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Text File | 1987-08-23 | 10.5 KB | 265 lines

magic magic magic DNS C Documentation Page -1- NAME NAME NAME magic special-characters-to-output magic -get arguments magic -detab[n] [infile [outfile]] DESCRIPTION DESCRIPTION DESCRIPTION magic magic magic is a multipurpose utility for the IBM PC & compatibles. It allows you to easily output "special" character stings to the screen (like escape sequences), provides interactive batch file input, and can detab (expand tabs into whitespace) in a text file. __________ _______ __________ Outputting Special Characters magic magic Program magic can be used to generate character sequences which magic magic are normally hard to generate. Typing magic alone shows how to use the program. The following special symbols are recognized by magic magic magic. The curly braces are required. {ESC} Writes the ESC character {CR} Writes a CRLF (Enter) {TAB} Writes a TAB {FF} Writes a form feed {0xnn} Writes hex number nn ^S Writes Ctrl-S ___ Note that any character can be written with the {0xnn} mechanism, and that a ^ (hat) immediately preceding a character writes the control of that character. Our AUTOEXEC.BAT's have the following lines of code in them: magic {cr} | print /B:4096 > null magic {ff} > lpt1 magic {esc}[2J{esc}[34;46m magic magic The first example installs the DOS PRINT command, where magic is used to write an Enter, which is piped into PRINT to answer the question PRINT asks you. The second example sends a form feed to our printer, ensuring it is starting out on a fresh, unbent page. The third example shows how we can write some ESC sequences to the screen to clear the screen and set our screen colors. _ _____ ____ ________ A Batch File Enhancer magic magic magic can be invoked to get responses from the user, and set error return codes to indicate how the user responded. Usage is as follows: magic -get arguments magic magic August 23, 1987 magic magic magic magic DNS C Documentation Page -2- Arguments are as follows: -beep -prompt "Query for user" -default=response -timeout=nn resp=errnum -beep magic -beep magic The -beep option beeps the user when magic is run, to encourage the user to look at his screen. -default -df -default -df The -default option (-df for short) allows you to specify what the default response should be (if the user just hits Enter). -timeout -to -timeout -to The -timeout option (-to for short) allows you to specify a number of seconds after which the default answer will be supplied ____ automatically. You must supply a default if you expect the timeout to work. resp errnum resp errnum resp is text which the user is expected to respond with. errnum is a number, 0-255, which will be returned as an error code. The error code can be checked in a batch file easily. Here is a real example of usage: magic -get abc=1 def=2 ghi=3 will return an error of 1 if the user types in abc, a 2 if he types in def, etc. When typing in the relationship between a string and an error code, there can be no spaces. Here are some more complicated examples: magic -get -prompt "Format (y/n)? " -default=y y=1 n=2 magic -get -default=abc -timeout=20 abc=1 def=2 ghi=3 magic magic In the first example, magic detects that all possible responses are a single character, and will not require the user to hit Enter (i.e. just hitting Y or N is enough). -prompt -pr -prompt -pr If you use the -prompt option (-pr for short), the next thing following the -prompt is taken to be the prompt to display. Surrounding the prompt string with quotes (as shown above) allows you to have a multi word prompt. magic magic Here is a BAT file which shows how magic is used in real life: magic magic August 23, 1987 magic magic magic magic DNS C Documentation Page -3- echo off echo Enter either abc, def, or ghi magic -get -default=abc abc=1 def=2 ghi=3 rem = Errorlevel checks in reverse numeric order = if errorlevel 3 goto three if errorlevel 2 goto two if errorlevel 1 goto one goto quit rem Action if user types abc :one echo one goto quit rem Action if user types def :two echo two goto quit rem Action if user types ghi :three echo three goto quit :quit Note that the error level checks are in decreasing numeric order. This is required due to the nature of the way DOS performs the tests. ____ ________ File Detabber magic magic You can use magic to remove (expand) tabs from a file. The default tab expansion is 4 spaces. This default can be overridden by setting an environment variable called TAB to your desired tab expansion. You can also tack a number on to the end of the -detab option on the command line, e.g. magic -detab3 The number following the -detab overrides both the program ___ default and your (optional) TAB environment variable. With no other command line arguments, input is expected to come from standard input, and the detabbed output will go to the magic magic standard output. Thus, a typical invocation of magic to detab a file might be as follows: magic -detab < tabfile > notabs Or, you can optionally supply an input file and output file on the command line. If the output file name is not supplied, output will go to the standard output device. Examples: magic -detab oldfile newfile magic -detab3 oldfile AUTHOR AUTHOR AUTHOR magic magic August 23, 1987 magic magic magic magic DNS C Documentation Page -4- Written and Copyright (C) 1987 by: Dwarf Nebula Software PO Box 46, Dept. MG SugarLand, TX 77487 This program is in the public domain, and may be freely dis- tributed, provided it is not sold (without permission from the authors). We would appreciate any bug reports, as well as any suggestions for improvement (new features, or upgrades to existing features). SOURCE SOURCE SOURCE magic magic Source code for magic may be purchased from the authors for $12. __ ___ Source code is not in the public domain. Source in either code or ________ ____ object form is for personal use/modification only. C FUNCTIONS C FUNCTIONS C FUNCTIONS ____ We have a very interesting collection of C code for IBM PC and compatible systems. Drop us a line, and let us send you some ____ ___ information. You will not be sorry. As a matter of fact, it may be the most important letter you write this year. magic magic August 23, 1987 magic