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1986-09-29
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94KB
|
2,803 lines
*==============================================================*
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| The PC Magazine Utilities |
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| Volume I |
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| Copyright (C) 1986 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. |
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| Manual assembled and edited by Craig L. Stark |
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*==============================================================*
ATTR (Attribute) Charles Petzold
Command No. 1
______________________________________________________
Purpose: ATTR.COM permits display and modification of
the archive, system, hidden, and read-only
file attributes.
Format: ATTR
or
ATTR *.*
or
ATTR [+A|-A] [+S|-S] [+H|-H] [+R|-R]
[d:][path]filename[.ext]
Remarks: Entering ATTR without any parameters, as in
the first format shown above, produces a help
display (essentially identical to the third
form above) that shows which file attributes
can be changed.
ATTR.COM permits the use of the global ? and
* characters (as in the second format above).
Entering ATTR filename displays a specific
file's attributes. For example,
ATTR IBMBIO.COM
returns the display
IBMBIO.COM Arc Sys Hid R-O
showing that the Archive, System, Hidden, and
Read-Only bits of the attribute byte are set
for this file.
When wildcards are used to list the
attributes of all the files in a directory,
subdirectory names are shown as Dir (between
the Arc and Sys in the example above).
Unlike the DOS DIR command, ATTR lists hidden
files, whether sought by specified filename
or through a *.* listing. However, ATTR does
not show Volume names or the dot and double-
dot entries in subdirectories.
The syntax for changing file attributes is
indicated in the third format above. After
typing ATTR (and a space) you simply precede
the file specification with a plus or minus
sign, followed by the letter A (Archive), S
(System), H (Hidden), or R (Read-Only). A
plus sign turns on the specified attribute; a
minus sign turns it off. More than one
attribute can be changed at once, and the
attribute-designating letters may be entered
Page -1-
in any order and in upper- or lowercase. No
space may be used between the plus or minus
and the letter that follows it, however.
Example: To convert the file 85TAX.WKS to hidden and
read-only, you would enter
ATTR +H +R 85TAX.WKS
Since DOS itself normally sets the Archive
bit, entering
ATTR 85TAX.WKS
would produce the display
85TAX.WKS Arc Hid R-O
Since the Hidden attribute has been set,
however, the DIR command will produce the
message, "File not found." And since the
Read-Only flag has also been set, a DEL
command will produce the message, "Access
denied."
Notes:
1. Requires DOS 2.0 or later.
Page -2-
BAC (Backup Directory) John Dickinson
Command No. 2
_______________________________________________________
Purpose: Backs up all (or selected) files in a
directory to hard or floppy disks, permitting
disk changes when target disks become full.
Format: BAC [d:][path]filename[.ext] [d:][path]
Remarks: Unlike the DOS COPY command, BAC.COM permits
you to change (formatted) target disks when
backing up files to disk. Furthermore, it
only backs up files whose date stamp is later
than those of identically named files on the
target disk. Unlike BACKUP, BAC does not
change the setting of the archive bit. Also,
files copied with BAC.COM are fully usable at
all times; they do not need first to go
through a RESTORE process.
BAC.COM supports the use of global (* and ?)
characters in filenames and extensions. It
does not, however, permit you to REName files
during copying.
Example: You are working at a PC AT with a hard disk
drive (C:) on which you keep your copy of
BAC.COM, and you want to back up all the .DOC
files stored on a 1.2-Mb floppy disk (drive
A:) onto regular 360K disks (drive B:).
Since these .DOC files will require
approximately 600K, you must have two
formatted blank floppy disks ready to use in
drive B:. From the C> prompt you enter
BAC A: *.DOC B:
When the first target disk in drive B: is
full, you will be prompted to change disks.
Notes:
1. BAC.COM compares the date stamps of
identically named files and will not
overwrite a newer version with an older
one. This may cause files to be skipped
if you omit to keep your date/time
current.
2. Requires DOS 2.0 or later.
Page -3-
Browse Charles Petzold
Command No. 3
_______________________________________________________
Purpose Permits scrolling forward and backward
throughout a file without use of a word
processing program.
Format: BROWSE [d:][path]filename[.ext] [/W]
Remarks: The DOS TYPE command does not permit you to
scroll ahead or go back to previously
displayed material in a file. It also exits
at the first instance of Ctrl-Z (ASCII 26,
conventionally used as an End-of-File
marker), making it impossible to scan binary
(e.g. .COM) files for error messages,
copyright notices, and the like.
BROWSE.COM overcomes these shortcomings,
giving you the chance to go immediately to
the top or to the end of a file (the Home and
End keys, respectively), to the succeeding or
previous screen (PgUp and PgDn), or to move
up or down a line at a time (Up Arrow or Down
Arrow). To return to DOS, simply press the
Escape key or Ctrl-Break.
Wide displays, e.g. a spreadsheet file, are
not broken at 80 columns, as with TYPE.
BROWSE ignores carriage returns (ASCII 13),
breaking lines only on line feeds (ASCII 10).
The Right Arrow key scrolls the display to
the right in eight-character increments (see
Note 3 below) to view wide displays; the Left
Arrow key returns you immediately to column
zero.
BROWSE expands tab characters (ASCII 9) to
the next eight-character boundary, but does
no other character processing unless the /W
parameter is specified. Use of the /W option
permits using BROWSE with WordStar files.
Notes:
1. BROWSE can run under TopView or Windows;
specify "writes directly to screen" in
the .PIF and use the default 52K memory
requirement. (The program actually
requires only approximately 33K to run.)
For the TopView PIF, specify that the
program intercepts Interrupt 23h.
2. BROWSE is compatible with the IBM
monochrome, CGA, and EGA displays, and
Page -4-
will even run in the EGA 43-line mode.
Files prepared with word-processors that
employ a one-line-per-paragraph format
(such as Microsoft Word and XyWrite) may
to require excessive right scrolling,
however.
3. BROWSE.COM can be patched with DEBUG so
that its right-scroll jumps by more than
the default eight characters. The
address to patch is 10F in the .COM
file. After entering DEBUG BROWSE.COM
type
E 10F
and the default value (08h) will appear.
Type the desired hexadecimal number (28
for a 40-column increment; 50 for an 80-
column increment) and press <Enter>.
Then type W<Enter> to write to the disk
and Q<Enter> to quit DEBUG.
4. Requires DOS 2.0 or later.
THERE IS NO PAGE 5 OR 6
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Page -7-
DDIR (Double Directory) Charles Petzold
Command No. 5
_______________________________________________________
Purpose: Displays all (or selected) directory entries
in double columns, sorted in alphabetical
order.
Format: DDIR [d:][path][filename[.ext]]
Remarks: If no parameters are specified, DDIR will
list all files in the current directory. Use
of the global characters ? and * in the
filename and extension parameters is
supported.
If more than one screenful (50 entries) is
required, the display pauses at the bottom,
showing the message, "Press any key to
continue."
Notes:
1. Because DDIR.COM loads a secondary
command processor, it will not operate
under the Run option of WordStar and
possibly with some other programs that
normally allow calling up external
programs. For the same reason, it
cannot be automatically reinvoked using
the F3 key when at the DOS command
level.
2. Requires DOS 2.0 or later.
Page -8-
DELZ (Delete file entirely) Steven Holzner
Command No. 6
_______________________________________________________
Purpose: Allows you to delete a file absolutely by
writing over the sector(s) it occupies.
Format: DELZ
then
DEL/Z [d:][path][filename[.ext]]
Remarks: DOS does not delete files by overwriting
them. Rather, the sectors used by the
"erased" file are simply made available for
use by subsequently written files. Until
they are so used, however, the original file
can be recovered with UNDEL.COM (included in
these utilities) or by using a comparable
commercial product.
Because it overwrites the sectors used by a
file, DELZ provides complete deletion. A
memory-resident utility, it attaches itself
to DOS when loaded, normally as a command
entered through your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
Thereafter, until you reboot, it provides a
/Z (for "zero out") option for the DEL
command.
Example: The disk from which you boot up your PC on
drive A: has a copy of DELZ.COM on it, and
the disk in drive B: has a file called
TAXCHEAT.85 that you wish to ensure is
completely obliterated. From the A> prompt
you enter DELZ to load the command into
memory. Then you enter
DEL/Z B:TAXCHEAT.85
Even if the TAXCHEAT.85 file is unerased, its
original contents will now be unrecoverable.
(The contents of that file will, in fact, be
the machine language code of DELZ.COM
itself.)
Notes:
1. The Z in DEL/Z must be typed uppercase.
The use of the global characters ? and *
is supported.
Page -9-
2. Because of possible conflicts with other
memory-resident programs and utilities,
you must check whether DELZ can be
installed on your own system. While
SideKick has caused no reported
difficulties, running XyWrite II or III,
with or without its XYKBD.COM file, is
impossible after DELZ is made resident.
3. The use of DELZ.COM is likely to be
reasonably infrequent, but sometimes it
will be absolutely necessary. If you
find at those times that co-residency
conflicts prevent putting it in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file, you may wish to keep
a bootable disk (formatted with the /S
option) with a copy of DELZ.COM and an
AUTOEXEC.BAT file that loads the
program. If you then boot up from this
disk you can destroy any file(s) you
wish, remove the DELZ disk, and reboot
your computer normally.
4. Requires DOS 2.0 or higher.
Page -10-
DISKSCAN Charles Petzold
Command No. 7
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Locates and identifies disk errors on hard
and floppy disks, Bernoulli Boxes or other
similar storage devices.
Format: DISKSCAN [d:]
Remarks: The DOS "Abort, Retry, Ignore?" and the
CHKDSK "x lost clusters found" messages tend
to appear after it is too late to save
possibly valuable data. Regular use of
DISKSCAN will show when a hard disk is
beginning to go bad--for example, when a
specific sector or two in an as-yet
unallocated cluster has become unusable since
the disk was formatted. (DOS marks and does
not use bad clusters it finds while
formatting. DISKSCAN reports these "Flagged
as bad.")
DISKSCAN error messages include:
CRC Error: Data checksum as recalculated
during read does not agree with checksum
stored on disk when written.
Sector Not Found: Sector boundary created
during formatting is no longer readable.
File Alloc. Table and Can't Read FAT: Very
serious error: Back up what you can
with COPY and reformat disk before
trying to put files back on it.
Boot Sector: If this sector of a hard disk
goes bad, put a DOS disk in drive A: and
issue SYS C: command. Then COPY
COMMAND.COM C:. This will put a fresh
copy of the system files on drive C:.
If this does not work, boot up again
from the external DOS floppy disk, back
up all hard disk files, and reformat the
hard disk.
Root Directory: Errors here could keep you
from later being able to load a file or
save updates to it. CHKDSK will
probably indicate unallocated cluster
chains or cross-linked files, and you
may have to use CHKDSK/F to save what
you can.
Unallocated: As yet, not serious, as the bad
sector is not being used. When it is,
though, and you try to save a file with
this sector, you'll get an "Abort,
Retry, Ignore" message. Select "Ignore"
to save what you can, then REName the
Page -11-
file and save again under the new name.
Use RECOVER filename with the original
file; this will cause DOS to flag its
cluster(s) as bad. (DISKSCAN does not
enter the bad cluster numbers in the
File Allocation Table; FORMAT and
RECOVER do.) Then delete the original
(RECOVERed) filename and check the
second version you saved (under the new
name) to see how much (if any) of it is
usable.
Used by file: While DISKSCAN reports the bad
sector number, it does not do a cross-
check to see which of your files is
using that sector. You may be able to
identify this by issuing the command
SWEEP COPY *.* NUL
When COPY encounters the file with the
bad sector it will report "Abort, Retry,
Ignore." Note the bad file and press
"I" to continue.
Read Fault and General Failure: The sectors
so designated are bad, but the errors
reported don't fall into any of the
above categories.
Notes:
1. Requires DOS 2.0 or higher.
Page -12-
DOORS John Dickinson
Command No. 8
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Permits switching between two simultaneously
connected displays without leaving an
application program and thereby losing the
contents of the alternate screen.
Format: DOORS (loads memory-resident program)
<Alt-Right Shift> (toggles between screens)
Remarks: When the second screen display is invoked by
pressing Alt-Right Shift, DOORS begins by
copying the first screen to the second. The
first screen display remains resident on that
monitor, for reference, but the focus of your
work shifts to the second screen, on which
you may continue working. If you then
subsequently switch back to the first monitor
(by pressing Alt-Right Shift again), the
second monitor's current contents will remain
on its display but will initially be copied
to the first monitor.
Since the monochrome display cannot support
40-column text or color graphics modes, DOORS
can only be used with your color monitor set
for 80-column text mode. In addition to
switching between monochrome and color text
modes, however, DOORS permits you to store
a screen from either a monochrome or a high-
resolution EGA text display to the other
monitor, though you must toggle back to re-
sume your work on the display from which
you started.
Notes:
1. DOORS.COM may not work with
"compatibles" that do not use the same
keyboard interrupt structure as the PC.
Further, as with all memory-resident
software, it may not be compatible with
all programs.
2. Requires DOS 2.0 or later.
Page -13-
DOS-EDIT Charles Petzold
Command No. 9
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Permits moving to, editing, and reentering
on-screen DOS commands without retyping.
Format: DOS-EDIT (loads memory-resident program)
then
<Up Arrow> (enables DOS-Edit keys)
<Left Arrow> (cursor left)
<Right Arrow> (cursor right)
<Up Arrow> (cursor up)
<Down Arrow> (cursor down)
<Backspace> (destructive backspace)
<Ins> (insert/overwrite toggle)
<Del> (delete character)
<PgDn> (delete to end of line)
<PgUp> (cursor to column 1)
<Home> (cursor to initial column #)
<Esc> (exit edit mode, no changes)
<End> (transfer text line right of
cursor to end of original line)
<Enter> (like <End>, plus execute command)
Remarks: When loaded, normally through your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file, an initial Up Arrow
keypress activates the DOS-EDIT mode.
(Thereafter, the Up Arrow functions as a
normal cursor arrow key.) If you move the
cursor down to the original line, you will
leave the DOS-EDIT mode (e.g., the Left Arrow
key will once again delete characters).
Example: A typical use of DOS-EDIT is to correct a
long command line in which you made a typing
error. Simply move the cursor up to the mis-
typed line, correct the mistake (using the
appropriate keys listed under FORMAT), press
Home (to position the cursor to pick up the
whole of the line), then Enter.
A less obvious example occurs if you have
just done a DIR listing and want to run a
program. Move the cursor up and just to the
right of the program name. Press PgDn to
delete the extension and the rest of the
line, PgUp to position the cursor to pick up
the whole command name, then Enter.
Note:
1. DOS-EDIT is a memory-resident program,
and so may cause conflicts with some
other memory-resident software programs.
Such problems can frequently be solved
by changing the order in which the
several memory-resident programs are
loaded. DOS-EDIT should be loaded
before ASSIGN.COM and before SideKick,
for example.
Page -14-
FREE Art Merrill
Command No. 10
______________________________________________________
Purpose: FREE.COM reports the number of unallocated
bytes on a floppy or hard disk.
Format: FREE [d:]
Remarks: FREE is in many respects a companion program
to SIZE.COM: the latter tells you how much
storage space you must have to make your
copies, the former tells you how much you do
have.
The information provided by FREE.COM is, of
course, available with the DOS commands
CHKDSK and DIR. Where a large group of files
is involved, however, the DOS commands are
very slow in operation; FREE is almost
instantaneous.
Notes:
1. Requires DOS 2.0 or later.
Page -15-
KEEPER Steven Holzner
Command No. 11
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Stores and displays the last ten commands
entered for immediate reexecution without
retyping.
Format: KEEPER (loads memory-resident program)
<Ctrl-N> (toggles window display)
Remarks: KEEPER can store command lines of up to 50
characters each in length. After loading,
normally via your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, and
pressing Ctrl-N (the default trigger key; see
Option 1), the last 10 command lines are
shown in a window in the upper right-hand
corner of the display. If you wish to
execute one of the commands shown, move to
its line with the Up Arrow and Down Arrow
keys; the line currently selected blinks.
Pressing Ctrl-N again will reissue a blinking
command or, if no stored command line has
been selected, will return the display to
normal.
Notes:
1. KEEPER is not compatible with a number
of application programs (e.g., XyWrite)
that take over the keyboard interrupts.
Option 1: The default trigger key is Ctrl-N. Should
this be inconvenient, you can use the
KEEPER.BAS program to recreate KEEPER.COM
with a different trigger key. From the DOS
prompt simply enter
BASIC KEEPER
and the program will prompt you for your
choice of trigger key. After the KEEPER.COM
file is created in this way, it is a regular
DOS command and is not run under BASIC.
Page -16-
KEY-FAKE Charles Petzold
Command No. 12
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Supplies the series of keystrokes needed to
initialize an application program on boot-up.
Format: KEY-FAKE ["xyz"] [nn] [0] [@F]
Programname
Characters typed within a pair of single or
double quotes ("xyz") are normal ASCII-
character keystrokes. Numbers (nn) not in
quote marks are ASCII decimal codes, e.g., 13
(Enter), 26 (Ctrl-Z), or 27 (Esc). Numbers
preceded by @ are the extended ASCII decimal
codes (128 through 255) generated by the Alt
keys, cursor keys, Ins and Del keys, and the
Function keys (e.g., @61 is the F3
keystroke). The 0 is used with programs that
check the keyboard buffer (it tells such
programs the buffer is clear, so the programs
will treat the succeeding keystroke
separately).
Remarks: KEY-FAKE is of greatest use in batch files
used to call up application programs. For
example, to enter Lotus's 1-2-3 and set it
for File Retrieve, the following .BAT file
would be appropriate:
CD \LOTUS
KEY-FAKE 0 13 0 13 0 13 0 13 0 13 "/FR"
LOTUS
This takes you past the necessary initial
carriage returns and /FR command without
having to type them in each time.
Similarly, if each time you enter BASICA you
want to have a blue border, blue background,
and yellow letters, you would create a batch
file, B.BAT, containing the lines
KEY-FAKE "COLOR 14,1,1" 13 "CLS" 13
BASICA
Notes:
1. The keystroke sequence stored by KEY-
FAKE is limited to 124 characters and
must be on one continuous command line.
Keystrokes not supported by PC BIOS
(e.g., Alt-Home) cannot be stored.
2. Programs such as XyWrite II that get
keyboard information directly from the
hardware keyboard interrupt will bypass
KEY-FAKE. KEY-FAKE will also not work
well when you are on-line using a
communications program.
Page -17-
3. KEY-FAKE is memory resident, but can be
executed multiple times in the same
session without reloading. However, if
nested batch files cause it to be re-
invoked before its initially stored
keystroke sequence has been exhausted,
the remaining initial keystrokes will be
lost.
Page -18-
LOCATE Steven Holzner
Command No. 13
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Searches all files in the current and the
root directories of a drive for all
occurrences of any specified sequence (e.g.,
a word or phrase) of up to 20 ASCII
characters. Additional search paths and/or
drives may be specified by using Option 1.
Format: LOCATE searchstring
Remarks: In addition to returning the path(s) and
filename(s) of the file(s) in which the
requested string is found, LOCATE puts
searchstring into a context of up to 20
immediately surrounding characters.
LOCATE.COM is case sensitive; the string to
be found must be typed exactly. The program
does, however, strip "high-order" (non-ASCII)
bits from searchstring, so it can be used,
for example with WordStar document files.
Note:
1. Requires the use of DOS 2.0 or later.
Option 1: Normally, if LOCATE does not find the
requested string either in the current
directory or in the disk's root directory, it
simply exits. It does not automatically
search every subdirectory on every drive.
You can extend the search range, however, by
preparing a simple ASCII file that specifies
additional paths and/or drives. The name of
this file must be PATH.DAT, and it must be
located in the root directory (usually C:\
for hard disks, A:\ for floppies). An
example of such a PATH.DAT file would be
\WORK
\LEVEL1
\A:
Each line in the PATH.DAT file must end with
a carriage return and specifies an additional
path (or drive) for LOCATE to check before it
exits. The PATH.DAT file can be up to 300
bytes in length, and incorrectly specified
entries are ignored.
The use of Option 1 will, of course, slow
down the overall speed of the search.
Page -19-
LOCK (and UNLOCK) Steven Holzner
Commands No. 14
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Encrypts a file, rendering it unreadable to
anyone who does not know the user-chosen
passphrase. Complementarily, using the same
passphrase, de-encrypts the file.
Format: LOCK [d:][path]filename[.ext] [d:][path]
[filename][.ext]
or
UNLOCK [d:][path]filename[.ext] [d:][path]
[filename][.ext]
Remarks: The user-selected passphrase can be up to 64
characters in length; the programs prompt you
to supply it. Files to be LOCKed and
UNLOCKed must be less than 62K in length. If
you do not supply new filenames for the
locked and unlocked files, the programs use
the default filename FILE.LOC.
Example: You have a file of student course evaluations
named CONFY on drive C: that you wish to mail
to a colleague in encrypted form. You put a
formatted floppy disk in drive A:, and at the
C> prompt you enter
LOCK CONFY A:CRIMSON
When the program asks for a passphrase, you
enter VERITAS.
The CRIMSON file on the disk will be
unreadable. When your colleague--who must,
of course, be told the passphrase you have
used--puts the disk in his machine, he types
UNLOCK CRIMSON GUIDE
When prompted, he supplies the passphrase
VERITAS, and his file GUIDE will be identical
to your original file CONFY.
Notes:
1. LOCK and UNLOCK do not delete any files,
original or encoded.
2. Requires DOS version 2.0 or later.
Page -20-
LPTPORT John Dickinson
Command No. 15
_______________________________________________________
Purpose: Permits alternate use of two parallel
printers (e.g., letter- and draft-quality
units) with software that is normally limited
to using LPT1:.
Format: LPTPORT
Remarks: Certain software, e.g., the PC-DOS Shift-
PrtSc routine, does not recognize a command
such as
A>MODE LPT1:=LPT2:
To use such software with two different
printers normally requires changing physical
connections.
LPTPORT.COM provides a software toggle that
interchanges the internal DOS I/O addresses
of LPT1: and LPT2:. After entering the
LPTPORT command, a second printer, connected
to LPT2:, will receive program output
nominally directed to LPT1:. Entering the
LPTPORT command a second time restores the
original port assignments.
Notes:
1. Certain internal print-spooling
programs, such as those supplied with
add-on memory board cards, read the port
address assignments at boot-up time and
do not thereafter look at the low-memory
area of DOS to find them. With such
programs you will have to run LPTPORT
before the print spoolers are loaded in
order to change the effective port
assignments.
Page -21-
MONOGRAF.DRV Charles Petzold
Lotus's 1-2-3 (Version 1A) driver No. 16
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Displays 1-2-3 bar and stacked-bar graphs on
a monochrome monitor.
Format: COPY MONOGRAF.DRV [drive:][path] GD.DRV
Note: the [drive:] and [path] above refer to
your Lotus system disk or subdirectory path.
Note also: When using MONOGRAF, specify
Color, not Black-and-White, from the 1-2-3
graph options menu.
Remarks: Displaying the numbers in a 1-2-3 worksheet
in graph form normally requires using either
a color/graphics adaptor (CGA) and monitor
or--for users who have only a monochrome
system--the use of a Hercules (or equivalent)
card.
MONOGRAF.DRV is installed in 1-2-3 just as if
it were a Lotus-supplied GD (graphics driver)
program.
Notes:
1. MONOGRAF can display only bar or
stacked-bar graphs.
2. To display graphs, use Function key 10,
as the Lotus manual directs. Use this
key only in the Worksheet mode, not in
conjunction with the 1-2-3 PrintGraph
program. You can, however, use Shift-
PrtSc to print out the screen display on
any printer that can handle the IBM
text-graphics character set.
Page -22-
MOVE Steven Holzner
Command No. 17
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Allows rapid selection and copying of files
to or from a double-sided floppy disk, a
RAMdisk, or the current subdirectory of a
hard disk.
Format: MOVE [d:]filename[.ext] d:
Remarks: MOVE.COM was written to be compatible with
all versions of PC-DOS (including 1.1), and
so does not support pathnames.
Example: When you enter a command such as
MOVE A:*.BAS B:
each filename on the root (or current)
directory of drive A: that has a .BAS
extension will be displayed in the form
Copy filename.BAS (Y/N)?
If you strike Y, the file will immediately be
copied to drive B: and the next appropriate
filename will be displayed. If you strike N,
the file will not be copied, and the next
appropriate filename will be presented. The
program terminates with a simple return to
the DOS prompt when no appropriate files
remain to be considered.
Page -23-
NO Charles Petzold
Command No. 18
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Excludes specified files in a subdirectory
from the action of a command.
Format: NO filespec Command [parameter]
Remarks: NO.COM is designed for situations in which
you want to apply a command such as DELete or
COPY to all the files in a directory except
one or two (or a class of) files. For
example,
NO *.BAS COPY *.* A:
copies all the files in your current
subdirectory to drive A: except for those
that have a .BAS extension.
To exclude more than one file (or category)
you must use a separate NO command for each
on the command line. Thus,
NO *.ASM NO *.COM DEL *.*
deletes all files in the current directory
except those with .ASM or .COM extensions.
Notes:
1. NO.COM should not be used in conjunction
with the PC-DOS BACKUP and RESTORE
commands. This is because NO operates
by temporarily setting the "hidden" file
attribute bit on the files to be
excluded from the main command, then
unhiding the files after the main
command has been executed. Since the
DOS BACKUP/RESTORE operation acts on
hidden and unhidden files alike, NO.COM
cannot be used to exclude files from
BACKUP/RESTORE. RESTORE, indeed, will
restore the supposedly excluded files as
hidden, overwriting the originals.
2. While NO.COM provides full path support
(and so requires the use of DOS 2.0 or
later), it is a good policy when using
NO to use CHDIR to make the directory
that contains the files on which you
wish to operate the current directory.
For example, suppose you are in your
root directory, one of whose subdirec-
tories is \BASIC. If you were to enter
the command
NO *.BAS DEL \BASIC\*.*
Page -24-
you would not delete all the files in
the \BASIC subdirectory except those
with a .BAS extension, as you might have
intended to do. To do this from the
root directory you would have had to
enter
NO \BASIC\*.BAS DEL \BASIC\*.*
This complete filespec would tell NO
that it had to protect files in the
\BASIC, not in the current (i.e., root)
directory.
If you follow our recommendation and
enter
CD \BASIC
NO *.BAS DEL *.*
thus making \BASIC your current
directory before you start deleting, you
will then clean out all but the .BAS
files, just as you intended.
3. Should a parity check error, power
outage, or system crash occur during the
brief period between the times NO hides
and subsequently unhides the protected
files, those files will subsequently
seem to have disappeared. They are not
lost; only hidden from a DIR listing.
Use ATTR.COM (included in this set of
utilities) to change their hidden
status.
Page -25-
NPAD (Notepad) Steven Holzner
Command No. 19
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Creates an on-screen window in which to keep
notes while working in other programs.
Format: NPAD (loads memory-resident program)
<Ctrl-N> (toggles notepad on/off)
Remarks: The NPAD notepad holds 10 lines of 25
characters each. The window is toggled on
and off in the upper right corner of the
screen. Toggling the window off does not
eliminate its contents, but pressing the
Delete key while the window is on-screen
does. Single characters may be deleted with
the backspace, and the carriage return is
also recognized. No provision for storing
the contents of the notepad as a file are
available, however.
Option 1: NPAD.COM can be modified by using
DEBUG. The ASCII and scan codes for the
default trigger key (Ctrl-N) are 0Eh and 31h,
respectively, and are located at the offset
addresses xxxx:0336 and xxxx:0337. To change
these to use the reverse apostrophe (grave
accent), you would enter
DEBUG NPAD.COM
and
-E 336
DEBUG will respond with
xxxx:0336 0E.
and you simply type in the new ASCII code, in
this case, 60 (the hex value of decimal 96).
After entering E 337 and getting the response
xxxx:0337 31.
you type in the new scan code 29 (41 decimal)
for the grave accent. Other ASCII and scan
codes are given in the BASIC and in the DOS
Technical Reference manuals.
The two locations to examine and change for
the NPAD colors are 02FF and 0413, which have
a default value of 70h (112 decimal). On a
color monitor this produces a white (7)
background with black (0) characters. For
red letters on white you would change the 70h
to 74h (116 decimal) at these two locations.
Page -26-
The colors to which NPAD resets its portion
of the screen on exit are set by the value at
xxxx:0350h. The default value is 07 (white
characters on a black background). For white
letters on a dark blue background, change the
07 to 17h (23 decimal); for dark blue letters
on white, use 71h (113 decimal) at this location.
When you have made the changes you want, at
the DEBUG hyphen prompt enter W and then Q.
Notes:
1. NPAD is a memory-resident program that
must scan the keyboard interrupts. It
will conflict with applications programs
(e.g., XyWrite) that themselves
commandeer the keyboard interrupts.
Page -27-
ONEKEY Steven Holzner
Command (after running .BAS version) No. 20
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Reassigns a designated series of keystrokes
to a user-selected keystroke.
Format: ONEKEY
Remarks: ONEKEY is a memory-resident keyboard macro
program. While written in assembly language,
it is presented here with a BASIC interface
that need be run only once, but which
facilitates entering the trigger keys you
want to use and the sequences of keystrokes
they will replace. ONEKEY will accept up to
30 different trigger keys, each of which will
replace up to 50 keystrokes.
When you load and run ONEKEY.BAS in BASIC,
you will prompted to "Type the key to be
replaced." This will be a key you use as a
trigger: Ctrl-N, Alt-Z, F1, or the like.
When you enter this key, you will be
prompted, "The command that replaces this key
is." Here you enter the string of keystrokes
the selected trigger key will execute.
Remember to include all necessary carriage
returns, spaces, and control characters, just
as you would enter them at the keyboard.
When you type Ctrl-End (not a carriage
return) to terminate this sequence, you'll be
prompted for the next trigger key, and so on.
When you have typed in as many macros as you
want, type Ctrl-End when asked for a trigger
key. It takes BASIC about half a minute to
create the ONEKEY.COM file.
Once created, ONEKEY is a regular DOS
command; you enter it at the DOS prompt (or
as a line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file), not
from BASIC.
Notes:
1. Memory-resident utilities such as ONEKEY
are often incompatible with programs
(XyWrite is one) that themselves take
over the keyboard interrupts. You must
simply experiment to see if ONEKEY can
be used with your software.
2. Requires DOS 2.0 or later.
Page -28-
PR (Print) John Dickinson
Command No. 21
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Prints the standard ASCII files of program
listings according to a standard formatted
style.
Format: PR [d:][path]filename[.ext]
Remarks: PR.COM formats the program listing into 80
columns, expands ASCII tabs, adds a seven-
line header and a blank footer, and prints 55
lines of the listing on each 66-line page.
The header contains the filename, page
number, and date and time the program was
last saved.
Notes:
1. The listings photoreproduced in PC
Magazine's Programming/Utilities column
are printed using PR.COM.
2. Requires use of DOS 2.0 or later.
Page -29-
PRSWAP John Dickinson
Command No. 22
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Converts IBM text-graphics characters into
ASCII characters that can be printed by non-
graphics printers.
Format: PRSWAP
Remarks: The IBM text-graphics characters (non-
standard ASCII 176-223 and 254) programmers
often use to make their screen displays look
more attractive cannot be handled by many
printers. PRSWAP.COM is a memory-resident
program that translates these characters into
presentable-looking ASCII substitutes.
PRSWAP should be loaded only once until you
power down or hit Ctrl-Alt-Del. If you
intend to use it regularly, the best place to
put it is in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
Page -30-
PUSHDIR (and POPDIR) John Friend
Commands No. 23
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Provides a way to return automatically to
your current directory after running programs
that require directory changing.
Format: PUSHDIR
[CD \AltDir\ProgName]
POPDIR
Remarks: While PUSHDIR and POPDIR can be entered
directly from the DOS prompt, their primary
application is in batch files. For example,
suppose you create a file named 12.BAT that
consists of the following four lines:
PUSHDIR
CD\LOTUS
123
POPDIR
Suppose also that 12.BAT, PUSHDIR.COM, and
POPDIR.COM are either in your root directory
or in a subdirectory on the PATH specified in
your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Assume, finally,
that you are currently in your word
processing subdirectory (\WP), but need some
information from a 1-2-3 spreadsheet. If you
now enter
12<CR>
from the DOS prompt, PUSHDIR stores the \WP
(your current directory) on its stack and DOS
changes to the \LOTUS subdirectory and runs
1-2-3. When you exit from 1-2-3, you would
normally be left in the \LOTUS subdirectory.
A DOS CD command in 12.BAT after the 123 line
could return you to a specified directory
every time you terminated 1-2-3, of course.
But POPDIR returns you to whatever
subdirectory you were in when you invoked 1-
2-3--in this case, to your \WP subdirectory.
PUSHDIR can accommodate up to six levels of
directories on its stack, permitting
considerable programming flexibility in
constructing batch files.
Notes:
1. PUSHDIR and POPDIR require DOS 2.0 or
later.
Page -31-
QUICKEYS Leo Forrest
Command No. 24
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Accelerates the "typematic" repeat rate of a
PC or XT keyboard. A built-in subprogram is
included that instantly clears the keyboard
buffer to prevent sending excess accumulated
keystrokes to the display.
Format: QUICKEYS (loads memory-resident program)
<Alt-Shift> (clears keyboard buffer)
Remarks: While the keystroke repetition rate of the PC
AT is adjustable, that of the XT and the PC
is fixed at approximately nine keystrokes per
second. When QUICKEYS is loaded (normally
through your AUTOEXEC.BAT file), the
repetition speed is approximately doubled.
Successive loadings of QUICKEYS (each
requires about 672 bytes of memory) can be
used to increase the keyboard speed still
further, if desired.
Notes:
1. QUICKEYS is a memory-resident program
that inserts itself both into the timer
tick and keyboard interrupt routines.
It is not compatible with some other
memory-resident software and with
programs that appropriate the keyboard
interrupts.
Page -32-
RED (Redirect) John Dickinson
Command No. 25
_______________________________________________________
Purpose: Transfers one (or more) file(s) from one
subdirectory to another without requiring the
use of COPY and ERASE.
Format: RED [d:][path]filename[.ext] [d:][path]
Remarks: Like the DOS COPY command, RED.COM supports
the use of the global characters ? and * in
specifying the desired source files.
Unlike COPY, however, RED.COM does not permit
renaming a file during the transfer process.
(This is why it is unnecessary to supply a
target filename.) Furthermore, RED requires
that the source and target drives be the
same. You cannot, therefore, remove a set of
files from drive C: by trying to REDirect
them to drive A:.
Example: Before submitting your income tax you
calculated it under several different
methods, contained in files named ROUGH1.DAT
through ROUGH6.WKS. These are all in the
subdirectory \IRS on drive C:, and you want
to move them all to a sub-subdirectory (which
you have created) called \1985TAX\DRAFTS.
From the C> prompt enter
\IRS\ROUGH?.* \1985TAX\DRAFTS
and all six files will be moved out of \IRS
and into \1985\DRAFTS.
Note:
1. Requires DOS 2.0 or later.
Page -33-
RENDIR (Rename Directory) John Dickinson
Command No. 26
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Permits renaming subdirectories directly,
without creating a new directory, moving the
contents of the old one into it, and then
removing the old directory.
Format: RENDIR [d:][path]oldname[.ext] newname[.ext]
Remarks: PC-DOS has always provided a REName command
for filenames, but not for directories. A
bug in DOS 3.0 permits you to use the
immediate mode of BASIC to
NAME olddir AS newdir
but this bug has been removed from subsequent
DOS versions. RENDIR.COM permits renaming
directories in DOS 3.0 and later.
While RENDIR allows you to change the name of
a directory on another drive than your
current one, it does not permit you to
transfer a directory to another drive by
RENDIRing it. Thus, for example, if you are
on drive C: and have a directory on drive D:
named \TAXES, from the C> prompt you can
RENDIR D:\TAXES \TAXES85
You cannot, however
RENDIR D:\TAXES C:\TAXES85
Furthermore, you should not use RENDIR to try
to change the name of the subdirectory you
are currently in.
Notes:
1. Unlike RENAME, RENDIR does not support
use of the ? and * wildcard characters.
2. Requires DOS 3.0 or higher.
Page -34-
SETUP Jeff Prosise
Command No. 27
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Permits menu-oriented selection and immediate
transmission of printer control codes from
within a running application program.
Format: SETUP (loads command into memory)
<Ctrl-Right Shift> (activates menu)
<[Shift]<Fx> (selects [deselects] mode)
<Esc> (activates selection(s) and
returns to application program)
Fx is a Function key (F1 through F10) that
sends the required control sequence to the
printer. Shift-Fx toggles the selected
printer mode off.
Remarks: After loading SETUP (normally via your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file), the printer mode
selection menu program is displayed by
pressing the Ctrl-Right Shift key
combination. This can be done from within
application programs that do not take over
the keyboard interrupts; the application is
simply suspended until you leave SETUP by
pressing the Esc key. (Application programs
such as XyWrite III that do take over the
keyboard interrupts can be used with
SETUP.COM if they themselves provide the
option of temporarily returning to DOS
control.)
Printer permitting, more than one mode can be
selected at once by pressing additional
function keys. The default printer choices
are for the Epson RX/FX series. Option 1
shows how to modify the program for other
printers.
Notes:
1. SETUP.COM is a memory-resident program
(approximately 3K in length), and so is
subject to conflicts with other memory-
resident software. Several users have
reported that it is incompatible with
Prokey, for example. Similarly, while
SETUP.COM is compatible with SideKick,
the combination of SuperKey and SideKick
has been reported to be incompatible.
Option 1: If you have access to an IBM or Microsoft
macro assembler, the easiest way to modify
SETUP for other printers (or to use LPT2: or
LPT3: instead of LPT1:) is to call up the
SETUP.ASM file (included with these
utilities) in any ASCII word processor. You
can then make your modifications and
reassemble the file.
Page -35-
Even if you do not have a macro assembler and
must therefore use DEBUG.COM to modify
SETUP.COM directly, print out and read the
SETUP.ASM file. It is heavily commented, and
will give you a good idea of how the
different menu strings and printer control
strings are organized. Note, however, that
the specific values shown in SETUP.ASM are in
decimal notation; values entered via DEBUG
must be in hexadecimal notation.
The following offset addresses, not those
originally published in PC Magazine, should
be used:
The menu color attributes (4F and 70) are at
offsets xxxx:013F and xxxx:0140.
To change the port number from LPT1: to LPT2:
(or LPT3:) change the default 00 at xxxx:0C7A
and at xxxx:0C84 to 01 (or 02).
The start of the menu text table (532 bytes,
beginning with C9) is at offset xxxx:0151.
The "P" in PRINTER SETUP MENU" is at
xxxx:0172.
The printer control strings themselves begin
at xxxx:09A1. Each function key (and each
shifted function key, with the exception of
F19 and F20) can be assigned a string up to
16 bytes long. Each string must include a
delimiter of FF (255 decimal) that marks the
end of the string. The beginning of the
string for each successive function key
starts at an address that is a multiple of 16
bytes above the base address (xxxx:09A1) of
the table. You must pad the strings with
zeros for any locations that are not used by
actual control codes, so that each string
begins on a 16-byte boundary.
Page -36-
SIZE (and ATSIZE) Art Merrill
Command(s) No. 28
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Calculates the storage requirements of a file
or group of files, based on the number of DOS
clusters necessary to make floppy disk and
hard disk copies.
Format: SIZE [d:] (all files, default directory)
or
SIZE [d:][path]filename[.ext]
Remarks: DOS stores files in fixed-length allocation
units called "clusters." For floppy disks,
the cluster size is 1024 bytes (two 512-byte
sectors); for the PC and XT 10-Mb hard disk
the cluster size is 4084 bytes. On such a
hard disk, whether a file is one byte or 4Kb
in actual length (as reported by DIR), it
requires the same amount (one cluster) of
storage space. The PC AT's 20-Mb hard disk
is less wasteful in handling small files;
its minimum set-aside (cluster size) is 2048
bytes. AT users should use ATSIZE.COM.
Entered without parameters, SIZE (or ATSIZE)
returns the number of bytes used by all files
in the current directory, the amount of space
required to copy them to a standard (360K)
floppy disk, and the amount of space required
for hard disk storage.
Entering B:SIZE returns the same information
for a disk in drive B:. Pathnames and
wildcards are supported, so you could enter
SIZE \PROG\*.COM
to learn the number of .COM files, their
total size and storage requirements,
contained in your \PROG subdirectory.
Notes:
1. Requires DOS 2.0 or later.
Page -37-
SNAPSHOT Steven Holzner
Command (after running .BAS version) No. 29
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Saves your current screen and up to three
additional prefabricated screens for
immediate display without leaving an
application program.
Format: SNAPSHOT (loads memory-resident program)
<Ctrl-N> (stores current screen)
<Ctrl-F> (displays stored screen)
<Ctrl-A> (displays screen A.DAT)
<Ctrl-B> (displays screen B.DAT)
<Ctrl-C> (displays screen C.DAT)
Remarks: SNAPSHOT is a memory-resident utility that is
incompatible with programs (such as XyWrite)
that take control of the keyboard interrupts.
While written in assembly languge, it is
presented here with a BASIC interface that
need be run only once, but which facilitates
entering the trigger keys you will use to
store the current screen, recall it, and to
recall up to three screens you can prepare
with an ASCII word processor and store under
the filenames A.DAT, B.DAT, and C.DAT.
When you load and run SNAPSHOT.BAS under
BASIC you will be prompted for the required
key selections. Thereafter the program will
create SNAPSHOT.COM (it takes about two
minutes), which is a regular DOS command.
Option 1: If your regular word processor is WordStar,
before running SNAPSHOT.BAS you should edit
it as follows:
1. In line 30, change the checksum shown from
51461 to 51462.
2. In line 430, change the third number (just
to the left of the -2) from 0 to 1.
The purpose of these changes is to provide a
"stripper" function so that WordStar files
will be readable from other applications.
Page -38-
STATLINE John Socha
Command No. 30
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Displays 26th-line status indicators for the
NumLock, CapsLock, and ScrollLock toggle keys
on IBM monochrome, CGA, and Compaq monitors.
Format: STATLINE (loads memory-resident program)
Remarks: STATLINE converts the normal 25-line text
mode display into 26 lines, using the
additional line to show a # sign for NumLock,
an up arrow for CapsLock, and a double-
pointed arrow for ScrollLock.
On a monochrome display, where insufficient
memory is available for a full 26th line,
two-thirds of that line is used by STATLINE;
the remainder echoes the first portion of the
top line of the regular display.
This utility is not compatible with the IBM
enhanced graphics adapter (EGA) and is best
suited for use with the color graphics
adapter (CGA) and with Compaq displays.
Notes:
1. STATLINE is a memory-resident utility
and is known to be incompatible with a
number of keyboard macro programs.
Assembly language programmers will be
particularly interested in the extensive
discussion of the problems of co-
residency contained in the original
article (PC Magazine, Volume 5 Number
13), and in the .ASM listing that shows
how to reprogram the 6845 video
controller.
Page -39-
SWEEP Charles Petzold
Command No. 31
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Causes a command to be successively executed
in every subdirectory on a hard disk.
Format: SWEEP Command [parameter(s)]
Remarks: SWEEP starts from the current directory. In
order to use SWEEP to extend the range of a
command to all the subdirectories on a disk,
use CD (if necessary) to make the root
directory your current directory. From the
root directory, the command
SWEEP DIR
will display the listings, by subdirectory,
of every non-hidden file on the disk. To
erase all the .BAK files on a disk you need
only get into the root directory and issue
the command
SWEEP DEL *.BAK
SWEEP itself will not accept parameters other
than its command. Thus, if you are on drive
C: and wish a directory of all files on drive
D: to be sent to your printer, you must first
make drive D: the current drive before you
issue the command
SWEEP DIR > LPT1
(In this case you would either need a copy of
SWEEP.COM on drive D: or else drive D: would
have to be listed on your PATH.)
SWEEP can execute .BAT file commands (and
even non-DOS commands, such as LOCATE.COM).
A useful file called CLEAN.BAT might consist
of the three lines
DEL *.BAK
DEL *.TMP
DEL *.OBJ
From the root directory, if you then enter
SWEEP CLEAN
all .BAK, .TMP, and .OBJ files will be erased
from the disk.
Notes:
1. Requires DOS 2.0 or later.
Page -40-
UNDEL (Undelete) Steven Holzner
Command No.32
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Recovers files on double-sided floppy disks
that have been accidentally deleted.
Format: UNDEL [d:]filename[.ext]
Remarks: Unless special measures are taken, DOS does
not overwrite the contents of a file when it
deletes the file. Rather, DOS simply changes
the first letter of the filename to E5 in its
directory table and unassigns the second (and
subsequent) clusters for the file from its
file allocation table. When no files have
been subsequently stored to disk that would
use the deallocated clusters, the deleted
file can usually be recovered intact by
UNDEL.COM.
As an aid to recovery of ASCII files, the
UNDEL command may be given as
UNDEL/A [d:]filename[.ext]
The /A parameter is designed to provide a
display of each proposed cluster to be
recovered before it is actually included in
the undeleted file. With late versions of
PC-DOS, however, the use of the /A parameter
has been found to return the error message,
"File Not Found Deleted". In such cases,
entering UNDEL without the added parameter is
normally sufficient to recover the complete
file without loss.
Notes:
1. UNDEL should not be used on 8-sector
disks (such as the distribution copy
of this disk), but only on 9-sector,
double-sided floppies.
2. Requires the use of DOS 2.0 or later,
but the command does not recognize
pathnames.
Page -41-
VTREE (Visual Tree) Charles Petzold
Command No. 33
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Provides a visual representation of the tree-
structured subdirectories on a hard or floppy
disk.
Format: VTREE [d:]
Remarks: VTREE can display up to the full DOS limit of
32 levels of nested subdirectories. Its
output may be redirected to a printer, but it
employs IBM "text-graphics" characters that
many printers cannot properly handle. With
such printers, run PRSWAP.COM (included in
these utilities) before VTREE.
Notes:
1. Requires DOS 2.0 or later.
Page -42-
WAITASEC (and SCROLL) Charles Petzold
Command(s) No. 34
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Uses the single-keystroke ScrollLock key to
halt a fast-scrolling display; then allows
you to scroll backwards, recalling previous
screens.
Format: WAITASEC (loads memory-resident program)
<ScrollLock> (activates command)
Remarks: WAITASEC is a memory-resident program that is
normally loaded through your AUTOEXEC.BAT
file. Thereafter, alternately pressing and
releasing the ScrollLock key will halt and
restart a scrolling display, e.g., a lengthy
DIR listing.
While holding down the ScrollLock key to
freeze the display, if you also press one of
the cursor movement keys (Home, Up Arrow,
PgUp, End, Down Arrow, or PgDn), the display
will not resume scrolling when you release
the ScrollLock key. Thereafter, the Up and
Down arrow keys move the display by one line,
the PgUp and PgDown move it by 25 lines, and
the Home and End keys take you to the
beginning and end of the stored screen
memory. Pressing any non cursor key at this
point deactivates the stored mode, and the
original scrolling resumes.
Notes:
1. WAITASEC will not work with an 80-column
color/graphics display if an unmodified
PC-DOS ANSI.SYS has been loaded. (The
ANSI.SYS that comes with various
versions of MS-DOS does not cause
problems with WAITASEC.) To run with
IBM's ANSI.SYS, make a copy
(MODANSI.SYS) of the original ANSI.SYS
and use DEBUG to patch the copy as
follows:
DEBUG MODANSI.SYS
E 29D 90 90
E 2A1 90 90
W
Q
Put the modified MODANSI.SYS in your
CONFIG.SYS file in place of ANSI.SYS.
Page -43-
2. Because of the way they handle TTY
output, certain EGA cards will not
permit WAITASEC to scroll backwards.
This problem can often be cured by
adding MODANSI.SYS, as above.
3. WAITASEC does not save your current
display screen. To save your current
display, before beginning a scroll,
enter the complementary SCROLL command,
and everything on the screen will scroll
off the top and be captured in the
WAITASEC buffer.
4. While WAITASEC has been found compatible
with XyWrite III (XYKBD.COM loaded) on a
PC AT, as with other memory-resident
programs, unforeseen hardware and
software incompatibilities may be
encountered.
Page -44-
WHERE (File Locator) Kiyoshi Akima
Command No. 35
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Searches all directories on a particular
drive and lists the paths of entries that
match the specified filename.
Format: [d:][path]WHERE [filename[.ext]]
Remarks: WHERE uses normal DOS filename specifications
to locate files. Omitting a filename and
extension after the command defaults to WHERE
*.* and will list all non-hidden files on
your disk.
Example: The command WHERE *.BAT will find all
your batch files. WHERE MO*.* would uncover
MODE.COM and MORE.COM and any other filename
that begin with MO.
Notes:
1. Although submitted to us by Mr. Akima,
this program has its roots in one
originally written by John Socha.
Page -45-
XDEL Ronald Czapala
Command No. 36
______________________________________________________
Purpose: Successively presents each filename in your
current directory for single-keystroke file
deletion or retention.
Format: XDEL [d:][file.ext]
Remarks: If no parameters are specified with XDEL, the
default filename *.* is used. Both the
global characters ? and * may be used in
selecting the files to be presented.
The program produces an on-screen menu of
keystroke choices, as follows:
<F1> - deletes current file displayed
<PgDn> - skips current file displayed
<Home> - restarts file display
<Esc> - returns to DOS
Note:
1. Although XDEL.COM requires DOS 2.0 or
later, you must use CHDIR (CD) if
necessary to make a subdirectory your
current directory.
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