktop (or whatever program called TCLI), use the EXIT command. Command: FG Function: Sets/displays the foreground (text) color. Syntax: FG [color] The FG command sets TCLI's text color. It works exactly the same as BG (see TCLI - Page 9 above). Command: FIND Function: Searches the file(s) specified for the indicated search term. Syntax: FIND "string" [n:][path]fname Alias: GREP The FIND command is provided to search through line-oriented text files for a specific search term. Only the first 128 characters in each line is actually searched; this should pose no problem for the average text file. FIND displays each occurence of the search term in the file by displaying the line number and the line itself. It then displays the total number of occurences of the string in the file. The search is not case-sensitive, since FIND converts everything to upper-case as it searches for the string. By using wildcard characters, a group of files can be searched for the string. In this case, FIND displays the name of each file being searched, the lines in which the search term is found, the total number of occurences of the string within each file, and finally, the total number of occurences found within the group of files. As an example, suppose you want to search all Pascal source files in the current directory for the term "PROCEDURE". You would enter a command like this: FIND "Procedure" *.PAS It is often useful to redirect the output of the FIND command to a disk file or the printer. To redirect output to a file called "PROC.FND", for example, you would enter: FIND "Procedure" *.PAS >PROC.FND Having done that, you can browse through the file, display it using the TYPE command (see below), or print it out. See the section on I/O Redirection for information on how to do this. Command: FORMAT Function: Format a floppy disk. Syntax: FORMAT [n:] [/T:tracks] [/N:sectors] [/1] The FORMAT command is used to format a floppy disk. By specifying the number of tracks (80-82) and the number of sectors per track (9-11), you can generate a variety of disk formats for the ST. The default format uses both sides of the disk, 80 tracks, and 10 sectors per track, yielding approximately 800K of storage space per disk. These defaults can be changed by using the "/T:" option to specify tracks, "/N:" to specify sectors per track, and "/1" to force a single-sided format. For example, to format a disk in drive A to 80 tracks, 9 sectors per track, single sided, you would enter: FORMAT A: /N:9 /1 To format the same disk to double-sided, simply leave off the "/1": FORMAT A: /N:9 TCLI - Page 10 To format a disk to 81 tracks, 11 sectors per track (not a recommended format, but possible), use the following: FORMAT A: /T:81 /N:11 Be aware that formatting a disk will erase everything on it. To help guard against this, TCLI will prompt you when you try to format a disk. Command: FREE Function: Toggles the display of disk free space for DIR command. Syntax: FREE [ON|OFF] This command allows you to turn off the display of free space in the DIR command. When you execute the DIR command, the amount of free space left on the disk is displayed. This causes a delay while the computer tries to figure out how much space is left, especially if the disk is a floppy. Turn this feature off with the FREE OFF command. If FREE is invoked with no parameters, the current setting is displayed. Command: GOTO Function: Goes to a specified line in a batch file. Syntax: GOTO label This command, executable only from within a batch file, transfers execution of the batch file to the specified label. The label must exist somewhere in the batch file, on a line by itself, preceded only by a colon (":"). In the following batch file, the ECHO statement is never executed: REM Batch file starts here... GOTO CONT ECHO This is never displayed. :CONT REM Batch file continues here... Obviously, this command is most useful with a conditional statement (see the IF command, below). Command: IF Function: Allows conditional execution of commands. Syntax: IF [NOT] expression command This command, only available from within batch files, allows the batch file to conditionally execute commands. The "expression" statement must be one of these two forms: string1==string2 or exist filename For example, the COPY command below is executed ONLY if the source file exists, and the destination file doesn't exist: TCLI - Page 11 if not exist c:file.dat goto no_copy if exist a:file.dat goto no_copy copy c:file.dat a: goto continue :no_copy echo Error - Source doesn't exist, or destination does exist. :continue rem Batch file continues here. You can also compare strings with IF, which will substitute any variables that are included: :loop echo 1. ST-Writer echo 2. Personal Pascal echo 3. Laser C echo 4. Quit echo echo Enter your choice: read c if %C==1 goto do_stwriter if %C==2 goto do_pascal if %C==3 goto do_laserc if %C==4 goto end echo Bad choice! Try again. goto loop :do_stwriter cd \stwriter stwriter goto loop :do_pascal cd \pascal pascal goto loop :do_laserc cd \laser_c laser goto loop :end echo Later, dude! Note that the variable name "C" MUST be capitalized when the CAPS option is turned off; if CAPS is ON, there will be no problem if it is not capitalized, since TCLI will capitalize it for you. Command: LC Function: Returns a line count of the file(s) specified. Syntax: LC [n:][path]fname The LC command can be used to count lines in text files. This is useful when developing a large project that spans several files; you can simply use the command LC *.C to count the number of lines of source code you have in your project. LC will TCLI - Page 12 display line counts for each file matching the filename, then it will give a cumulative total at the end. Command: LET Function: Assigns a value to a variable. Syntax: LET x=[string] This command allows a variable to be changed. There are twenty-six available variables, the letters A through Z. It doesn't matter in the LET command whether the variable name is capitalized. However, it DOES matter when the variable name is used elsewhere. The following batch file illustrates the use of the LET command. echo What's your first name? read f echo What's your last name? read l let n=%F %L echo Your name must be %N! Notice that when the variables are referenced, they MUST be capitalized. Variables are global; once they are set to a value, other batch files can access the variable's value. This is a convenient way to pass values back and forth between batch files. Command: MKDIR Function: Creates a directory. Syntax: MKDIR [n:][path]dirname To create a directory on a disk, use the MKDIR command. Give the new directory name as a parameter, and, if possible, the new directory will be created on the drive specified, or on the current drive, if none is specified. Command: MODE Function: Switches between low and high resolution. Syntax: MODE [40|80] If you will be using a low-resolution drawing program, or any other program that only runs in low resolution, you will have to switch to low resolution at the desktop, then run TCLI. But a command line interpreter is not well suited to a 40-column display; the screen tends to get cluttered, and text files can't be viewed correctly. TCLI solves this problem by enabling you to switch to another resolution, without changing the "actual" resolution of the system. To do this, use the desktop to switch to low resolution. Next, run TCLI, and enter this command: MODE 80 When you do, the screen should be switched to high resolution. But the ST is not really in high-res mode; only text-based .TOS and .TTP programs will run in high resolution. .PRG programs will revert back to low resolution, so you could then run your drawing package, then exit back to TCLI in high resolution. TCLI - Page 13 You can also switch to low resolution from high by entering "MODE 40", but all .PRG programs will still execute in high resolution. Command: MORE Function: Displays a text file, one screenful at a time. Syntax: MORE [n:][path]fname Aliases: PG, PAGE The MORE command allows the user to view a text file, one screen at a time. When the screen fills up, a message telling you to strike a key will appear. Press any key, and more of the file will be displayed. Command: PATH Function: Specifies a path to be searched for programs. Syntax: PATH [path;][path;]...[path] When an unknown command is entered into TCLI, it looks in the current directory for the file. If it is not found there, it will search through the directories contained in PATH to find the program. PATH defaults to ";", which is the null path, indicating that no path other than the current one should be checked. If you have a directory called EXECS on drive C, in which some executable programs are stored, you can enter PATH C:\EXECS\ and TCLI will search that directory every time it fails to find a program in the current directory. If you have several directories, you could enter: PATH C:\EXECS\;C:\FILES\ Each of these directories will be searched when a program is not found in the current directory. If you have an existing path and would like to append directories to it, enter a semicolon (;) before the first path in it. For example, if we had executed the last example above, and we wanted to add "C:\EDITORS\" to our search path, we would enter PATH ;C:\EDITORS\ and our path would now be C:\EXECS\;C:\FILES\;C:\EDITORS\ If you will always be working with one drive, you can omit the drive letters and colons from the path names; however, if you will be using other drives, it is a good idea to leave the drive names in place. This is because, if no drive is specified, TCLI will search through the PATH directories using the current drive; if another drive is made to be the current drive, then the paths probably won't exist there, and you'll get an error message. To display the current PATH, enter PATH with no parameters. NOTE: Although programs can be executed from the alternate paths, their TCLI - Page 14 resource files, data files, etc., can only be accessed if they are in the CURRENT directory. Command: PAUSE Function: Pauses a batch file, asking the user to press a key. Syntax: PAUSE This command enables a batch file to stop execution, and wait for the user to press any key. When the user presses a key, the batch file continues where it left off. Command: PRINT Function: Print a file on the printer. Syntax: PRINT filename This command prints the specified file on the printer. It is functionally equivalent to "TYPE filename >PRN:" Command: PROMPT Function: Changes the command prompt. Syntax: PROMPT [string] The PROMPT command enables the user to customize the TCLI prompt. The default prompt is the current drive followed by a greater-than sign (">"), but PROMPT allows this to be modified to include the time, date, current path, and other items. The prompt string can contain any text the user wants; the following control characters serve special purposes and display the data indicated: $b "|" character $d Date $e ESC $h Backspace $g ">" character $l "<" character $n Current drive $p Current directory $q "=" character $t Current time $v TCLI version $$ "$" character $X CR/LF (where "X" is any character other than those listed above) If no string is specified, the prompt is reset to the default string. PROMPT Examples: --------------- Prompt String Prompt Displayed ------------- ---------------- $n:$p\ C:\CURRENT\PATH\ $p$g \CURRENT\PATH> TCLI - Page 15 It's $t, okay? It's 1:30:10 PM, okay? It's $t on$x$d. The current$x It's 1:30:10 PM on path is $n:$p\ $g 7-20-1992. The current path is C:\CURRENT\PATH\ > By using "$e" (ESC) in the command line, you can access the ST's built-in VT52 emulator routines. To see "$e" in action, try the following command: prompt $ej$eH$epDrive: $n: Path: $p\ Time: $t Date: $d$eK$eq$ek==$g This command changes the command prompt to display the current drive, path, time and date at the top of the screen, in reverse video. It works like this: "$ej" saves the current cursor position, "$eH" takes the cursor to the home position, without clearing the screen, and "$ep" causes all text to be displayed in reverse video. The text string, along with the PROMPT variables, is then displayed. "$eK" clears the rest of the line, "$eq" restores normal video output, "$ek" returns the cursor to its saved position, and the prompt that is displayed is changed to "==>". Command: PWD Function: Displays the current directory. Syntax: PWD [n:] To display the current directory of a disk drive, use the PWD command. This is of most use when you don't have the prompt set up to display the current working directory. Command: READ Function: Allows a batch file to read input from the user. Syntax: READ x This command reads input from the user, from within a batch file. It assigns whatever the user enters to the variable specified; variables are simply letters of the alphabet. When used with the READ command, variable names do not have to be capitalized. Variable names are global, so once a variable has been set, other batch files can use the same variable, with its contents unchanged. Command: RENAME Function: Renames a file. Syntax: RENAME [n:][path][fname] Aliases: REN, MOVE, MV The RENAME command allows the user to rename a file on disk. Wildcards are not allowed; only one specific file can be renamed at one time. For example, the following command renames the file "C:\PATH\FILE.DAT" to "NEWFILE.DAT": RENAME C:\PATH\FILE.DAT NEWFILE.DAT Note that the second filename does not need the drive or path specified to perform a rename. The RENAME command can also be used to move a file from one directory to TCLI - Page 16 another. To do this, simply specify the destination path (with respect to the current directory) along with the second filename. Even in this case, the second filename is REQUIRED! The following command moves the file "FILE.DAT" from \PATH\ to \NEWPATH\FILES\: MV \PATH\FILE.DAT \NEWPATH\FILES\FILE.DAT The file can easily be renamed in the course of a MOVE: MV \PATH\FILE.DAT \NEWPATH\FILES\NEWFILE.DAT This command can not be used to move files between disks; see the COPY command for details on how to do that. Command: RMDIR Function: Deletes an empty directory. Syntax: RMDIR [n:][path][dirname] The RMDIR command allows the user to delete empty directories. If this command is attempted on a directory that contains files, an error (access denied) will be returned. For example, to remove a directory called "C:\FILES\SUBDIR", enter: RMDIR C:\FILES\SUBDIR Command: SUBST Function: Allows the substitution of paths by drive letters. Syntax: SUBST [n:] [[n:]path] The SUBST command allows the user to replace commonly used path names by a simple drive letter. For example, suppose a user wants to easily access files under a directory called "\SOURCE\FILES\" on drive C. The following command could be entered: SUBST Z: C:\SOURCE\FILES\ and from then on, the files under that directory could be accessed as Z:fname. If a file called "FILE.DAT" existed under this directory, it could then be accessed as "Z:FILE.DAT". The command COPY Z:FILE.DAT B: would copy the file C:\SOURCE\FILES\FILE.DAT to the current directory on drive B:. The substitutions are performed internally by TCLI, before parameters are passed to the called program. This way, if the filename "Z:FILE.DAT" is entered as a parameter to an external program, the actual filename (i.e., "C:\SOURCE\FILES\FILE.DAT") would be passed to the program. Substitutions are not valid within any called programs, however; a "drive not valid" error will likely be returned if an attempt is made to access a SUBSTituted drive. If no drive is specified, the current drive is inserted into the substituted filename. TCLI - Page 17 The CD command can not be use with a SUBSTituted drive; using it shouldn't cause any problem, but no error indicating that it failed will be returned. To release a substituted drive, simply enter "SUBST n:". To display a list of SUBSTituted drives/paths, enter SUBST with no parameters. Command: TIME Function: Displays/sets the current time. Syntax: TIME [[h]h:mm[:ss] [AM|PM]] The TIME command is used to set the computer's internal clock. At least one "hours" digit is necessary, as well as both "minutes" digits; seconds are optional, as is an AM/PM designation. If neither AM nor PM is specified, the time is interpreted in a twenty-four hour format. Examples: TIME 1:30 PM TIME 01:30:00 PM TIME 13:30 TIME 13:30:00 All four of these commands set the clock to 1:30 PM. If TIME is entered with no parameters, the current time is displayed, and the user is prompted for the current time. To change the time, enter the new time; otherwise, press RETURN, and the time will not be modified. Command: TREE Function: Displays a directory tree of the disk/directory specified. Syntax: TREE [n:][path] [/F] The TREE command is used to display a visual interpretation of the directory structure on a disk. If no drive is specified, the current drive is used. If no path is specified, the tree display begins with the current path on the drive being scanned. By default, the TREE command will display only the directories that it encounters during its disk traversal. To force TREE to also display files contained in the directories, specify the "/F" option. This command displays the directory structure under the current directory on drive C: TREE C: This command displays drive C:'s entire directory structure, regardless of the current directory: TREE C:\ Command: TYPE Function: Displays a file on the screen. Syntax: TYPE [n:][path][fname] Alias: CAT TCLI - Page 18 The TYPE command is used to display the contents of a text file. Wildcards can be specified; each file matching the wildcard specification will be displayed on the screen. Command: VER Function: Display the version of TCLI. Syntax: VER The VER command simply displays the version number of TCLI, and the amount of installed and free RAM on your computer. Command: VERIFY Function: Toggles the Write Verify feature on/off. Syntax: VERIFY [ON|OFF] By default, when the ST writes a sector to a disk, it immediately reads that sector back into memory, and compares it to the one it just wrote. If they match byte for byte, then the sector was successfully written. This is the ST's way of verifying that files are correctly written to the disk. Bad sectors are, fortunately, a rare occurrence. The TOS Command Line Interpreter offers you the option to turn off the write-verify feature, which will result in noticeably faster disk writes, at the expense of some reliability. Since disk write errors are so rare, turning write-verify off can usually result in better productivity. To turn off write-verify, use the command VERIFY OFF; to turn it back on, enter VERIFY ON. TCLI - Page 19 OTHER FEATURES I/O Redirection --------------- TCLI supports output redirection for each command it can execute. When redirection is activated, all output that would normally go to the screen will be sent to the specified file/device instead. When the command has completed execution, output will be directed back to the screen. To specify output redirection, use the greater-than sign (">"), followed immediately by a filename: dir *.txt >c:\dir.lst This command will display a directory of all of the files in the current directory that end with ".txt", and redirect that listing to the file "dir.lst" on the root directory of drive C. If you would like to send output to the printer instead of a file, use PRN: instead of the filename: dir *.txt >prn: will send the same directory listing as above to the printer. Input redirection is supported only in the form of batch files. Batch files are identified by the ".BAT" extension, and consist of a set of commands to execute when the batch file is called. Batch files may be passed up to nine parameters, each of which can be accessed within the batch file as %n, where "n" is the parameter number. For example, suppose the following lines were contained in a batch file called "MAKE.BAT": cc %1.c -o %1.o -i\includes\headers\ link -o %1.prg \includes\init.o %1.o This batch file will compile and link the file specified (this is an arbitrary C compiler - this batch file would most likely need to be modified before it could be used). To call this batch file to compile and link the program PROG.C, the following would be entered on the command line: make prog and the batch file will substitute the filename into the correct places in both the compile and link commands. Note that if the compile fails, no object file should be produced, so the linker would simply abort the link operation. Otherwise, the object file would be linked, and an executable named "PROG.PRG" would be produced on the current drive. When using batch files, it is important that all instructions, including the last one in the file, be followed by a carriage return. Otherwise, TCLI will not read in the entire command line, and an error will usually result. When TCLI is run, a special batch file called "AUTOEXEC.BAT" is searched for in the directory from which TCLI was started. If one is found, it is loaded and executed before control is returned to the user. This can be used to set up TCLI - Page 20 the environment before you start a working session with TCLI. For example, the following batch file, if named AUTOEXEC.BAT, will switch to 80-column mode, create a RAMdisk, copy all of the files in the C:\FILES\ directory to the RAMdisk, set the attributes of the copied files to "archived," and finally clear the screen (to clean up the display): echo off mode 80 echo Setting up RAMdisk as drive G:... vdisk g 800 cp c:\files\ g: attr +a g:*.* echo on cls After this file has executed, you could edit the files on the RAMdisk, then use COPY with the /A or /R option to copy only those files that were changed back to drive C:; this could also be done with another batch file (let's call it SAVE.BAT): copy g:\ c:\files\ /r You could then enter "SAVE" as a command, and your modified files will be written back to the hard disk. This batch file will also reset the archive bit, so that if you make any other changes to the files, you can simply re-execute the SAVE batch file, and it will copy only those files changed since the last SAVE. Control Keys ------------ TCLI supports the three major control keys for text displays: ^S, ^Q, and ^C. By pressing CONTROL-S, the user can halt the screen display, to read what's on the screen before it scrolls off; CONTROL-Q continues the display. CONTROL-C will stop the display entirely. RAMdisk ------- TCLI includes a short RAMdisk program called "VDISK.TTP". It can be run from the desktop, but was intended for use mainly with TCLI. To set up a RAMdisk, enter the following command: vdisk n size where "n" is an unused drive letter and "size" is the size of the RAMdisk, in kilobytes. If the RAMdisk was set up successfully, you will be told so; if not, you will be alerted to the problem. Once set up, the RAMdisk acts like any other disk drive, only much faster. Files can be written to it and read from it. However, since the files are stored in RAM, you should not rely on it to store important files. If you do, you should periodically back those files up to a real disk. To use VDISK.TTP from the desktop, double-click on VDISK.TTP. Then enter "n TCLI - Page 21 size" when the dialog box appears, and press RETURN. After the program executes, click once on an existing drive icon, then select "Install Disk Drive" from the "Options" menu. A dialog box will then appear; change the drive letter displayed to the drive letter that you named the disk drive, and click on "Install". Your new disk icon will appear on the desktop, where it can be accessed just like the other disks. If you install the disk drive from within TCLI, then return to the desktop, the disk drive will still exist, and you can perform the above steps to install the disk icon, starting with clicking an existing drive icon. By re-executing VDISK.TTP, you can install multiple RAMdisks. As long as they are given different drive letters, and you have enough free RAM, the drives will install and operate properly. The RAMdisks installed by the VDISK program will remain in memory until you turn the power off or reboot the computer. TCLI - Page 22